- A Colorado landlord who manages a trailer park sent a letter to tenants saying rents would likely double if Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden wins the election, KUSA-TV reported.
- Tenants are calling it a form of voter suppression.
- A complaint was filed with Colorado’s secretary of state’s office.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
A landlord who manages a trailer park in Colorado is accused of sending a letter to tenants saying that if Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden wins the election, rents would likely double, KUSA-TV reported.
The news station, citing a copy of the letter, reported that it also said if Trump won, rents would stay the same for at least two years.
“Voting is your choice and we are not telling you how to vote. We are just informing our tenants what WE will do according to the election results,” the letter read. “If Trump wins, we all win. If Biden wins, we all lose.”
The letter claims taxes and other living expenses would increase if Biden was elected and that the trailer park would respond with the rent increases.
Business Insider reached out to Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser’s office to learn whether the notice is legal. KUSA-TV reported the Colorado secretary of state’s office did receive a complaint about the issue and passed it along to Weiser’s office.
Some tenants living at Pagel's Trailer Park in Fort Morgan told KUSA-TV they believe the letter amounts to voter suppression.
"I mean, we can't control how this whole election goes," Cindy Marquez, a tenant of the trailer park, told KUSA. "We can't control what everyone else does, you know? We can't control the results."
Marquez said her family lives paycheck-to-paycheck and would not be able to afford higher rent. She also said it isn't fair to be "threatened" with the election results which are outside of the tenants' control.
Juana Hernandez, whose parents have lived at the trailer park for about a decade told The New York Times: "It's just really infuriating because most of the people who live in the trailer park are Hispanic. A lot of them, they don't even have the right to vote. I do think that it is intimidation."
At least 47 million early votes have already been cast in this year's presidential election as of Thursday, according to Public Citizen.