OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Community Planning and Housing Committee Meeting - July 28, 2026

Council CommitteesTuesday, July 28, 2026
BodyDenver, Colorado
SessionCouncil Committees
DateTuesday, July 28, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 39:30
Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Welcome back to this weekly meeting of the Community Planning and Housing Committee with Denver City Council.

0:09

Your community planning and housing committee starts now.

0:20

Hi everyone.

0:21

Welcome to the community planning housing meeting on July 28th.

0:26

I'm Manda Sandoval.

0:27

I represent Northwest Denver.

0:30

We have a presentation in front of us.

0:33

Do we have any council members online, producer?

0:36

No council members online.

0:38

Alright, I'll start to my left.

0:40

Good afternoon.

0:42

Flor Alvidres, Lucky District 7.

0:44

Uh good afternoon, Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver, District 4.

0:48

And good afternoon, Paul Cashman, South Denver, District 6.

0:51

Chantel Lewis, District 8.

0:53

Jamie Torres, West Denver District 3.

0:56

We have two briefings.

0:58

I think it's a combined briefing, right?

1:00

So they're all combined into a slide deck.

1:02

And I'll pass it over to the Office of Housing.

1:05

Lady, the floor is yours.

1:07

Well by introducing ourselves.

1:09

My name's Melissa Tati.

1:11

I am the director of Stability and Prevention with Hosts.

1:14

Okay, Ian Comb, program officer with host.

1:17

I'm Carissa Johnson, the housing policy officer and host.

1:21

So we have two briefings for you today.

1:23

One on the property tax relief program just to provide you all an update.

1:27

And then also an update on the Tenant Legal Services 2025 report that we sent out, I think around March of this year.

1:37

And we'll pause in between the two briefings so we can open it up for questions on uh the first topic.

1:42

And with that, I will kick it over to Ian.

1:46

Great.

1:46

Thanks.

1:47

Um, this slide is just a reminder of sort of where um in our spectrum of work our property tax relief program falls with our stability and prevention team.

1:55

It's just a little reminder there.

1:57

Um in a quick program background.

1:59

Um, host absorbed this program from Denver Human Services uh uh last spring of 2025, and we launched the program for 2024 rebates on May 1st with a new online application.

2:11

Um that program still provides a partial refund on property taxes paid or to renters, the equivalent of rent.

2:18

Uh uh our minimum rebate is $372.

2:22

That has stayed the same since uh DHS was running the program.

2:25

Renters can still receive a maximum of a thousand dollars and eighteen hundred dollar maximum rebates for homeowners.

2:31

Uh our average refund did increase slightly from the 2023 rate rebates to the 2024 rebates from um about 1,148 to 1,180 dollars, which I believe to be a factor of uh more approved rebates to households at zero uh income or um unfixed incomes receiving like social security benefits, which we don't uh consider to be a source of income, which will result in higher uh rebates for renters and for homeowners.

3:00

Um and this is just uh a bit of a breakdown of uh what our application volume received since taking it over from DHS.

3:08

So you can see uh for the 2025 to 2026 program year, which is rebates issued for the 2024 calendar year.

3:16

Uh we received almost 3,900 applications, uh and at least through July 14th had paid about 2600 applications.

3:25

Uh at that time we had about 475 applications pending.

3:30

I believe as of today it's about 375, um, the majority of which were from homeowners.

3:35

Um and our breakdown remains uh pretty similar to what DHS was seeing previously, where um about 46% of applications received were from homeowners, about 54% from renters, and uh year-to-date payments issued for 2024 calendar year.

3:50

Uh, the breakdown is pretty similar of uh 46% to homeowners and 54% to renters.

3:58

Yeah, next slide.

4:00

Um just a quick snapshot of demographic data, and this is of households served, again of all 2024 payments issued through about mid-July.

4:10

Um so this maybe has changed a little bit through the end of July.

4:14

Um but we are seeing as you can see the majority of households served have uh area mean income of zero to ten percent AMI.

4:22

Um so many of the households we serve uh do have income, but on fixed income benefits such as Social Security, we do consider that to be zero uh dollar income, which I think speaks to probably um the huge volume of of uh households at zero income.

4:38

Um with applicant and race two, we are seeing that uh majority of households served are white and the majority are not Hispanic or Latino.

4:47

We've done some comparisons recently of how that stacks up against um actually uh payments actually issued, and we see that to be pretty comparable.

4:55

That um excuse me, households served are payments issued.

5:00

We compare that to applications received, and we found that um the majority of applications received were also from uh non-Hispanic or Latino households, and the majority of payments issued are also going uh to white households at this time.

