A ballot measure calls for providing legal representation for anyone facing eviction. Will you vote for it?
that year, Echo and other organizers thought that Denver could use the same protections.
With the aid of a lawyer, people can often work out a repayment plan for past-due rent or get an extended timetable to help the moving-out process go more smoothly and avoid an eviction on their record. NEWR estimates that coming to court with an attorney decreases the chance of a renter being evicted from over 60 percent to just 6 percent.
The fundraising numbers for the initiative in SearchLight Denver, the campaign finance tracker, show that pro contributions to NEWR total $88,454.34, with $37,300.05 from individual contributions as of October 20. Mary Imgrund, who works on communication for NEWR, says the final number will likely end up over $120,000.
Hamrick points to a current Denver program that pays for legal counsel for people facing evictions who make less than 80 percent of the area median income, which has about $1.2 million in funding. “It's pretty obvious, when you look at the formula, that nobody went through and said, 'Okay, this is the budget we need for the service,'” he says. “These are the number of housing units that are out there. Let's divide our budget by those housing units and come up with a tax.