
Ask HN: How to survive as a homeless engineer? - homelessdev
TL;DR I&#x27;m about to get evicted because I ran out of money and can&#x27;t seem to land a job.
I&#x27;m also in a bit of a rush, so i apologize for any grammatical errors.<p>I have been a web developer &#x2F; software engineer for 15 years (fullstack, 5 languages).<p>I am living in Colorado with my wife -- I quit my job In Jan due to issues I had with the way our company was treating customer data. This turned out to be a foolish move as it has proven difficult to find a new job (I had something lined up when I quit, but it fell through).<p>I did land a contract between then and now, but in order to survive I had about 1.5 months to find a new job and that hasn&#x27;t happened.<p>I was 3 days late on my rent this month and now have to appear in court to explain why i haven&#x27;t paid. I fully expect that to lead to an eviction.<p>I&#x27;ve never had an issue finding a job prior to this so I&#x27;m quite frustrated with myself.<p>I don&#x27;t own a good laptop (i use a desktop) and have about $400 to survive on. I&#x27;ve tried upwork but can&#x27;t drum anything up quick enough &#x2F; at all. I have multiple interviews lined up but I&#x27;m not hopeful at this point. I have things I can sell but I&#x27;m not sure how quick I can turn them around. My wife has a job but its only a couple days per week so not enough to survive on... she has another interview on monday but no clue how it will turn out of course. We own a car and are currently planning on a shelter (car is second plan).<p>The questions I have for HN are: what are my best options for survival? any pro tips on how to live on the streets and still land an engineering job?<p>Thanks in advance guys
======
mikelevins
I've been in the kind of spot you're in. I survived it. There's nothing so
special about me. You can do it, too.

Every day make a careful, accurate inventory of the things that are under your
control and the things that are not. Don't worry about the things that are not
under your control; they're none of your business. They're like the weather:
they come and go as they will.

Focus on the things that are under your control, on finding out what is the
best thing you can do about them. Do it as well as possible.

You can survive the loss of a job. You can survive losing a place to live. You
can survive diagnosis of a debilitating, incurable illness. You can survive
the loss of the future you thought was ahead of you. I survived all of these,
and went on to do things that I judge to be good and worthwhile.

Like I said, there's nothing so special about me. What I can do, you can do.

Some of the other comments have good ideas and good advice. Take those and use
them.

Some comments are unhelpful. Forget those.

Remember: I lost my job, my family, my home, my career, and my health. I'm
still here. I still do things that I think are good and worthwhile. Some of
the best things that have ever happened to me happened after my great
catastrophe.

I did it, so you can do it.

I wish you the best of luck.

~~~
sandov
so... stoicism, basically.

------
araes
\- Public libraries can help with the job search if they offer free internet
access

\- If you don't mind camping, its an extremely cheap way to live, and a gym /
YMCA will help before interviews.

\- If you have any friends / family, ask them if you can crash. Have a friend
who lived this way for ages.

\- If it comes to it, there are often abandoned structures that are reasonable
for keeping rain off. Lived in an abandoned office building for a month at one
point. That one was really lucky. Had a gym, water, and electricity still!

\- Apply, apply, apply. Set a goal. X applications a day, where X is probably
3+. Beat that goal every day.

\- Be humble, but not desperate. If its reasonable and will pay bills, worth
it.

\- Be willing to move. Frankly, CO is really expensive. People scoff at AL
(cur. loc.), but it has NASA, Army, most 3 letter agencies, and every gov't
contractor known to man. Also, rent is $400-600 and a house can be found for
$30000-40000 if you're not picky.

\- Sell all your stuff. Flea markets, craigslist, ebay, whatever works.

\- If you get a job - save. There is no reason to lose a job and then only
have $400.

\- Send me a msg (email in profile) if the AL thing sounds reasonable. Used to
be in software and a contract mgr., can at least look at whats around. Can't
promise, as I left to walk the earth a while back.

~~~
oldsklgdfth
Sidenote: how does a place like AL have so much government money poored into
it?

~~~
araes
Its like gravity. You make a divot in spacetime, and things being to roll
downhill toward the divot. Mass collects, attracts other mass, and soon you
have a significant planetoid. Leave it alone long enough, you have a star, or
in the case of some places, a black hole.

In HSV case, several significant divots. NASA MSFC, Army Materiel Command
(Logistics), and the Missile Defense Agency. Caveat on living here, if WWIII
happens, we will get nuked.