5:12

So um I think that there is some work for host to do on in terms of outreach to BIPOC homeowners.

5:19

Um we also uh are gonna try and pull some data to see if um more BIPOC households are applying later um and therefore make up the majority of uh applications that remain pending.

5:31

Um or there could be uh it could be that more BIPOC households are being found ineligible or um withdrawing their applications as their duplicates.

5:40

So I'm just want to let you all know we are doing some more work in that area as well.

5:44

And I'll just while we're on this slide note, and you'll see it in the eviction legal um uh presentation as well that we do across our stability and prevention uh programs do tend to see more um households being served from from BIPOC communities compared to uh DEPRES population overall.

6:05

Sorry about that.

6:06

Okay, there we go.

6:07

Um and yeah, just some additional uh demographic data.

6:10

We're finding that um most most households served are meeting the age requirement, which for 2024 rebates was that you had to be 65 or older for the entire 2024 calendar year.

6:21

Um then uh about 29% of all households served are meeting the program's definition of having a disability.

6:28

Um and then for children present, um this data point is a little skewed, that it was something we were only collecting for homeowners because you could only qualify um uh if as a homeowner if you had a dependent child.

6:42

So previously we were only asking that question of homeowners, um, starting with the 2025 rebate that launched on May 1st.

6:48

We've corrected that to uh get that data from all households applying and all households being served.

6:54

Um but at least for 2024 among homeowners, about 12% had a dependent child living in the house.

6:59

Um so we'll probably have more data for all households in in the next year.

7:04

Uh this is just a quick reminder of some of the eligibility changes we made starting with the 2025 rebate that we just launched.

7:11

Um I'll just refer to the text in bold.

7:14

So um for all households, whether you're a renter or homeowner, we decrease the age requirement from 65 to 62.

7:20

So now you would have had to have been 62 or older for the entire 2025 calendar year.

7:25

Um from homeowners, we increased the AMI level from 60% to 80%, um both two uh capture more homeowner households in need of the rebate, but it's also more consistent with our other direct financial assistance programs, which all have an 80% AMI threshold.

7:41

Um then we added uh for homeowners a criteria for surviving spouse.

7:46

Um so starting with the 2025 rebate that we just launched on May 1st.

7:52

If you lost your spouse at any time and have not remarried, yeah, you may also qualify now for a rebate as a homeowner.

7:58

Uh for renters, we just made the AMI level consistent for all renter households to 30% AMI, whereas previously it was 25% for one-person households and 30% for two plus person households.

8:10

So just for um uh implementation purposes, we made that more consistent.

8:16

Uh and this is just a map to kind of speak to some of the work that hosts did this spring and will continue to do kind of all the time as we have uh better data of who's applying and who's being served, um, particularly among homeowners.

8:30

Um, as you may remember, there's new ordinance language to sort of phase out renters from this program by 2030, and so host is trying to do a lot more work to um find homeowners who would be eligible for this program who are maybe not aware or not applying.

8:44

And so um what this map demonstrates is um the volume of homeowner applicants as a share of cost burden homeowners in that area.

8:53

Um and so we're really trying to target, and that's kind of what we did this past spring at various rec centers throughout the city, is targeting uh neighborhoods and zip codes with uh a lower volume of applications, but areas we know there are high number of cost burdened homeowners.

9:09

Um so we have much more better data, and um our excellent data team at host is helping us to sort of map those households and see um year over year where we need to be doing more outreach and um we're just seeing a huge need for uh people to be since this application is online accessing it uh with in-person supports.

9:26

And we also help people over the phone as well.

9:31

That's it for me.

9:33

Take any questions.

9:36

Thank you so much.

9:37

Um first in the queue is Councilman Torres.

9:40

Thank you.

9:41

Um I guess so.

9:46

I have been interested in how the changes um if they're making any difference on kind of who's applying based on like your demographic data, slide six.

10:00

Based on like your demographic data, slide six, like you're not really receiving a lot of applications at that 80% yet.

10:06

I'm really interested in the zero to 10%.

10:10

Obviously, that's homeowners, right?

10:12

Because your eligibility criteria says renters have to have it equal to 25, 30% AMI.

10:21

Up to, okay, so that could be renters.

10:24

Yes, oh yeah, this that uh the all this demographic data is all households.

10:28

Very good.

10:29

Okay.

10:29

Um that's I think what was like what's happening within that population, who they are and where there are, especially with like the um evolution of this program to be mostly focused on homeowners.

10:43

Um what do we know about the renter population of that uh in that 2200 applicant pool?

10:52

Uh do you mean uh like what do we know about their demographics or household composition?

10:57

Yeah, maybe also about their vulnerability.

