A pending civil rights case was listed as an agenda item at the June Estes Park Housing Authority board meeting, and a brief “no update” status report was made.
The case, filed with the Colorado Civil Rights Division against the EPHA, arose from an administrative error on April 6, 2023, when the organization was informing individuals on its waitlist about available rental units.
Because this is an ongoing matter, Katie O’Donnell, director of communications and public engagement for the CCRD, told the Estes Valley Voice that state law prohibited disclosing the plaintiff’s identity or details about the case.
In an interview on Friday, Scott Moulton, executive director for EPHA, said that when the plaintiff signed up for the organization’s waitlist, the individual self-identified as disabled and does not currently live in the Estes Valley.
Getting on the waitlist is fairly easy, but when a unit becomes available and those at the top are notified of the opportunity, a response is required as soon as possible. When EPHA receives this response, applicants are vetted to ensure they meet the requirements for the property they are applying for, and Moulton said that the first person to get through the vetting process is offered the unit.
In the 2023 incident, a letter was mistakenly emailed and texted to all 869 people on the waitlist at the time instead of only the first 10 to 15 people who would qualify for a unit at Peak View Apartments, a workforce housing complex located along Highway 7 near Peak View Drive, Moulton said.
About forty minutes later, the mistake was discovered, and a new letter explaining the error and retracting the offer was sent to the people who did not qualify. Moulton explained that the plaintiff was one of the people who did not qualify because she didn’t live or work in Estes Park at the time.
“The Civil Rights Division found probable cause to pursue the suit,” Moulton said, although he doesn’t know exactly why.
Several years ago, EPHA migrated from sending mailed letters through the United States Postal Service to sending email and text notifications when a unit becomes available.
While electronic notifications are more efficient, the automatic population of the applicant’s first name on the letter or text may make it seem that they are the only ones getting the notification, he explained, and several people at the top of the waiting list are emailed simultaneously.
“If you don’t respond, we’ll take you off the waiting list,” explained Moulton about the process. “If you do respond and say, ‘Oh, I don’t need housing now, but keep me on the list,’ they stay on the waitlist. If they respond and say, ‘Oh, I am interested,’ then the formal screening process starts to make sure you still qualify” for the available unit.
Qualifications vary among the rental units that EPHA manages. Some developments, such as the Peak View Apartments, require one person in the household to be employed or self-employed for a minimum of 30 hours per week within the mapped boundaries of the Estes Park R3 School District.
An individual’s circumstances can change from the time they fill out the initial application and are placed on the waitlist to the time a unit becomes available. When someone indicates they are still interested in the unit, a new vetting process is triggered.
Qualification points, allowed under the US Housing and Urban Development regulations, are applied to every applicant. Moulton said that if someone currently lives in the area, they are given five priority points. If someone currently works in the area, they are given an additional five points. These people rise to the top of the waitlist during the vetting process, he explained, to ensure the local workforce is given priority.
Moulton said the EPHA is holding a unit in Falcon Ridge for the plaintiff, anticipating an agreeable outcome in this case.
“We went through the process of mediation, it was nearly four hours along,” said Moulton. “This was about eight or nine months ago, and we weren’t able to come to a resolution with the complainant. So, then it essentially, to my understanding, goes to a judge to make a decision of determination.”
He said that civil rights cases “are extremely rare. This is only the second one we’ve had in a decade.”