~~~
oldsklgdfth
I like the gravity analogy. Sounds like you live there.

What is the life like there? Professionally and outside of work?

------
homelessdev
Apparently my post has been flagged for some reason. I attempted to post the
following last night but kept getting a message that I was posting too fast:

Questions / answers thus far:

there's been a lot of good advice in this thread thus far and a few
understandable questions.

I'm going to answer them all here as I can no longer edit the main thread.

first off, great suggestions - some of these were already on my mind (gym,
library, camping specifically) and seeing them reinforced via comments is
encouraging.

to answer some questions that have been raised:

1\. > homeless in the USA? Just cannot understand how this would happen

I'm still trying to piece this together myself. I failed multiple job
interviews that were very difficult, ran out of unemployment and am now facing
eviction. it takes 6 to 12 months to get into government housing in colorado.
unless i get a job before that, its the car, the woods or the street.

> 15 years full stack

I don't get it either.

2\. > How resonable is the person/company you rent from to secure an agreement
to stay on despite the late rent?

zero reasonable. they filed after 3 days and after i explained that i'm having
health issues.

3\. > Have you applied for unemployment?

yes, i was approved as my reason for quitting was appropriate, however it ran
out quickly as rent is extremely expensive.

4\. > Built In Colorado job

I am aware and use it, however yes the process is slow

5\. > if he were a brilliant engineer he probably wouldn't be on here with
this post

Define brilliant. i certainly haven't claimed to be brilliant, but i do claim
to be an excellent employee, extremely fast learner and someone who has never
been fired and who has always excelled at their job. I suspect some people
think i'm brilliant and others do not.

6\. > Why would 3 days late on your rent involve a court date and eviction?

Denver / Colorado is harsh as fuck, apparently.

7\. > It'd be really shocking to me if this happened in the US without some
prior history/grounds for eviction

then be shocked, my friend. its happening and i've never been evicted in the
past nor has my wife. nothin but smooth sailing in my past. this is denver

In all of this i also forgot to mention that I was diagnosed as being bipolar
which has helped wreck my life.

8\. > How have you been an engineer for 15 years and still: Rent an apartment,
Don’t have a few laptops lying around, Don’t have any savings while having no
kids

This series of questions assumes that i have made sound financial decisions
over the years. i have not. it also assumes i do not have a child whereas I do
from a previous marriage. also, it assumes i've never owned a house, i have...
doesn't mean i still do.

~~~
hluska
People aren't being very fair to you here and I'm flat out embarrassed by HN.

The most relevant thing is that you're going through something terrible. If I
had anything, I'd give it to you, but I've had a very tough year.

The best I can offer is that I'm genuinely sorry. Not only for the way you've
been treated here, but for everything that has happened.

I've had some good friends go down the homelessness path and the one thing
I've heard from all of them is that, no matter what, you've got to have some
sort of fixed address. Over the next few days, you've got two big priorities:

1.) Finding shelter.

2.) Finding someone who will let you get your mail sent to their address.

I wouldn't normally suggest this because it's rather manipulative, but there's
a technique called door in the face persuasion. Your first ask is going to be,
"Can we stay on your couch for {{period of time you'll stick to}}?" And, if
you hear no or see a pained expression on that person's face, your next ask
is, "Can I change my address to yours so I can keep getting my mail?"

Vast swaths of North American culture assume you have an address. It's amazing
how hard things will get when you no longer have one.

If you're in the Denver area, check out the Denver Voice. It's a street
newspaper and street papers are a great way to make money!

~~~
gerbilly
>People aren't being very fair to you here and I'm flat out embarrassed by HN.

Me too, it probably the just world hypothesis at work.

Hang in there and don't listen to the negative talk.

They cannot possibly understand what you are going through, because they
aren't going through it.

[1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-
world_hypothesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-world_hypothesis)

------
gremlinsinc
Just wanted to chime in, I'm in Utah and can totally relate. (My car will be
repo'd next friday if I don't have enough, and we're struggling w/ eviction
possibilities too.

For me, I had an employer not pay me 2 months of wages.. 14k. The CEO is a
corrupt scam-artist, and me and all other devs/ex employees have filed wage
claims, but he went to jail for check fraud, and I'm assuming he's poor too,
possibly a drug abuser according to one dev, so yeah--I'm probably never
seeing the 15k I'm owed :( ...

