Eviction filings in Boulder County have surpassed last year鈥檚 total, continuing an upward trajectory that began in the years following the Covid-19 pandemic, according to from the Colorado Judicial Branch.
So far this year, more than 1,477 cases have been filed in the Boulder County Justice Center and the Longmont Safety and Justice Center 鈥� a nearly 6% increase from the 1,398 cases filed in 2023. The figures mark the highest levels since the years following the Great Recession.
The rising numbers reflect Boulder County鈥檚 high housing costs, compounded by other cost-of-living pressures, as unpaid rent is the most common reason landlords seek an eviction. In addition to an increase in eviction case filings, calls for assistance to the city鈥檚 Eviction Prevention and Rental Assistance Services (EPRAS) program are also rising, as local food banks report record demand, and the county鈥檚 largest homeless shelter .
鈥淩ents are still going up,鈥� Jay Allen, a program coordinator with the City of Boulder who helps oversee the EPRAS program, said. 鈥淭he amount of funding that each person can access [through the rental assistance program] has sort of stayed the same. There is a little bit of a mismatch there.鈥�
Another factor driving the rise in filings is the growth of rental housing, as the increasing cost of buying a home in Colorado has pushed more people into the rental market, according to Drew Hamrick, general counsel for the Colorado Apartment Association.
鈥淭he state is getting bigger from a population standpoint and more of those people are living in rental units over the last 20 years,鈥� Hamrick told Boulder Reporting Lab. In Boulder County, the number of occupied rental units has grown by about 18% since 2010, according to U.S. Census .
While housing insecurity remains the main driver, it doesn鈥檛 fully explain the recent rise in cases, according to some observers.
This year鈥檚 eviction numbers may be inflated because landlords, rather than negotiating with tenants or waiting for rent payments, are taking legal action earlier. That鈥檚 because filing an eviction case is a prerequisite for accessing rental assistance funds from both the City of Boulder and State of Colorado, allowing landlords to get rent payments faster.
The EPRAS program requires tenants seeking rental aid to first receive a summons to appear in housing court. This requirement, was by prioritizing aid for those actively facing eviction.
However, the policy may also be encouraging landlords to file eviction cases to expedite rent payments. This legal step raises the stakes in disputes over unpaid rent, as landlords can seek to have tenants pay filing and attorneys鈥� fees, which can total hundreds of dollars for those who may not be able to afford them. These fees are not covered by EPRAS funds, according to Allen of the city鈥檚 EPRAS program.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 kind of a foreseeable 鈥� side effect of the way that these programs have changed as the funding has kind of started to go away,鈥� Allen told the Tenant Advisory Committee earlier this month, referring to landlords filing more cases to get access to the limited funds sooner.
Despite this upward trend, more than 95% of tenants who engage with the program avoid an eviction judgment, typically through agreements that cover unpaid rent or move out in exchange for dismissing the case, according to . These agreements allow the tenant to at least avoid having an eviction on their record.
John Herrick is a reporter for the Boulder Reporting Lab. His work frequently appears on-air at KUNC 91.5 FM and online at KUNC.org. Contact John at john@boulderreportinglab.org.