OUR VIEW: They're trampling the rights of our homeless (poll)

Their tents are gone, replaced by a motel. Soon, some will have no motel. Their rights have been stripped because they are poor.

When city officials outlawed camping on public property last year, they displaced hundreds of homeless people who had lived in tents along creeks and under overpasses. City government and charity put most of them in motels, offering them counseling and other forms of assistance. The program has been a godsend, for the homeless and the community and the city officials deserve credit. It has resulted in more independence for those who have made the decision to make the most of a second chance.

For some, a setback came last week when about 100 tenants of Express Inn were given a week to leave. The Express Inn, they were told, would be shut down in a foreclosure.

“People have been crying. It’s a very sad situation,” said Ray Castillo, administrator of C-C Boarding Home, the agency that rented the motel and sublets rooms to tenants.

The motel’s owners, who live in Poland, defaulted on the mortgage and a judge ordered the property to close on May 15. Most tenants were informed late last week, and a majority have left for other arrangements — including tents.

“I think we may end with about 10 campers out of this,” said Bob Holmes, executive director of Homeward Bound Pikes Peak, an umbrella for the region’s private social services agencies. “Most of those are alcohol and meth abusers who have declined treatment.”

The Gazette hopes all of the motel’s displaced tenants will find safe accommodations and the assistance they need to realize the freedom of self sufficiency and sobriety.

The editorial board has concerns about our most vulnerable residents getting a week’s notice to move, especially considering the fact this foreclosure was not their fault. Property rights don’t belong only to borrowers with mortgage deeds, or to the receivers of properties in foreclosure. Tenants, who pay for the loans on properties owned by banks and borrowers, also have rights. Among those rights are reasonable protections from immediate disruptions to their lives, deprived of reasonable time to transition into new living arrangements.

“We asked the receiver, please don’t displace these people in the middle of the month,” Castillo said. “They are all on assistance, and they don’t have their checks until the end of the month. But he said they couldn’t do that, because the court order was to shut it down on the 15th.”

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Kyle Geditz, an attorney representing C-C Boarding Home, said the rights of the Express Inn tenants have been completely discarded throughout the foreclosure process.

The Gazette contacted attorneys with Colorado Legal Services, a nonprofit agency funded by government and private grants, who said tenants of the motel probably have rights to more notice. They promised to look into the matter today.

“They may be trying to get rid of them before the tenants have an opportunity to exercise their rights,” said Steve Flynn, a staff attorney with Colorado Legal Services. “A person occupying a foreclosed upon property is entitled to a court process of eviction.”

Exercising the eviction process, Flynn said, can buy a tenant weeks of valuable time to transition into a suitable living arrangement.

Theresa Kilgore, managing attorney of Colorado Legal Services, said a federal law enacted in 2009, titled the “Protecting Tenants and Foreclosure Act,” should protect the motel’s residents from having to obey an order to leave on inadequate notice. In general, the law gives tenants of foreclosure properties the right to a 90-day notice of eviction. Kilgore said the motel dilemma is complicated, involving a tenant who sublets to the poor, and she will research whether the law may protect any who remain in the motel.

The Gazette respects the rights of lenders, borrowers and appointed receivers. We also respect the rights and dignity of tenants who pay the bills for them. In a civilized country of laws, we should not give some of the poorest among us a one-week notice to get out, especially when a property falls into distress through no fault of their own.

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