11:00

Um, like if they if we get to a point where we're starting to reject renter applications in favor of homeowner applications, what do we know about their stability?

11:11

It's one thing I think if they're in subsidized housing.

11:15

It's another thing if they're not.

11:16

So what do we know about those applicants?

11:19

Yeah, um, I would say the majority are actually I think I'd have to probably pull some more data to be confident about whether they're coming from like DHI properties, subsidized properties or market rate.

11:31

Um I want to be right if I'm I'm speaking to that.

11:35

Um I do wonder if Trua has maybe more um with the work being done there of like the vulnerabilities of of renters in the AMI bracket, because that's not currently data we collect for this program, but I think more work that Trua is doing with some of our research studies.

11:48

Yeah, and I think like anecdotally, we do see a lot of the renters coming from subsidized properties.

11:54

Um historically, when D DHS would uh run events and stuff, they would be at DHS or sorry, DHA properties.

12:02

Um, and so maybe we can dig into that a little bit more.

12:05

But um, you know, certainly I think anyone on a zero to ten fixed income as a renter is is gonna be vulnerable.

12:15

Um, and so I I do think we're trying to be really mind mindful of the impacts, but um we can certainly dig into that data a little bit more.

12:23

Yeah, at least they're in housing though that will only take 30% of whatever their income is as opposed to it being kind of a market situation or something like that.

12:33

So I'm more and more like it's they're like I'm seeing them in different um levels of vulnerability as well, but I appreciate that.

12:44

Um thank you for this info.

12:47

Thank you.

12:48

Next up we have council member Alpha is followed by council member Cashman.

12:52

Um thank you.

12:53

Sorry, I lost my notes for a second.

12:55

I was curious about the pending applications from 2024.

13:00

Can you talk to me about why those are still pending?

13:04

Yeah, um, this program operates on a sort of May 1st to April 30th program year.

13:11

Um, when we launched this program host for the first time on uh last May, we had about a 60-day gap in which no one was being served while our providers were hiring staff, training staff, setting up new systems.

13:25

Um so we had a bit of a late start, and um we're uh working with providers to just increase capacity throughout the year, and so when we launched 2025 applications on uh May 1st of 2026, um we still had uh hundreds of pending 2024 applications, and so um in an effort to not put us ours ourselves in the same situation we found ourselves this year.

13:48

We dedicated half one per we have two providers for this program, Brothers Redevelopment and Community Economic Defense Project.

13:54

Um, our brothers redevelopment team, um we assigned them to finish the 2024 applications so that our our team could still start the 2025 applications so that by next spring of 2027 we didn't find ourselves with a huge number of uh applications still.

14:12

Um at this time we have maybe four to six weeks of the 2024 applications remaining, at which time um all teams will be reviewing 2025.

14:21

So um I think because this program was new to host and it was new to our providers, um, there was a gap in time in which we were establishing policies, writing guidelines, um, just working through some of the case processing issues because it was brand new to us as a department.

14:35

So have you talked to your providers about the lack of Latino representation in those we we usually address some equity concerns and site visits with them.

14:46

Um so this was actually uh we've already conducted site visits for this program, but we'll certainly be going back to those providers with this data.

14:54

This is probably the first time we've had almost a full year of data to really see where some of the gaps in service provision are.

15:00

So but that's as program officers are uh integrated into our site visits with all providers to discuss any equity concerns and come up with strategies to to solve for them.

15:11

So how are you looking at strategies to be different to make sure that this is a more equitable number in the future?

15:18

In terms of like um households applying and being served.

15:22

Uh well, I think it comes to outreach, um, which we I think for this program will need to dedicate more funding to.

15:28

I think we have opportunities to do this program used to do a lot of direct mailing, um, and since then we just haven't had budget for that.

15:36

So I think it's a matter of like being out in the community.

15:39

We find that there's a much better response to being out in rec centers to um uh even visiting DHA properties, we get lots of requests to be uh hosting application workshops, but I think uh host needs to uh have some more intentional strategies of connecting with community groups that can connect us to those populations.

16:00

Um I think every every spring we've uh been able to identify more and more staff resources to actually be doing all that on the ground outreach because we just don't have the resources at host, so we really have to rely on our program partners.

16:14

What is the language access look like?

16:16

Is it all translated into multiple languages and are there bilingual people at these events, outreach events?

16:23

Yes, all of our providers are um at minimum uh bilingual in Spanish, um, but there are additional languages that they speak.

16:31

They also have contracts with third parties to do uh uh language interpretation and translation services.

16:37

The application itself is available in Spanish, um, but if there are other languages needed, other language supports there are um again both those providers have uh contracts and relationships with uh translation services.

