A Colorado landlord has allegedly threatened to double his tenants’ rent in the event that Joe Biden is elected president. But if Donald Trump is reelected, he assures them their rent won’t increase “for at least two years.”
As local outlet 9News reported, landlord Bernie Pagel sent out a notice to residents of Pagel’s Trailer Park in Fort Morgan informing them of the potential hike in their rent, a notice which many of those outraged residents insist is a form of voter oppression.
According to a copy of that notice posted online, Pagel claims the rent increase would be in response to Biden’s economic effect as president.
As the note reads,
“Please understand IF Joe Biden is elected as our next President, everything you do and have to pay for will change completely.
Everything will be increased. Like paying ALOT [ sic ] more in taxes, utilities, gasoline, groceries, new permits, fees and regulations…everything! This also means YOUR RENT will be increased to cover these expenses. Most likely, rent would DOUBLE in price!”
However, in the event that Trump is reelected for a second term in office, Pagel said the park’s tenants will actually benefit.
“IF the current President is re-elected, WE WILL NOT RAISE THE RENT FOR AT LEAST 2 YEARS,” the notice claims, adding, “If Trump wins, we all win. If Biden wins, we all lose.”
Although Pagel also wrote that the park is not trying to tell its residents how to vote in the upcoming election, everything he stated in the notice seems to suggest otherwise.
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And the tenants who live in Pagel’s Trailer Park certainly think so, too.
“I mean, we can’t control how this whole election goes,” Cindy Marquez, a tenant of the park, told 9News . “We can’t control what everyone else does, you know? We can’t control the results.”
It’s not exactly clear how Pagel expects one trailer park to turn the tide on this election.
While Colorado has historically been considered a swing state, recent polls published on 270towin have found the state will likely continue on the same blue streak it’s been on in the last three elections, thanks to all the young voters who are flocking to the polls.
Indeed, in the months leading up to the election, voters in the state have shown to favor Biden over Trump.
This is in keeping with the trend Colorado has followed in previous elections, with voter beliefs aligning more with the Democratic nominee’s policies.
As stated on 270towin , “After voting primarily Republican from 1920-2004, the state has voted with the Democrats in the last three presidential elections, including Hillary Clinton’s five-point margin in 2016.”
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone to attempt to intimidate voters.
As per Title 18, section 594 of the U.S. Code,
“Whoever intimidates, threatens, coerces, or attempts to intimidate, threaten, or coerce, any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote as he may choose…shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.”
Marquez, whose family has lived in the park for the last 20 years, fears they won’t been able to stay if the rent is doubled.
“Our family lives paycheck to paycheck and right now we barely make things out with what we get,” she said, adding that her neighbors are also concerned.
“I mean everybody was pretty shocked, honestly,” she continued. “It was mainly hurtful, you know? How could someone say something like that or basically threaten us according to something that we can’t control?”
h/t: 9News
