{"id":2456636,"date":"2020-04-01T22:16:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T04:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspen-housing-authority-weighs-more-relief-for-tenants-dealing-with-covid-19-crisis\/"},"modified":"2020-04-01T22:16:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-02T04:16:00","slug":"aspen-housing-authority-weighs-more-relief-for-tenants-dealing-with-covid-19-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/aspen-housing-authority-weighs-more-relief-for-tenants-dealing-with-covid-19-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen housing authority weighs more relief for tenants dealing with COVID-19 crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/apchacomplaint-atd-030218-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/apchacomplaint-atd-030218-1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/apchacomplaint-atd-030218-1-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\"><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The Aspen-Pitkin County Housing Authority will be \u201cerring on the side of leniency\u201d regarding the agency\u2019s rules when it comes to people who have been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The APCHA board discussed Wednesday night the <a id=\"N0x19c5be0N0x18ac950:N0x19c5be0N0x1a27130\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspen-pitkin-county-housing-authority-snowmass-will-waive-late-fees-work-requirements-in-affordable-housing-amid-virus-crisis\/\">already-in-place guidelines<\/a> that provide relief to those who live in the 236 units owned by the city at the Truscott, Aspen Country Inn and Smuggler properties.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But deferring April rent to be paid within six months is not enough, some board members said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI think this needs to be three months\u201d and not have rent paid back, APCHA chairman John Ward said, adding that it\u2019s likely that 80% of the people who live in the agency\u2019s rental housing have lost their jobs and have no income coming in.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation p-0\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/at-banner-paypal.jpg)\" class=\"col-xl-8 p-3 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/donate\/?utm_source=website&amp;utm_medium=news%20article&amp;utm_campaign=donation\">Donate<\/a><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">And with Wednesday\u2019s public health order from Pitkin County <a id=\"N0x19c5be0N0x18ac9b0:N0x19c5be0N0x1a27370\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/pitkin-county-lengthens-stay-at-home-order-to-april-30-limits-group-down-to-5-people\/\">extending the \u201cstay at home\u201d deadline to April 30<\/a>, businesses will not recover quickly, board members recognized.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI think we need to think bigger,\u201d Ward said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">APCHA board member Rachel Richards, who also is a City Council member, said she <a id=\"N0x19c5be0N0x18aca10:N0x19c5be0N0x1a27520\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/close-to-1000-people-apply-for-covid-19-relief-in-aspen-area\/\">has proposed to her board<\/a> that there be rent reductions of half in April and May.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It will be a council decision, since the units are owned by the city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Richards also noted that financial relief from the federal, state and local governments is coming, so that could affect how APCHA proceeds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But she acknowledged that it\u2019s going to be a long haul for the local workforce and the economy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI agree very much with what John Ward said: I think this is going to be a much more painful and slow recovery than folks would like to see,\u201d she said. \u201cEven when businesses reopen they may not hire or keep as many people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe challenge is that for a lot of people deferring rent to the end, if you are not going to suddenly get twice as much work or start making 20% more money doesn\u2019t mean that you are going to be able to make up that deferred payment later and some of our own businesses are going to be facing those choices, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">APCHA\u2019s temporary policy changes issued last week for working households affected by COVID-19 include the suspension of late fees for tenants in properties managed by APCHA.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Affected households also can qualify for a one-time suspension of the minimum full-time work requirement if they can demonstrate that their loss of employment was due to the COVID-19 crisis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Tenants can request a one-month deferral for April rent, but only if they sign a repayment plan for making up the deferred rent over the remainder of their lease, not to exceed six months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Tenants receiving emergency financial assistance for rent from Pitkin County Human Services are not be eligible for rent deferral for April from APCHA.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Late fees are waived through June 30 for impacted COVID-19 renters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Tenants in good standing can terminate their leases without penalties as long as they provide a 30-day notice and can prove their job loss was due to COVID-19, among other requirements.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">APCHA also has suspended all evictions for properties it manages until April 30.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe are going to work with everybody,\u201d said APCHA Executive Director Mike Kosdrosky, adding he urges tenants and homeowners affected by the crisis to be sure to communicate with the agency.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:csackariason@aspentimes.com\">csackariason@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspen-housing-authority-weighs-more-relief-for-tenants-dealing-with-covid-19-crisis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Aspen-Pitkin County Housing Authority will be \u201cerring on the side of leniency\u201d regarding the agency\u2019s rules when it comes to people who have been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. The APCHA board discussed Wednesday night the already-in-place guidelines that provide relief to those who live in the 236 units owned by the city at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2456636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 06:43:49","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2456636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456636\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2456636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2456636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2456636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}