Denver seeks state help in ensuring compliance with its foundering affordable housing program

Forest City affordable homes in Stapleton April 18, 2017 in Denver.

Denver City Attorney Kristin Bronson on Tuesday went before the Colorado Real Estate Commission to ask for help in clearing up the thick fog that has enveloped the city’s affordable housing program and allowed hundred of families to purchase homes they weren’t qualified to buy.

“Many of these owners are coming to the closing table not realizing that these homes are affordable,” she said. “There is confusion in the market.”

Denver’s Office of Economic Development estimates that around 300 out of 1,302 homes in its affordable for-sale housing program are out of compliance with requirements. Those homes, mostly in Green Valley Ranch, Lowry and Stapleton, have income limits on who can buy them, caps on the annual price appreciation allowed at the time of sale and restrictions on their use as short-term rentals.

The affordable home covenants were recorded in the public record, and the city expected that sellers would inform buyers and title insurers would make compliance a condition of obtaining a policy. Instead, many buyers and sellers and the agents representing them have acted as if the covenants never existed — and may not have known that they existed — and title insurers have buried disclosures deep in sale documents.

The city is working with homeowners who are out of compliance with the program’s rules, but those who are unable to prove they qualified under the income limits at the time of purchase may have to sell their properties to a qualified buyer.

One request Bronson made to the commission to avoid future problems is to include language in the disclosure forms that sellers provide to buyers detailing the condition of a home and any problems or defects.

Sellers should have disclosed the affordability covenants under a section called L3, which is a catch-all for “Notice of any adverse conditions from any governmental or quasi-governmental agency that have not been resolved.”

Bronson asked for a new and more specific line item to require disclosure of any affordable housing covenants attached to a house, which would let a potential buyer know to dig deeper.

But disclosure forms assume sellers are aware of an issue. The commission on Tuesday discussed a change in the real estate sales contract that would move information about exclusions listed on the title policy into the deed, where it would be more accessible to the general public.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, in a letter to the Land Title Association of Colorado last week, argued that title insurers should have made compliance with the covenants a condition of issuing a policy. Instead, the common practice was to make the program an exception and not cover it.

But even then, if the exceptions were included in a more accessible public record like the deed, that could have boosted the odds that someone paying attention might have caught the affordable housing covenants, supporters of the new language argue.

“The language doesn’t solve every problem related to preparation of the deed. It does improve the current situation,” said Scott Peterson, general counsel with the Colorado Association of Realtors, which is in favor of the change along with the Colorado Bar Association.

But the title insurance industry is opposed, for a variety of reasons. Different insurers might cover or exclude different things on the same property. Sometimes that’s because a buyer asks for a specific coverage or it could reflect a competitive strategy.

Different exceptions would get conveyed onto the deed depending on who is writing the policy. Some items simply might be missed, and if the information is conveyed improperly, it has the potential to leave the seller and agent liable.

*If the broker instructs the title company to put the exceptions into the deed, they become liable,” said Brian Phillips, a Denver attorney specializing in title underwriting.

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What To Look For With Luxury Apartments In Denver

Denver is one of the most popular places to live in the United States and the demand for housing isn’t keeping up with the production of housing so there is a lot of competition for apartments. Most of the new construction is for luxury apartments in Denver because the developers can make more money when they build luxury apartments.

Luxury apartments are a great option if you can afford them because they are easier to find. Most of the demand is for affordable units and those are going to go really fast. There are always multiple applications for affordable apartments and you have to find them fast and apply fast if you want to find one.

Luxury apartments in Denver stay on the market a lot longer and they are much easier to rent. In fact, some of the buildings are offering perks like free months of rent or free parking. The luxury apartments are very expensive but they have lots of perks and they are always located in the best part of town.

Many of the luxury apartments have gyms, pools and rooftop decks that you can enjoy and there are lots of other amenities that you can enjoy in Denver luxury apartments that are going to make you enjoy your stay there even more. The apartments have all the latest fixtures and upgrades and they are great places for entertaining. You can enjoy the gorgeous light-filled space and you can also enjoy some amazing views.