16:51

They also have um 24 or seven hotlines that uh residents can call to get assistance in any language completing the application over the phone or request an uh appointment to do so in person.

17:03

Okay, and then I I guess I'm concerned that you're not looking at other providers that are more connected to the Latino community.

17:10

What was what will that process look like?

17:12

When will be there?

17:13

Will there be opportunity for other providers to apply to service that maybe aren't the ones that we have right now?

17:20

Yeah.

17:21

Um I will mention too, we we do have providers, housing navigation contracts with um grassroots organizations like East Colfax Community Collective and uh Buku West that are um serving um more specific populations.

17:33

As far as uh this program, I think the next time we procure for it would be 27 or 28.

17:42

The program bureau is good to me.

17:44

Um all the time.

17:46

We can follow up with you.

17:48

I would say that very seriously, especially if they fail to continuously meet the equity goals of this.

17:55

I think we're seeing a high amount of displacement in the city, and it's very concerning to see those numbers.

18:01

Thank you.

18:02

Thank you, Council President.

18:03

Thank you.

18:04

Next up, we have Councilmember Cashman.

18:06

Thank you, Madam Chair.

18:07

Uh thanks for the presentation.

18:09

Does this conflict in any way with the state senior tax exemption, or if you qualify for both, you get both?

18:18

Yeah, you can receive both simultaneously.

18:21

Thank you very much.

18:21

That's all, Madam Chair.

18:22

Thank you.

18:23

And then President Romero Cambo.

18:25

Thank you, Madam Chair.

18:26

Um I know this isn't part, I didn't see it on there, but I'm just wondering like do you have younger homeowners that are also applying but don't qualify because of age for the program?

18:40

I just an interesting data point of like, do we have younger homeowners who are also having trouble staying in their homes?

18:50

Um, and I know that we have limited funds, etc.

18:52

But I just would be interested to see if that's um, yeah.

18:57

Um we could definitely pull more data on that.

19:00

I think apart from this program, our um foreclosure financial assistance program.

19:04

I also lend some interesting insights into like age of homeowners struggling to afford the home they're in.

19:10

Um for this program as a uh excuse me, as a homeowner, yeah, you you can uh without age also qualify as um when meeting disability status or um having a dependent child in the household.

19:21

Um so we could probably pull all those households who meet those criteria but may not meet the age criteria and and get back to you.

19:29

I don't necessarily know off the top of my head.

19:31

I would say, however, the majority of households are meeting the age requirement.

19:35

Um it's far less who are um only disabled or only have a dependent child, at least for the 2024 rebate.

19:43

But younger homeowners, to be clear, younger homeowners with children are eligible for this program.

19:50

So they could be served.

19:51

We just don't know how what that looks like.

19:54

But we can dig into that data a little more.

19:56

Okay, thank you.

19:56

Yeah, thank you.

19:57

Thank you, Madam Chair.

19:58

Thank you.

20:00

Some thoughts I have are for outreach.

20:02

I don't know if you're connected to the Denver Preschool program.

20:05

They're a great resource.

20:07

They serve a lot of families in Denver who have younger children and might need this.

20:14

Another one is Servicios de la Rasa.

20:16

I don't know if you're connected with them.

20:18

And then the last one that I was gonna mention is all of us have different events.

20:22

So for example, I have an event in Choppy Park, a movie in the park coming up at the end of August.

20:28

And that's where I see one of my more stable neighborhoods where I have homeownership.

20:34

Um, but it doesn't have an active registered neighborhood organization.

20:38

So if you sent me things, I don't have anywhere to send it out to.

20:41

Um so if you partner with all of our council offices, I bet you would be able to get the word out more because what it is is it's if you are able to help one person, then that person's gonna tell their friend about right.

20:54

I mean, that's the biggest type of campaign that you can do advertising is really word of mouth.

21:00

Um, so making sure that we just get into those places, and I know it's hard when you don't have a budget, but sharing that information with all the council offices is we have movies in the park and we are out in our communities.

21:13

Also, um, the far northwest neighborhood plan is starting in my community, and so I know community planning and development are all over the place right now in Northwest Denver.

21:24

Um, I don't think my council district, a lot of people could qualify, but there are some that might be able to.

21:30

Um, but Traffee Park in my area is is predominantly like a huge area that where I think that this could work.

21:37

And just if you haven't met with any of my colleagues, they know their community really well.

21:42

Um we have to represent our communities.

21:45

We usually go shopping in our communities, we usually go hang out with friends who live in our communities, and that's how I get word of mouth out is by hanging out with my friends and talking to them and asking them what their needs are.