It's been a real struggle, the depression has made it so for about 2 weeks I
couldn't get out of my chair, I just felt if I move it would be to jump off a
roof or something. It gets better though (i think)...

My saving grace is reddit.com/forhire -- 90% of my freelance clients have come
from there, it's a great resource. I just got 2 clients this week, so
hopefully they pay and I can knock out their things fast enough to build up my
security net a bit.

My advice look at the for hire posts for devs, find the one that sticks out
the most, copy their layout, replace the content with your details, and post
it.

Do this once per week -- Monday at 7am eastern seems to be best / most
trafficked time according to a reddit stat's site I checked out.

Then just keep posting other places too, and following up. Hopefully you find
something. I know how hard it is though, good luck!

~~~
partycoder
The subreddit link is www.reddit.com/r/forhire

~~~
gremlinsinc
I've also got a multi-reddit for jobs, careers, and freelance:
[https://www.reddit.com/user/zvive/m/jobs_and_freelance/](https://www.reddit.com/user/zvive/m/jobs_and_freelance/)

------
auslegung
This sucks! I'm so sorry to hear man. I've spent a lot of time with people who
are homeless, which has caused me to think about this very question though I
haven't had to put any of this into practice so grain of salt.

\- Get a membership to a cheap gym so you can use their shower (and
potentially wifi) if the shelter doesn't work out. In many areas it's possible
to get a membership for $10-20/month. Clean your clothes in the shower with
you.

\- Try really hard not to feel desperate during interviews. We make worse
decisions when desperate. Easier said than done :(

\- You may need to buy a laptop, which will suck, but hopefully you can find
something good enough and very cheap on Craigslist? If you can't get a laptop,
consider public library or internet cafes (if those exist there).

\- Food is going to be tough. Canned beans will become a close friend. Also
canned soups/stews. Peanut butter, cheap produce. You may be able to find
edible plants nearby. Free samples at grocery stores? Bulk sunflower seeds are
cheap. Lifted most of these food ideas from a thread on reddit btw.

~~~
platinumrad
I'm not convinced that OP needs a laptop but a $100-150 old Thinkpad or low
end Chromebook will get you pretty far these days.

~~~
Something1234
A chromebook is not good. A cheap t410 or t400 would be best.

~~~
dochench
Why is a chromebook not good? Battery life is excellent and if crouton is
setup, make an excellent low end dev machine.

~~~
bwb
its like trying to code on an ipad, it can be done but that doesn't make it
the best choice.

~~~
earenndil
You can install a real os (linux or windows) on it, and they tend to be much
cheaper than other laptops (the tradeoff is that they have little disc space
and a slow processor).

------
sitzkrieg
I'm in Colorado and I have a laptop I'd be willing to give to you (its a
little older - 2011 but works fine and has a fresh linux install on it) if you
would like

------
wombatpm
Shit does happen. I've been there. #1 get some sort of income coming in. Keep
looking for an engineering position, but find another job that gets you some $
but leaves your days free for interviews and phone calls. It would suck to
give up a 4 hr shift for a BS screening interview. And at this point it does
not matter what you choose. You are not looking for your one true forever job.
You are looking to exchange your time for money.

Target, Home Depot are hiring. Consider 2nd shift and third shift type work.
It sucks but it leaves your days open for interviews during normal business
hours. Gas Station/Convenience stores are always looking for people to work
the graveyard shift.

Warehouse/logistics distribution centers are ALWAYS looking for 2nd shift
workers. If you can read and pass a drug test you can be hired. Double points
if you are actually legal to work in the United States. Usually there will be
a staffing agency who does the actual hiring.

I once worked for a business interiors company. We installed cubicles and such
for businesses. The work all had to happen after hours. Paid pretty good too.
Since you are in Denver that may be an option.

Consider too grocery store/bakery. Access to food that is still fine but can't
be sold is a great way to stretch your dollars.

As to your engineering job search. Please tell me you are not doing everything
yourself. Get IT staffing recruiters working for you! You are a easy
candidate. An IT worker with skills and experience who can start TODAY! Don't
be picky! If you can land ANY sort of professional work, you can stabilize
your life and keep looking for that Forever job.

------
seorphates
Well, it is summer, so there's that. Your compute situation is unfortunate but
your rental situation is surprising. Three days, court, eviction? I was always
under the impression that there were some number of weeks involved with a
legal eviction having some process before the sheriff can come knocking.
Clearly I'm mistaken and/or there's a longer story there.

You have to keep the faith and cannot allow yourself to spiral out. Find grit.
It is frustrating but you're going to have to temper that. You seem to be
doing the right things so do keep on keeping on. If homelessness is truly a
risk then you and your spouse will need to dig deep, reach out to friends and
family if possible, identify any root that you have and cling to it. Maybe
that's just each other but hold onto it regardless. You're already taking
inventory so you're already planning and adapting. Camping seems like a good
suggestion. Reach out to some agencies if you haven't already. The more people
working your case the better your chances will be. RH got my foot in the door
after a (not so) nice five month shutout that started early in Sep. 2001 when
myriad opportunities locked down tight literally overnight. I was at the end
of a nice, well earned six week vacation from tech after our startup shut
down. Just lying around. I regretted that little timeout for the next few
months, to say the least. The money was about done and stress was running
pretty high for a small family. You'll pull out, man, keep your chin up, your
eyes peeled and don't balk if an offer comes up short. Find a comfort zone and
shore up. You'll need a way to keep your comms open, for sure. I think that's
all I've got. Good luck and god speed.

------
morganwilde
I know the feeling, in fact a little over two years ago I posted something
similar on HN and got 0 responses. It’s always empowering to finally
acknowledge that there is no safety net.

Forget computers and engineering interviews, start looking for any and all
work that pays. If all else fails, go to McDonald’s and work there until you
save up a little. Once you have an income restart your job search.

If you go homeless that becomes a social stigma that’s hard to come back from,
so do EVERYTHING in your power to avoid that.

Oh, and find an apartment you can afford.

If you want someone to talk to, you can give me a call (send message first to
morgan@wilde.work).