There are plenty of luxury apartment complexes to choose from in Denver and you will have your choice of any unit if you can afford to pay the high prices. Living in a luxury apartment is fun if you can afford it and living downtown is a great experience. You can walk to all sorts of great attractions and there are lots of bars and clubs to hang out at.

If you like to ski you can drive up the mountains in about an hour. It can take a lot longer on the weekends through because so many people want to ski. Denver is a great place if you love to eat and you can choose from many different restaurants. and other places to eat. There are lots of clubs and entertainment opportunities in Denver as well and you can always find interesting things to enjoy when you live in a luxury loft.

Denver is a great place to live and there are lots of outdoor activities to enjoy. You get to ski in the winter and enjoy the mountains in the summer. You will never get bored with the mountains and they are absolutely gorgeous. There are so many things to do in Denver and the weather is great most of the year.

The job market is good in Denver and the city is clean and safe. You can walk around at night and not have to worry about getting robbed. Denver has a lot going for it.

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The Denver Democratic Party Platform Now Has an Anti-Capitalist Plank, Thanks to Socialists

Members of the Denver DSA passed an amendment calling for democratic ownership and control over the economy. (Denver DSA / Facebook)

In a sign of how far left the political axis has shifted since Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential run, on Saturday the Democratic Party of Denver officially ratified an anti-capitalist plank in its platform.

The move was spurred by members of the Denver chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) who petitioned Denver County Democratic Assembly delegates to vote for an amendment to the official party platform. The language states:

“We believe the economy should be democratically owned and controlled in order to serve the needs of the many, not to make profits for the few.

On March 24, the amendment passed with overwhelming support, and it will now be listed in the Democratic Party of Denver’s platform preamble. Denver DSA chair Kristofer Dubbels tells In These Times that there was initially some open opposition to the proposal, including a number of delegates who told him it “would never pass.” When the vote came up, however, of the nearly 1,000 delegates present, roughly 90 percent raised their cards in approval.

Earlier in the month, 15 members of Denver DSA were elected as delegates during the Democratic Party of Denver caucus, running on a pledge to bring new enthusiasm to the party and help spark more engagement from youth (nearly all of the newly elected delegates are under 30). They say they were surprised by how little resistance they faced, and how open the local party was to the empowering of a slate of socialists.

Once elected, the DSA delegates turned to amending the party platform to reflect a more radical political vision. Dubbels says that members discussed various planks on issues ranging from municipal WiFi to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. Ultimately, explains Dubbels, they decided on “something along the lines of the original Clause IV of the British Labour Party’s constitution, which explicitly advocated for common ownership of the means of production.”

That clause, originally drafted in 1917 by British socialist and co-founder of the London School of Economics Sidney Webb, read: “To secure for the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible upon the basis of the common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange, and the best obtainable system of popular administration and control of each industry or service.”

The clause was adopted by the Labour Party in its 1918 official constitution, in what commentators and media outlets reported was the first time the party had affirmed “definitely socialistic” principles.

The clause remained in Labour’s constitution until Tony Blair and his centrist New Labour coalition oversaw its removal in 1995, in order to make the party more appealing to “middle England.”

During this same period in the United States, Bill Clinton and the New Democrats sought to realign the Democratic Party toward the center-right, enacting welfare “reform” and deregulating the financial industry.

Today, with Jeremy Corbyn as Labour’s leader, a campaign is mounting to bring back Clause IV, and Corbyn has signaled an openness to adding in language promoting public investment in and control over certain industries. The party’s 2017 manifesto, meanwhile, includes calls for public ownership of railways, energy companies and the mail system, along with a slew of redistributive programs from housing to social care.