21:56

Um, but really leveraging that subject matter expertise that you have.

22:01

Um and I don't have any other questions.

22:04

I don't have any more anyone else in the queue.

22:06

Just appreciate all the work that you all have done on this program and how I know you have fierce advocates in city council to get this out and get um help um because uh homeownership and um being gentrified out of our communities, I think is something that all of us have experienced.

22:25

So thank you for coming today and thank you for sharing the presentation.

22:28

Um colleagues, we have no more, we don't that was our only thing.

22:31

One more thing to present.

22:33

Oh, we do have one more.

22:34

Okay, sorry, go ahead.

22:42

I'm like the start.

22:43

Are you clicking?

22:45

So's the pink.

22:51

Sorry, one second.

22:56

So many notifications should be right there.

23:03

Okay.

23:04

Our eviction legal defense contracts live in our stability and prevention pillar, as seen here.

23:13

And our eligibility criteria for this program um have to be at or below 80% of the area median income, and you have to be a Denver County resident.

23:22

Uh, the services provided through these contracts include uh limited legal representation and full legal representation.

23:29

The main difference there is that full representation uh likely means the attorney is going to trial and defending someone in court and a formal court proceeding.

23:38

Limited representation may look like assistance with um a stipulation agreement or uh filing an answer, that sort of limited um service.

23:49

Uh the eviction legal defense contracts, we have uh four partners there, Colorado Poverty Law Project, Colorado uh Economic Defense Project, the Colorado Affordable Legal Services, um, and Colorado Legal Services.

24:04

Yeah.

24:08

Um in 2025, we served 3,584 households with an average cost per case of $681.87.

24:18

Uh the racial demographics uh been fairly consistent over the last few years.

24:22

We have seen a slight increase in multiracial and other households served, uh, and a slight decline in white households.

24:29

Also worth noting that annually we serve more households, so it makes sense that um some of the percentages would decrease slightly.

24:38

Uh for the ethnicity, we've uh historically the Hispanic and Latino households were closer to 7525 split over the years.

24:47

We have seen increases in that population.

24:49

Um in 2025, 36.6% Hispanic and Latino, and 56.2% uh non-Hispanic from Latino.

25:00

Uh the additional demographics um 50% female headed household.

25:03

That number is fairly consistent over the last three or four years.

25:06

Uh it was 65% last year.

25:09

Um households with a person with a disability at 35% in 2025.

25:17

Um and that number has been fairly consistent as well.

25:21

It's also 35%.

25:22

I'm sorry, 27% last year.

25:24

Um households uh coming from subsidized housing.

25:27

It looks like that number has gone down year over year.

25:32

I can't read my writing, sorry, but it has gone down.

25:36

And households with a person with the uh person over the age of 62 at 11%.

25:41

We'll go to the next one.

25:46

Uh the outcomes, I'm gonna start on the left here with the income levels.

25:50

Overwhelmingly, people who face eviction uh in Denver and statewide are usually at or below 30% of the area median income.

25:58

In 2025, they made up 78% of our households served.

26:02

We did have 29 households that were income ineligible, meaning they made over 80% of the area median income.

26:09

Um for uh I'm moving down now, uh the uh full representation.

26:14

We saw 17% of households getting full representation and 83% at limited legal representation.

26:22

Those numbers have skewed slightly over the years.

26:24

It used to be closer to a 25%, 75% split.

26:27

It has shifted slightly.

26:29

That might have something to do with the fee for service adjustment that we've made to ensure our contractors consistently spend down.

26:35

Um moving over to the right now at the uh case disposition and outcome.

26:40

Um for uh case dismissed, we're at 33%.

26:44

That means um the person likely uh uh paid the rent in full uh before it could go to trial, or the landlord made an error when uh filing and the case was dismissed.

26:56

So 33% uh have that outcome.

26:59

We're at 2% of people um moving with or without time to move.

27:04

Uh 35% at filing an answer or another other brief legal service.

27:10

Stipulation agreement was 13% of outcomes, and a judgment vacated is 10%.

27:16

Uh judgment vacated means they uh went to trial or signed a stipulation and a judgment for possession was offered, but the tenant held up their end of a stipulation and then the judgment was removed and the case was sealed.

27:31

Uh the last one is judgment for possession, which is the least desirable outcome in an eviction filing.

27:36

It means uh judgment was made in favor of the landlord, and we're at seven percent for those.

27:44

And this one um I just wanted to highlight the uh the uh difference in eviction filings versus uh writs issued for for eviction legal.

27:56

Um since 2022, eviction filings are up about 80 percent.

28:00

That's that yellow line there that is going up.

