The organization that tracks evictions in the United States has found that Colorado has enacted few protections for renters during the COVID-19 pandemic in contrast to other states where action has been more robust.

“Colorado’s governor has directed actors like landlords, banks, and sheriffs to avoid evictions, but no statewide orders in Colorado expressly limit evictions from occurring,” wrote Eviction Lab, a project of Princeton University. “Without statewide action and supportive measures to address rental debt, Colorado could see a surge of evictions during and immediately following the pandemic.”

Eviction Lab cataloged whether states had enacted 21 types of tenant protections, including whether eviction hearings are suspended, whether there is a prohibition on rent raises, or whether the state has guaranteed legal counsel for those facing eviction. The project found that Colorado had only enacted three of the policies, two of which pertained to utility shutoffs and the third was the availability of emergency rental and mortgage assistance.

Massachusetts, by contrast, has 14 of the 21 protections in place.

The $2.2 trillion CARES Act included key provisions to address the financial hardship of the pandemic, including a $1,200 payment to most adults and a $600 increase in weekly unemployment benefits for four months, plus a 120-day moratorium on evictions in buildings with federally-backed mortgages.

On Friday, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., introduced legislation to cancel all rental and mortgage payments during the pandemic, with an assistance fund for landlords mortgage holders. The Denver city council last week called for a similar policy in Colorado, for which Gov. Jared Polis has shown no interest.

In a statement from Coloradans for the Common Good and Mountain Voices Project, the faith-based groups warned of a housing crisis in a few months when public health orders and enhanced benefits expire, potentially at the peak of unemployment. In April, 9% of tenants were unable to pay on time, representing approximately 162,000 renters.

“The situation is dire for thousands of Coloradans and we fear it will get worse. So we do need an intervention,” said the statement from John Anderson of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Marilyn Winokur of B’nai Havurah Congregation, and Jorge Montiel and Alice Steindler, both organizers. “In fact, we need multiple interventions.”

Specifically, they request that Polis implement a statewide foreclosure moratorium that lasts one to two months beyond the expiration of the stay-at-home order, scheduled for April 27.

“We also need a solution to the pressure of mortgage payments – both for homeowners and for landlords who are not receiving rent payments,” the statement continued. “Ideally this would be a collaboration, and not a government mandate.”