Across the pond, organizers from California to Massachusetts have over the past two years amended local Democratic Party platforms to include calls for such progressive policies as a guaranteed federal jobs program, single-payer healthcare, student loan debt forgiveness, an end to for-profit prisons and taxing carbon emissions. On a national level, in 2016, Sanders supporters successfully helped pass the most progressive platform in the Democratic Party’s history.

The inclusion of democratic control over the economy in the Democratic Party of Denver platform stands out as the most radical development yet in the growing efforts to move the stated positions of local Democratic parties to the left. And the milestone reflects the growing power of open socialists in charting the direction of these parties.

Maria Svart, National Director of DSA—the largest socialist organization in the country—says: “What Denver DSA has done is show that democratic socialism is not a fringe perspective. Rather, an overwhelming majority of Denver County Democratic Assembly delegates affirmed that the economy should serve everyone, not the rich and powerful.” (Full disclosure: The author is a member of DSA.)

A recent paper from Thomas Piketty, author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century, found that the strategy of transforming the Democratic Party through shifting platforms to the left is “actually a winning electoral strategy that can help bring back disenfranchised working-class voters and less educated voters who currently may not vote at all or identify with right-wing populism,” as Keith A. Spencer writes in Salon.

While the platform in Denver isn’t binding, and Dubbels acknowledges that the amendment is “far to the left of every single elected Democrat currently in office” in the city, he also says that it has planted a flag for the party’s left flank and proves that socialist ideas “already have a built-in popularity among the party’s grassroots.”

Kaitlin Peterson, a member of Denver DSA and new Denver County Democratic Assembly delegate, says the passage of the socialist amendment "shows that the success of Bernie Sanders and his message wasn’t a fluke. People sincerely want a more democratically controlled economy and they are aware that many of the social injustices we see today are because of the power that is given to corporations under our current political system. The Democratic Party establishment needs to sit up and pay attention to this if they want to survive."

After the March 24 vote, all 15 Denver DSA members signed up as delegates to the Colorado Democratic Party’s State Assembly where, at an upcoming meeting on April 14, they hope to add the amendment to the state’s Democratic Party platform.

And, according to Dubbels, the group will “continue our efforts both to bring radicals into the Democratic Party and to radicalize everyone who is already there. A lot of people agree with us already and just need to be told they aren’t alone.”

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The Spot newsletter: Cambridge Analytica aided Colorado GOP, election 2018 shakeups and more Capitol harassment allegations

Welcome back to The Spot, where The Denver Post’s politics team captures what’s happening this week — from the Colorado legislature to Denver city hall, with a stop through the halls of Congress in Washington, D.C. Each Thursday, our reporters and editors will break down what we’ve covered and what to watch for in the days ahead. This is our sixth (!!) issue of this newsletter (you can read last week’s here).

There was a ton of news in Colorado politics over the past week, and I’m already out of breath, so let’s get right to it.

Sign up for The Spot newsletter for a weekly rundown of Colorado politics.

We found out that Cambridge Analytica worked in Colorado to help Republicans a few years back, there is a new candidate in the governor’s race and a now-former candidate and there’s even more unrest over alleged harassment at the state Capitol.

We’ve got updates on the sexual harassment allegations against Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and news about a land battle and proposed housing project for the homeless in the burbs. The gun debate, meanwhile, rages on.

Oh, and we wrote about a submarine.

BREAKING: Colorado Senate Minority Leader Lucia Guzman, D-Denver, announced she was stepping down from her post on Thursday morning, citing the sexual harassment scandal embroiling the statehouse as one of her reasons.