28:03

Uh, and the purple line at the very bottom has stayed sort of flat, uh, and those are writs executed.

28:09

That is when a sheriff's department comes and packs things up and physically removes someone from their home.

28:16

In uh 2025, we saw 15,953 eviction filings, but only 2,333 uh writs uh restored.

28:26

And you can see that that purple line at the bottom has stayed relatively flat.

28:31

Um, so it's historically has not been high.

28:33

It's it's rare for um a sheriff to come and physically remove someone from their home.

28:39

Um the last thing I want to point out is that the 15,953 eviction filings um are not unique households.

28:48

Uh so just wanted to point that out.

28:51

And I'm done.

28:54

Like drop.

28:56

Council Victoria's following by council member Allen K.

29:00

She's back.

29:01

Um questions just to help me understand the language.

29:04

I think it's really important that uh outcome slide that you showed because I think we have a perception of eviction filings.

29:14

Um tell me a little bit more about what issued and received mean in the process as well.

29:21

Yeah.

29:22

Uh writ issued is what happens when um a person goes to trial or doesn't go to trial and the writ is uh offered from the judge.

29:33

Uh yeah, writ issued.

29:36

And then on the landlord side, they have to take a step to have the the next part of the writ um received.

29:43

It comes from comes from the landlord to the sheriff's department.

29:49

Yeah.

29:49

So that's the other step.

29:51

So it's still a pretty high number writs received versus restored.

29:58

Now, is that a capacity piece?

30:00

Like the sheriff's department can only do so many evictions in a given year.

30:05

Are there are folks like in queue?

30:08

I would have to circle back with the sheriff's department and get some more information about that.

30:12

Is that because their number seems super flat in terms of how many evictions they're actually processing?

30:19

Um I'd be interested if that's just as many as actually make it to that step, or if they're waiting in a queue.

30:27

Okay.

30:28

Um thank you for this.

30:31

I think um uh just in general, I feel like this has grown so much in how important um the like the work has become.

30:46

Like I remember, I think this started as basically a crowdfunding effort from Robin Kneech, right?

30:52

City Council crowd.

30:54

And then um uh trying to make sure that it became more of a permanent offering from the city um took place over time.

31:04

Um but uh when you you mentioned not unique households, so you might have multiple evictions in place for any given um uh household are they different addresses or are they multiple evictions on the same uh household?

31:22

Um for 2026, I have looked at um eviction filings from January through May, and it appears to be the same uh uh same address, uh multiple eviction filings for the same address.

31:34

Sometimes that means someone just cured before it could go to the next steps of the filing, but they were late enough that the landlord was like filing.

31:43

Jeez, so yeah.

31:45

Okay, all right.

31:47

Um thank you.

31:49

Thank you.

31:50

Next up, yeah, council member uh leaders followed by council member Lewis.

31:53

Thank you.

31:54

Um I echo that's great to see the actual evictions are relatively flat.

32:00

I it looks like they're not actually flat, so it's kind of hard to see.

32:04

Some numbers might be helpful there just to get some perspective.

32:07

But I'm curious how have we, you know, been doing any kind of surveying of why, or do we have any data of what the difference between filings and those that actually get evicted are we're working on some surveying this year through the contractors with a pulse for goods surveys.

32:29

We're also doing some follow-up surveys through our Trua program to learn more about that.

32:35

So more to come.

32:37

I mean, I think that would be great to see so we can figure out is it this program that is helping that number?

32:44

Is it another?

32:46

Um I'm also curious.

32:47

Um, you know, I of course I assume affordability is one of the reasons why um eviction filings are going up, and so curious around any research around that.

32:59

I've also heard from landlords directly that there was a change in law that's that is pressuring them to file that eviction sooner than they might have otherwise.

33:09

Um, and I don't know if you all have heard that as well or aware of anything like that.

33:14

No, I'm not familiar with any law that changed that would perpetuate uh filing an eviction sooner than otherwise.

33:22

That's news to me.

33:23

So thank you for that.

33:24

Yeah, I'll definitely try to find out more and maybe send you what exact law they're talking about that uh is propelling them to file for eviction maybe sooner than they would normally.

33:35

Thank you.

33:35

That's all.

33:37

Next up we have followed by council president um my combo.

33:44

Thanks.

33:45

I just have one question.

33:45

Thank y'all for the presentation.

33:47

Um you mentioned that for 2025 the households and subsidized housing has gone down.

33:52

I'm just curious as what the story is there.

33:55

Yeah.

33:57

Maybe there's no story.

33:59

There is no story.

34:01

Um this is 2025 data, right?

34:04

Yeah, it is 2025 data.