~~~
pucke
"McDonald's" will not hire just anybody. I lived in Seattle for almost 8
months before finding a low-level wage job. The McDonald's argument is what
entitled people say to poverty stricken people who are suffering.

Also "find an apartment you can afford" is hilarious and patronizing. I make
enough money in the industry I have worked in for over a decade to not really
be able to afford a 140 square ft efficiency.

~~~
mdpopescu
Anecdote, possibly no longer relevant because of political changes (especially
9/11):

I've been in the US for six months, back in 2000. A few days before my visa
expired, I was in a fast food and started talking to the guy selling me food.
(Not a McD.) Turned out he was the owner :) One thing led to another, I told
him I was bummed because my visa was expiring and I had to leave; he said "you
speak English very well, I will hire you - none of my guys here have a visa".
I didn't want to take him on, the company I was working for at the time had
promised me they would try to bring me back (they didn't) and I didn't want to
overstay since that would have been an automatic rejection.

The worst thing was... the company I was working for (as a programmer) was
paying me around $15 / hour. He offered me $17 :)

Anyway, back to your point. That event had also led me to believe that finding
a job in fast food is incredibly easy... I'm surprised to find out it's not.

------
drunkenmonkey
0\. Save your money for laundry and storage.

1\. Food pantries will provide food. “I have a food emergency.”

2\. Call the local homeless shelters, mental health clinics - anywhere that
deals with indigent populations.

3\. Recognize your bravery for putting ethics over money.

4\. Work your way into a low-income housing situation. Many ethical thinkers
live this way.

5\. Don’t get paranoid or angry. You have dignity.

6\. Join a church which is full of intelligent and relaxed people. I recommend
Catholicism.

7\. If you have to ask for something, ask for it with a smile. People want to
help each other.

8\. Family sticks together.

Sincerely, A programmer who lived homelessly for years

~~~
djaouen
This is literally the only helpful post in this thread. The rest of the posts
are nothing but, “Sorry, but...” posts.

------
bmelton
There's some good (and other) advice already posted in here, and I can't think
of anything to add to that, so I won't belabor the point...

but if you run out of other options, and can find your way to the Annapolis,
Maryland area, I've at least got a relatively empty basement that you're
welcome to occupy until you get back on your feet.

This would also put you in commuting range to Annapolis, Baltimore, or DC,
which are all fairly ripe with job opportunities for talented engineers.

------
ajeet_dhaliwal
How resonable is the person/company you rent from to secure an agreement to
stay on despite the late rent? You have had a job before and based on your
background clearly have the potential to be earning again soon. It’s not like
the situation is hopeless for them, if they can wait it out you will be able
to pay. Is moving in with family or friends temporarily possible?