The Virginia class fast attack submarine USS Colorado passes the shore of Groton as it travels down the Thames River toward Long Island Sound on Jan. 9, 2018. ROLL CALL COLORADO: THE STATEHOUSE & BEYOND

Fresh this morning:

Democrats reached a compromise with the GOP in the Colorado Senate late Wednesday on how to pay for billions of dollars in needed road repairs. The Joint Budget Committee on Wednesday agreed to set aside $825 million in next year’s budget to address the three biggest financial issues of the 2018 legislative session. There’s more drama at the statehouse after Republicans in the Senate accused a Democrat of frequenting a women’s restroom. He says it was a one-time, honest mistake that’s being overblown, but a formal complaint has been filed. The sexual harassment scandal gripping the Colorado Capitol has officially infiltrated policy debate. Also on the harassment front, a Democrat in the Colorado House of Representatives accused a fellow member of his caucus of harassment and bullying. State Rep. Donald Valdez, D-La Jara, went as far as to suggest he could try to expel the lawmaker. Democrats rejected an effort by Republicans to let people carry concealed guns without a permit. The deep partisan divide over the future of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission doesn’t look to be going anywhere anytime soon. Colorado lawmakers took a step toward preventing future mining disasters while acknowledging that contamination of waterways from old mining sites continues each day. The legislation was immediately opposed by the mining industry. Four years ago, Republicans won the state Senate for the first time in a decade, and now we are learning more about their partnership with Cambridge Analytica. And more details are still emerging. Colorado cited this drug rehab center operator 50 times in 3 years, and it’s still in business. Iowa shut it down in two months. A rosy revenue forecast has set the stage for a state budget fight unlike any Colorado has seen since before the Great Recession. Instead of grappling with difficult cuts, lawmakers instead have $500 million more to spend than they expected just 3 months ago.

House Republicans we’re near unanimous today in their calls for changes to the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Democrats are set to pass it out of the House, but alterations seem imminent in the GOP-controlled Senate. Question is: Where’s the middle ground? #copolitics pic.twitter.com/tJgGTSg3tw

— Jesse Aaron Paul (@JesseAPaul) March 20, 2018

Election 2018 news The governor’s race is getting serious. A prominent Democratic candidate dropped out with veiled hits on his rivals. And a new Republican candidate entered the contest, suggesting “there’s no excitement” for any GOP contenders. Oh, and the deadline for candidates to qualify by petition for the ballot has passed. Now the attention turns to the election nerve center in Pueblo, featured in this seriously great story from reporter John Frank. DENVER & THE SUBURBS The fallout continues from Denver Mayor Michael Hancock’s harassment scandal, and this week brought a twist: After the former security detail officer who received texts from him six years ago said she wants a formal investigation, the City Council — which last week was ready to put the matter to rest — took the first steps toward initiating a potential probe. Denver city officials made good this week on a pledge to launch a defense fund that will help immigrants in the country illegally. Even as home prices rise to record levels in the metro area and homelessness becomes an ever more visible issue, a group of neighbors in Lakewood is raising strong objections to a potential 1,000-person housing project for homeless people — the largest of its kind in Colorado — on 59 acres of federal land near 6th Avenue and Union Boulevard. The devastating hailstorm of last May that wreaked havoc on the west metro area, causing the closure of the Colorado Mills mall for half a year, has now spawned a lawsuit against the Lakewood mall for lost business. An unprecedented legal case featuring a condemnation action by Lafayette against Erie took another step forward this week, when the Colorado Court of Appeals heard arguments from both sides. Lafayette wants to lay claim to 22 acres of land in Erie at a busy commercial corner. Erie is crying foul. A ruling is expected next week that could be pivotal to the long-awaited launch of RTD’s G-Line commuter rail service. A lesser-known income stream for Denver International Airport comes from dozens of oil and gas wells. The only problem, as highlighted by the city auditor, is that nearly one-third of them aren’t currently making money. City planning officials in Denver are teaming up with the Metropolitan Football Stadium District and the Denver Broncos to start making plans for redevelopment of 52 acres of parking south of the stadium. A map provided by Denver shows the potential redevelopment area of about 52 acres surrounding the Broncos’ Mile High Stadium. D.C. POLITICS FROM A COLORADO PERSPECTIVE And then there were two. Democrat David Aarestad is out of the primary race to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman in a contest that it sure to draw national attention thanks to the GOP’s losses in Alabama and (apparently in) Pennsylvania. More mass shooting survivors are becoming involved in the push for gun control. In Colorado, it’s a trend we’ve seen for years. U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Colorado Springs Republican and big-time critic of marijuana, says he wants pot rescheduled on the federal level to allow for medical research. Speaking of marijuana, a bill making its way through the Colorado Capitol would open the doors for cannabidiol to be prescribed and sold in pharmacies across Colorado. Another ship photo to help you get through this omnibus newsletter. The second U.S.S. Colorado, June 10, 1913. THE WIRE