34:06

I think I'd like to circle back and look at my other data and give you an answer in writing.

34:11

We'll take that.

34:12

Thank you.

34:13

That was one more question.

34:14

Thank you.

34:14

Yeah, thank you.

34:18

Thank you, Madam Chair.

34:19

Um I uh I keep on thinking, like, is this uh is it is it throughout the entire city?

34:29

Is it concentrated in certain um neighborhoods?

34:33

And you had mentioned uh I I would I'm holding actually let me let me ask that and then I'll ask my other question from a statement that was made earlier.

34:44

Uh no, I think uh evictions we we do have uh a map somewhere that we'll follow up with uh but it doesn't look that any it doesn't appear that any neighborhood in Denver County is immune from eviction filings.

35:00

No, I think uh evictions we we do have a map somewhere that we'll follow up with uh but it doesn't look that any it doesn't appear that any neighborhood in Denver County is immune from eviction filings there there are pockets of concentrations yeah um throughout the city um which is my next question um you had mentioned that there were repeat evictions at a location so are we seeing um property owners or are our um that are just filing I mean like are there just are there just bad actors in here that are just really aggressively going after yes okay sorry and no period yeah yeah but I'm just wondering what's the next like are there I'm just wondering like do you see what what do you see as possible um ways to address that then from where you're sitting yeah I need to tell her in our ear later on thank you I'll jump in while she's thinking um I you know I think so we are eviction the eviction process is governed at the state level so it's really hard for us to implement things at the local level that will have that sort of impact because if we want to like if if there's a need to regulate the way landlords are are doing something that has to come from state legislation um and I think that we've seen you know over time obviously that you know when folks are behind on rent and there are likely more people behind on rent um after COVID that landlords will immediately file that eviction if a tenant cures but they fall behind again they're gonna file that eviction so they are going to go through the court process.

36:44

Another note I'll make is that one thing we did change uh this year is with Trua that applicants can um have a rent demand meaning that they don't have to wait to be in the court eviction process to try to get folks to have get assistance sooner when possible um so that landlords don't feel that they have to go through the court process um because I think what had maybe been a shift is that when rental assistance programs require a tenant to provide documentation that they're in the eviction process via court that landlords understood that to mean okay then I'm gonna file in court so that you go get assistance to make me whole so all of these things are kind of interconnected in ways but um so we do what we can locally but with uh would be changes for state legislation for policy shifts okay because it's just still sitting with me like over 50% are female headed households that's a national trend also we see that in trua too specifically yeah household served um yeah lots of female headed households with children um single households single headed household yeah okay on that one too I look forward to the response are just kind of knowing a little bit more about what other strategies or what other things you could see that might also address that I just think of that's that's a lot of moms with kids okay thank you thank you um is the information is fascinating I think especially since after being a council person who's been here after COVID seeing how um what it looks like now and I was hoping that we could get it a little bit better but I do see that I know that it's hard when we have our hands held at the municipal level and what we're doing at the state level if there's any partnerships that you need um when we were in Councilman Gonzalez Cutieres was at the state um they ran a bill that uh opened up um expanding housing affordability and we were one of the first people municipalities in to be able to take pay part in that legislation so those partnerships are so important between our state and our city um I don't have any questions at that time and I don't colleagues any other questions any more comments thank you so much for the presentation we really appreciate you um coming in and sharing this really important information for our city we have one um item on consent and see no other further business before this body we stand adjourned

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Affordable Housing█████████████████████████████████████████████49%
Eviction Filings██████████████████20%
Homelessness███████████12%
Racial Equity███████8%
Public Engagement███████8%
Procedural███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Community Planning and Housing Committee Meeting - July 28, 2026

The Community Planning and Housing Committee of the Denver City Council met on July 28, 2026, at 1:30 PM. Chair Amanda Sandoval presided, with members Flor Alvidrez, Paul Kashmann, Shontel Lewis, Diana Romero Campbell, and Jamie Torres present. Vice Chair Amanda Sawyer was absent. The committee received two briefings from the Office of Housing (HOST) and approved one consent item.

Consent Calendar

  • Council Resolution 26-1091: Amended a loan agreement with 1371 Xenia, LLC to correct loan language, clarifying a $900,000 loan and $100,000 grant with a 30-year term. Approved by consent.

