Housing

Established in 1953, Thornton started with three homes that were built with families in mind. Today, Thornton is still focused on providing quality housing and healthy, vibrant neighborhoods for those who desire to live in our community. When neighborhoods are healthy and vibrant, residents prosper, the local economy grows, and there is a sense of shared pride.  

​Eviction Moratorium

As of December 31, 2020, the state moratorium on evictions officially expired and is not expected to be extended by an additional Executive Order.  However, the federal moratorium authorized by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which the state order was largely modeled after, is still in effect. The CDC moratorium temporarily halts residential evictions of covered persons for nonpayment of rent through January 31, 2021. A “covered person” is any tenant, lessee, or resident of a residential property who provides a declaration under penalty of perjury that:

(1) The individual has used best efforts to obtain all available government assistance for rent or housing;

(2) The individual either (i) expects to earn no more than $99,000 in annual income for Calendar Year 2020-2021 (or no more than $198,000 if filing a joint tax return), (ii) was not required to report any income in 2019 to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, or (iii) received an Economic Impact Payment (stimulus check) pursuant to Section 2201 of the CARES Act;

(3) The individual is unable to pay the full rent or make a full housing payment due to substantial loss of household income, loss of compensable hours of work or wages, a lay-off, or extraordinary out-of-pocket medical expenses;

(4) The individual is using best efforts to make timely partial payments that are as close to the full payment as the individual's circumstances may permit, taking into account other nondiscretionary expenses; and

(5) Eviction would likely render the individual homeless— or force the individual to move into and live in close quarters in a new congregate or shared living setting—because the individual has no other available housing options.

The CDC order does not address the collection of late fees due to non-payment of rent. To continue to provide this extra layer of protection for Colorado renters, Governor Polis issued Executive Order EO 2020 307 on December 31, 2020 which prohibits charging late fees to both residential and commercial tenants, as well as mobile home owners, for failure to timely pay any portion of rent. Any fee or penalty assessed on or after January 31, 2021, shall apply only to rent due on or after that date. This Executive Order has been extended to be effective through March 29, 2021.

2021 Private Activity Bonds

The City of Thornton's Community Connections Division administers the Private Activity Bond program, which are tax-exempt bonds issued that can be used for a variety of activities.

Private Activity Bonds (PAB's) may be used for such projects as:

• New construction or acquisition/rehabilitation of housing for low to moderate income people.
  
• Single-Family Mortgage Revenue Bonds (SFMRB) - bonds sold by local and state agencies to help low and moderate income people purchase homes in the City of Thornton.
  
• Mortage Credit Certificates (MCC) - local issuers may use a bond allocation as mortgage credit certificates for qualified home buyers.
  
• Manufacturing "small issue" industrial development bonds (not to exceed $10,000,000) for construction of manufacturing facilities that produce goods.
  
• Qualified redevelopment bonds for acquiring property in blighted areas, prepare land for redevelopment, and relocate occupants of structres on the acquired property.
  
• Exempt facility bonds for hazardous waste facilities, solid waste disposal facilities, water and sewer facilities, mass commuting facilities, local district heating and cooling facilities, local electric energy or gas facilities and multifamily housing bonds.
  
• Qualifieid 501(c) (3) bonds for use by non-profit hospitals and private universities.