Here are some stories from around the state, region and U.S. we think you should check out:

A deep dive into the White House through the lens of ex-Communications Director Hope Hicks. — New York Magazine Three members of Colorado’s congressional delegation are mentioned in this piece about lawmakers with the highest staff turnover in Congress. — Politico Colorado’s U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, a Republican, plays a big part in this piece about President Donald Trump’s expected role in the GOP’s efforts to keep their congressional majorities. — Politico A group that you might not expect to be heavily impacted by the closing of local newspapers across the U.S.? Epidemiologists. — Stat Aides and interns at the Colorado legislature have played a major role in the Capitol’s sexual harassment scandal. A look at how they are feeling amidst the turmoil. — Colorado Public Radio Here’s what Colorado lawmakers are saying about staffing cuts at The Denver Post. “Hey that means we can do whatever we want,” one joked. — KUNC Anyone in Durango whose trash cans are foraged by bears will be “required to buy automatically-locking garbage cans from the city instead of paying a fine.” — The Durango Herald After a controversy erupted over Denver’s new contract for a jail inmate reentry program, the City Council this week approved the handing of the program to a new contract team after city officials rejected the group that had run the initiative for nearly a decade. — Denverite Three members of Colorado’s congressional delegation are mentioned in this piece about lawmakers with the highest staff turnover in Congress. — Politico GET IN TOUCH

Questions, comments, feedback about this newsletter? Cool stories? Send them my way.

And thanks for reading!

P.S. The Denver Post has had a really tough past two weeks, as we learned that some 30 staffers will be cut — or roughly one-third of the newsroom — as part of cost-saving reductions. Please support us (you can subscribe here) or journalism wherever you might be. And thanks for your support, whatever it might be.

P.P.S. In case you were wondering why this newsletter is called “The Spot,” it’s in part the reincarnation of our now-defunct political blog (except we’re a newsletter now…). “The Spot” refers to the yellow spot on Colorado’s flag. So, yeah, now ya know!

The Colorado flag hangs from a firetruck in front of the state capitol building in 2016.

Staff writers John Frank, Jon Murray, John Aguilar, Mark K. Matthews and Brian Eason contributed to this newsletter.

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Street signs stolen in Denver housing development

J. Reynols Hutchins/The News Her

DENVER – Two street signs were stolen in the entrance to a Denver housing development, according to a Catawba County Sheriff’s Office incident report.

One sign was labeled as a 20 miles per hour speed limit sign, with the other being described as a “private road, residents only” sign on Cobblefield Lane in Denver.

The signs were last known to be secure at 6 p.m. Friday, police reports show. The incident was reported Saturday morning.

The narrative of the incident is stated as “suspect(s) removed two signs from post at entrance to development,” according to the report.

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Wildfire destroys 5 homes in rural Colorado

DENVER — A grass fire near a rural Colorado community northeast of Colorado Springs has destroyed five homes and four barns but no one has been hurt.

Authorities say the fire in Elbert County began sometime about 10 a.m. Sunday and was driven by strong winds.

By mid-afternoon it had burned about 375 acres (152 hectares), but firefighters had gained about 90 percent containment.

Homes in the area were ordered evacuated while firefighters battled the fire.

Authorities said there were not initial reports of livestock being lost.

Another brush fire broke out near Fort Carson near Colorado Springs, threatening a housing area, but firefighters were able to save the homes.

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