Discussion Items

Property Tax Relief Program Report (26-1097)

  • Ian Comb (HOST) presented an update on the property tax relief program, which HOST absorbed from Denver Human Services in spring 2025. For 2024 rebates, the program received nearly 3,900 applications and paid about 2,600 as of July 14, 2026, with 375 still pending. The average refund increased slightly from $1,148 to $1,180. Demographic data showed a majority of households served were white, non-Hispanic, and at zero to 10% area median income (AMI). Eligibility changes for 2025 rebates include lowering the age requirement from 65 to 62 for all households, increasing homeowner AMI from 60% to 80%, and adding a surviving spouse criterion.
  • Council members raised equity concerns, noting underrepresentation of Latino and BIPOC households. They questioned the high number of pending applications (attributed to transition and capacity issues) and discussed outreach strategies, including partnerships with council offices, community events, and language access. Chair Sandoval recommended leveraging council district events and neighborhood plans for distribution.

Eviction Rights and Tenant Legal Services Report (26-1098)

  • Carissa Johnson (HOST) presented 2025 data on eviction legal defense contracts. The program served 3,584 households at an average cost of $681.87. Key demographics: 78% at or below 30% AMI, 50% female-headed households, 35% with a disability, and 36.6% Hispanic/Latino. Case outcomes: 33% dismissed, 35% filing an answer/other brief service, 13% stipulation agreement, 10% judgment vacated, 7% judgment for possession. Eviction filings increased 80% since 2022 (15,953 in 2025), but writs executed remained relatively flat (2,333).
  • Council members inquired about repeat evictions at the same address, the decline in subsidized housing households served, and the role of state versus local policy. Discussions highlighted that eviction processes are state-governed, limiting local action. Council noted the high proportion of female-headed households and emphasized the need for further data and potential partnerships with the state legislature.

Key Outcomes

  • Both briefings were informational; no votes were taken.
  • Consent item 26-1091 was approved unanimously.
  • HOST staff committed to follow up on specific data requests: more detailed demographic analysis of pending applications, data on younger homeowners with dependents, information on subsidized housing trends among renters, and mapping of eviction concentrations. Council members encouraged continued collaboration with council offices and community organizations for outreach.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome back to this weekly meeting of the Community Planning and Housing Committee with Denver City Council. Your community planning and housing committee starts now. Hi everyone. Welcome to the community planning housing meeting on July 28th. I'm Manda Sandoval. I represent Northwest Denver. We have a presentation in front of us. Do we have any council members online, producer? No council members online. Alright, I'll start to my left. Good afternoon. Flor Alvidres, Lucky District 7. Uh good afternoon, Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver, District 4. And good afternoon, Paul Cashman, South Denver, District 6. Chantel Lewis, District 8. Jamie Torres, West Denver District 3. We have two briefings. I think it's a combined briefing, right? So they're all combined into a slide deck. And I'll pass it over to the Office of Housing. Lady, the floor is yours. Well by introducing ourselves. My name's Melissa Tati. I am the director of Stability and Prevention with Hosts. Okay, Ian Comb, program officer with host. I'm Carissa Johnson, the housing policy officer and host. So we have two briefings for you today. One on the property tax relief program just to provide you all an update. And then also an update on the Tenant Legal Services 2025 report that we sent out, I think around March of this year. And we'll pause in between the two briefings so we can open it up for questions on uh the first topic. And with that, I will kick it over to Ian. Great. Thanks. Um, this slide is just a reminder of sort of where um in our spectrum of work our property tax relief program falls with our stability and prevention team. It's just a little reminder there. Um in a quick program background. Um, host absorbed this program from Denver Human Services uh uh last spring of 2025, and we launched the program for 2024 rebates on May 1st with a new online application. Um that program still provides a partial refund on property taxes paid or to renters, the equivalent of rent. Uh uh our minimum rebate is $372. That has stayed the same since uh DHS was running the program. Renters can still receive a maximum of a thousand dollars and eighteen hundred dollar maximum rebates for homeowners. Uh our average refund did increase slightly from the 2023 rate rebates to the 2024 rebates from um about 1,148 to 1,180 dollars, which I believe to be a factor of uh more approved rebates to households at zero uh income or um unfixed incomes receiving like social security benefits, which we don't uh consider to be a source of income, which will result in higher uh rebates for renters and for homeowners. Um and this is just uh a bit of a breakdown of uh what our application volume received since taking it over from DHS. So you can see uh for the 2025 to 2026 program year, which is rebates issued for the 2024 calendar year. Uh we received almost 3,900 applications, uh and at least through July 14th had paid about 2600 applications. Uh at that time we had about 475 applications pending. I believe as of today it's about 375, um, the majority of which were from homeowners. Um and our breakdown remains uh pretty similar to what DHS was seeing previously, where um about 46% of applications received were from homeowners, about 54% from renters, and uh year-to-date payments issued for 2024 calendar year. Uh, the breakdown is pretty similar of uh 46% to homeowners and 54% to renters. Yeah, next slide.

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