Hotline Offers Help to Renters, Homeowners

By Libby Smith

DENVER (CBS4) - Rent in the Denver Metro Area is averaging more than $1,000 for even the smallest of places. The market has many low-to-moderate income resident scrambling to find a place to call home, but for some help is a phone call away.

The Colorado Housing Connects Hotline has taken 24,215 calls so far this year, most from people desperate to find affordable housing.

"I think that our housing market shifted quickly from a foreclosure crisis to rising home prices and rising rents, of course, as well," said Shannon Peer, Director of Housing Counseling for Brothers Redevelopment Inc.

COLORADO HOUSING CONNECTS HOTLINE: 1-844-926-6632

In 2014, Brothers Redevelopment Inc. expanded the Foreclosure Hotline to Colorado Housing Connects in order to handle the changing nature of housing questions in the state.

"We saw rising rents. We saw service agencies that served renter populations with renters' rights and renter education, we saw them actually shutting their doors," Peer explained.

Now Housing Navigators take anywhere from 40-90 calls a day, mostly from renters.

"These aren't easy calls. These are trying to figure out each level of need and how to meet that need," said navigator, Patrick Noonan.

Navigators are trained to offer resources, referrals, and advice on everything from landlord/tenant disputes, to veteran assistance and senior resources. Housing navigators try to provide a new resource, or a new insight for callers.

LINK: Colorado Housing Connects Hotline

"It's tough… a lot of hard questions… a lot of questions you can't always give a great answer, but it's setting realistic expectations sometimes," Noonan told CBS4.

Luella Cole, 73, is among those who recently called the hotline. She is desperately trying to find a new apartment. Her landlord is selling the condo she lives in, and has even given her an extra month to find a new home. But so far, she can't find a new landlord who will accept her housing voucher.

"It's been exasperating," she told CBS4.

Cole hopes she can find a new place to call home with the help of Colorado Housing Connects.

Libby Smith is a Special Projects Producer at CBS4. If you have a story you'd like to tell CBS4 about, call 303-863-TIPS (8477) or visit the News Tips section.