Centennial Youth Achievement Awards application open

$1,000 scholarships o ered

BY TAYLER SHAW TSHAW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

High school seniors living in Centennial can apply between now and March 31 for the Centennial Youth Achievement Awards, which includes a $1,000 college scholarship, the city announced in a news release.

higher rents.

“ is goes back to the prevention of homelessness and making sure that we keep people in their homes,” said Rep. Serena GonzalesGuttierez, a Democratic cosponsor of the bill. Sen. Julie Gonzales also is sponsoring the bill.

Drew Hamrick, a representative of the Colorado Apartment Association, argued that renters already have protections against certain non-renewals. State and federal law already forbid landlords from refusing to renew for a variety of reasons, including as retaliation for making maintenance requests or as an act of discrimination against protected classes, he said.

Mabrey, the sponsor, argued that those laws are hard to enforce because it’s often impossible to prove why a landlord has refused to renew e achievement awards is a scholarship program presented by the city and Jacobs, the city’s public works and code compliance provider, per the release. a lease. A broader law will protect more people’s rights, he said.

“ e Youth Achievement Awards program honors and recognizes exemplary young leaders who have made signi cant contributions to Centennial through service and outstanding leadership in school, community and the workplace,” the city said in the release.

“It is incredibly hard, incredibly hard to prove discrimination in court … especially for a pro se tenant who doesn’t have an attorney,” he said.

Hamrick said landlords need to be able to end a rental relationship. It’s often the best way to deal with issues where a renter is misbehaving but the landlord can’t prove it, he said.

“Just hold your noses, let it go for another three months, and (don’t) renew the lease,” he said of the current approach, which he favors. e bill would still allow landlords to evict people who commit “substantial” violations of the lease, including failure to pay or refusing to let a landlord into the property. In other situations, though, landlords would have to pay to get rid of renters.

For example, if a property owner wanted to demolish, renovate or redevelop their home, they would have to provide “relocation as- sistance” to the renter, paying the renter the equivalent of at least two months’ rent. e same would apply when owners want to live in the property themselves. e bill “would give people like Mr. Jones substantially more time to nd somewhere to live,” Bailey said.

To apply, seniors must submit a completed application, short essay responses and a letter of recommendation from an adult who is unrelated to them and is either a teacher, counselor, school administrator, advisor, coach, employer or community leader. Up to four $1,000 scholarships will be awarded, and the money can be used for college tuition, fees and course enrollment, according to the release.

In those situations, the landlord would have to give up to 120 days’ notice, which advocates argued would help tenants nd a new place.

One witness, eviction defense attorney Spencer Bailey, described the case of an 87-year-old man he represented, for whom he used a pseudonym.

“He had always paid his rent on time. Mr. Jones had never broken any rules, never had any complaints. He was given only three weeks to move out after living in a place for almost two decades, and he had nowhere to go,” Bailey said, adding that the man had been on a monthto month lease.

Carla Friedli, who leases out a home she owns in Longmont, said e Centennial Youth Commission will select the award recipients. e youth commission serves as an advisory board to the city council and is made up of 11 teens ranging in age from 13 to 18, per the city’s website. e winning applicants will be noti ed by April 28. ose interested in learning more about the achievement awards and how to apply can visit: centennialco. gov/youthawards. that relocation fees would disrupt her retirement plans. e bill’s next step is the House oor, where it would need to win a majority of the chamber. It also would require approval by the Senate before it heads to Gov. Jared Polis. is story is from CPR News, a nonpro t news source. Used by permission. For more, and to support Colorado Public Radio, visit cpr.org.

“I really might be forced to sell this home or change the terms of my lease now to account for two months, plus an additional month of relocation fees,” said Friedli, who described herself as an educator and mental health worker.

Five other states have a similar “just cause” or “good cause” eviction law, including New Jersey, California, New Hampshire, Oregon, Washington, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. ough those states’ laws have di erent details.