Part of 9to5 Colorado’s housing justice mission is to even the playing field between tenants and their landlords by advocating for policies that will bring us closer to a reality where safe and affordable housing is attainable for all Coloradans. We contributed to the Human Impact Partners Corporate Wealth vs. Community Health report, a research initiative that studied how landlords create harmful housing conditions that lead to poor health for renters, including residents in Colorado.
The report featured two of our members, Miriam De Santiago and Rosa Romero, who are both facing the consequences of price gouging from greedy landlords. Both women are mobile homeowners whose increased rent has made it nearly impossible to afford critical medications for themselves and their loved ones. Having to choose between basic needs like food, utilities, and medicine in order to afford rent is the reality for a growing number of Coloradans in 2024.
Research in the survey found that corporate landlords specifically target Black, Latinx, immigrant, and working-class communities and utilize six main profit-seeking strategies to harm community health: neglecting upkeep, filing mass evictions, hiking up rent, evading taxes, weakening tenant power, and dodging accountability. The impact on renters was severe – including increased levels of anxiety and depression, houselessness, and chronic health illnesses, among other effects.
These insights prove time and again that tenants are being taken advantage of – and we must continue building power together to show corporate landlords we will NOT back down. As part of Colorado Homes For All, we are in the process of debriefing our past legislative session and strategizing next steps. Keep an eye out for upcoming actions to hold corporate landlords accountable!
