Rising rents in Longmont place burden on renters, but also risk a burden on landlords

Elizabeth Hord was so shocked and frustrated to learn that her rent was increasing $300 with her next lease renewal, she took to NextDoor to vent her frustrations. The post has more than 400 comments ranging from sympathetic and supportive to vitriolic complaints about people moving to the area from out of state.

Hord, a divorced mother of two and working artist, makes just enough money that she doesn’t qualify for housing vouchers like Section 8, she said. With a rent increase of roughly 20%, half of Hord’s monthly income will now have to go toward making rent. 

Living in a larger set of apartment complexes, Hord said the sheer volume of people living in the property made her feel like just a number. It didn’t matter how long she’d rented or any personal details, the management company didn’t offer leniency. When she tried to ask about the rate change, the corporate response she received only mentioned that Hord would be offered the going rate for the next lease.

“Regardless of how long you’ve lived there, your rental history or on-time payments, they will hike your rent. There’s no room for negotiations, you’re just left paying that rate,” Hord said. “It’s crazy that anyone could pay almost $1,800 for a one-bedroom apartment, let alone a single mom.”

According to RentData.org, Boulder County has some of the highest rents in the state, while neighboring Weld County steers closer to the middle. RentCafe lists the average rent in Longmont at $1,550 for 904 square feet of living space, with 93% of available rentals between $1,000-$2,000 per month. 

Newer developments like South Main Station list rents as high as $2,495 a month for a two-bedroom apartment while sites like Apartments.com and ApartmentFinder.com show listings at $1,200 a month and up for a one-bedroom or studio apartment within city limits. A studio at The Legacy Apartments near Hover Road and Nelson Road lists at $1,400 per month for 507 square feet.

Property owners were affected by COVID like everyone else, with some feeling the pinch even harder as tenants were unable to work and eviction moratoriums meant landlords were unable to remove tenants who couldn’t pay their bills. Though the CARES and American Rescue Plan acts from the U.S. government offered some subsidies on both sides of the lease, some felt the eviction moratorium was a step too far.

“A lot of responsibility has been put on the owners in the past year and that won’t work forever, so we’re seeing a backlash now of raising rent or evicting people who aren’t paying so (the property owners) can get their money back,” said Dave Marvin, owner of property management and real estate brokerage Marvin Gardens.

The issue is more complicated than it seems. Most of the property owners Marvin Gardens works with are people renting out their first home while living in their second. If tenants don’t pay rent, the mortgage might not get paid, Marvin said. He was grateful that their tenants kept on paying and they didn’t need to evict anyone when the moratorium lifted, he said, but that wasn’t the case everywhere.

When the world went into lockdown in March 2020, the U.S. government instituted a moratorium on eviction lawsuits for tenants unable to pay their rent due to the ongoing pandemic. The initial moratorium, part of the CARES Act, ran from March 27 through July 24, 2020. The Center for Disease Control issued an eviction moratorium on Sept. 24, 2020, which was then extended until June 30. 

Gov. Polis did not extend the eviction moratorium in Colorado, but did introduce new laws to protect tenants as of October. These laws limit the amount a landlord or property manager can charge in late fees, along with how often those late fees can be issued. 

The laws also extend the time a tenant has to pay overdue rent from when an eviction notice is posted, along with some leniency if rent is paid before the court has made an eviction judgement in favor of the landlord. According to the new laws, if the tenant pays all outstanding rent before the judgement, the landlord must accept the rent and allow the tenant to stay. Additionally, once confirmed that rent has been paid, the court will vacate the judgement and dismiss the case, keeping the eviction off a tenant’s record.

Marvin felt the new laws struck a balance, where the shorter terms for non-payment and eviction filing were weighted more toward landlords. Previously, evicted tenants could have as little as three days before a sheriff could forcibly remove them, which has now been extended to ten days.

According to information provided by Longmont's Community Services Director Karen Roney, the city of Longmont has not seen a significant increase in evictions since the moratorium was lifted. Longmont employs staff and volunteers to help mediate issues between tenants and landlords before taking things to court. According to observations from those staff members, property owners have been more flexible and patient during the pandemic in order to find mutually beneficial solutions, Roney said.

Longmont’s affordable housing staff doesn’t track rent increases per property, though Roney said they do track average rent information for the city, online. 

“As with many small businesses, some property owners are needing to raise their rent. Property owners with a small number of units have been impacted the most,” Roney said.

Marvin Gardens works to strike a balance between happy property owners, fair rents and keeping his staff employed, Marvin said. Raising rent on units is a necessary part of the job, but Marvin said a 20% increase on a lease renewal — like Hord is experiencing — is untenable in the long run. Working with owners who won’t gouge rents or milk tenants for all their worth is a core tenant of Marvin’s property management ethos, but issues with a lack of inventory are also contributing to rent spikes in Longmont, Marvin said.

“There’s definitely people trying to recoup their losses, but there’s also a level of greed out there because nothing’s available,” Marvin said. “When the supply is so low, the demand goes through the roof and you can put it wherever you want.”

Marvin feels that an increase in Longmont’s housing inventory will go a long way to easing the burdens of market prices before government regulation becomes necessary. According to Longmont Planning and Zoning’s Active Development Log, there are almost a thousand rental units currently under construction in Longmont. Another several thousand units are under review through the Planning and Zoning commission, though it may take several years for those developments to be completed.

Until then, Marvin hopes property owners and management companies, regardless of size, can self-regulate to keep Longmont affordable without government rent control. Raising rents too high could push more people out of town and bring more vacancies without lowering costs, he said.

“We’ll run out of qualified tenants who can pay these high rents and then what? Government subsidies and rent control,” Marvin said.

Marvin advocates for tenants only paying a quarter to a third of their monthly income for housing and worries about the impact rising rental costs will have on the local economy. If renters spend half their income on rent, there won’t be much left for them to enjoy life or support the community they live in, Marvin said.

Hord had similar worries for herself and her family. With half her monthly income given over to rent, there isn’t much left for fun or trips to see family out of state, let alone managing debt. Moving to a more affordable town but keeping her kids in St. Vrain Valley School District would increase commuting time and gasoline costs, while uprooting her children to a new school entirely comes with its own set of complications. 

“When you’re looking forward to all those things you need to maintain life and actually live, the biggest frustration for me is that we live in this beautiful place and you want to live in it, not just survive in it,” Hord said. “Not just scrape by and make the best of it.”

For residents who are struggling with rent costs and have been impacted by COVID, there are some options available through the city, county and federal governments, as well as local nonprofits. The U.S. Department of the Treasury has an Emergency Rental Assistance Program, including an index of all local assistance programs. The OUR Center and A Woman’s Work offer assistance to households in need, dependent on criteria specific to each group. Roney also recommended that residents in need reach out to the Boulder County Housing and Human Services department for help navigating assistance.