------
lrvick
I actually spent the better part of 2 years homeless and/or living in a car
etc. I made heavy use a local college campus lab computers by copying student
ids off sign in sheets which were used for login. Also used a lot of discarded
free meal coupons given to new students.

Took random contract gigs from IRC, elance style sites, and Craigslist. Also
did telemarketing, and random day labor jobs off and on. Eventually a startup
gave me free room and board in exchange for programming help. Saved and
relocated to an area with more jobs after that startup imploded.

Found an abandoned trailer some property owners agreed to let me squat in. Got
to tap their electric line in exchange for helping out with deliveries and
tech work for their tractor store. Kept up with random craigslist tech gigs
etc and started my own consulting company bootstrapped with retail work income
and help from friends from IRC for bigger jobs. One of the random contracts I
took let me code with free reign and ended up keeping me on as a full time
software engineer and gave me several years of experience making custom
prototypes and doing pentesting for fortune 500 companies as well as angel
funding for a startup of my own.

Never had a problem getting work since.

Be relentless and don't limit yourself to tech work until you have some buffer
in the bank. Be willing to relocate if the market is dry in your area. Never
ever stop learning marketable skills and taking interviews you are not
qualified for until you are. Most of the "mandatory" minimums on job postings
are optional if you have some quality open source code to prove your
capability.

------
senorjazz
> I was 3 days late on my rent this month and now have to appear in court to
> explain why i haven't paid. I fully expect that to lead to an eviction.

wow that's harsh. I own a house in the UK when the tenants lost their job but
promised one was lined up. They didn't pay for 2 months, then the tenancy
agreement was up and I told the estate agents to not renew it as I cannot
afford to pay for these people to live in my house for free whilst covering
the mortgage.

They refused to move out. Had to wait another month before could start the
eviction process. Took 4.5 months to get them out, then they stole much of the
furniture that was in the house and perhaps not "smashed" the house up, packed
their things up and very hurriedly damaging the house (pulling curtains off +
rail etc).

I refused to give them the deposit back, they went to court to get the deposit
back and won lol (have to laugh about this otherwise would cry)

I think what happened to us in the UK was too much the other way, but kicking
you out after 3 days is harsh.

Don't you have friends and family to borrow the money from?

~~~
tootto
Just..wow. How did they manage to get the deposit back? I'm sorry for your
experinces with assholes. Makes the world a worse place.

------
Luxyadian
Sorry I am not helping. But 15 years full stack. Sounds at least 15K RMB/month
here in China Chengdu. homeless in the USA? Just cannot understand how this
would happen. sorry again for not helping. Maybe after you get better, some
day in recent years, move to China?

~~~
scruffyherder
Yeah, there is plenty of English teacher types, if OP has a degree there is
always China.

~~~
Luxyadian
Sorry but I meant dev work... if you still think only English teacher, then I
am speechless.

------
mamcx
\- Not have conections with old customers/employers? You could try to ask if
wanna some help. Is surprising how often work come from old work... or just
people that barely remember you

\- Customer support and/or pc maintenaince or similar is seriously in need for
a lot of small-medium companies. This can lead to coding very easily. See
around where you live and note how many companies are. ALL OF THEM NEED
SOMEONE LIKE YOU. Not all of them will say yes, but well, you could try!.

\- Do you have other abilities san coding? Having any job look like is _more_
important than having the job you want.

\------

I don't know how things are in USA but where I live (Colombia) is kind of easy
to survive - and VERY well- selling street food. One time, I make a bit more
than my prior jobs selling tasting meat (was not unemployed but wanna get a
bit more). I know someone in California that sell spicy food in jars and live
very well.

My mother is Chef and have helped some friends in bootstrap a food bussiness
around easy-to-made food. One of them, sell Hogao
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogao](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogao))
in jars and made to support his family just with this. Their situations was
even more desperate, for sure.

You could put to advantage you/wife extra amount of time. As my naive
understanding of the USA situation, nobody have time!. Can you provide a
service like prepare lunch boxes, take care of pets, clean houses, or anything
similar?

------
jason_slack
PM me your info (my email in my profile) and I'll mail you some gift cards to
your local grocery store.

I have a T240 with 8gb of RAM you can have.

There is a lot more said here so I won't repeat.

I'm struggling to to find a job in my area as a c++ dev, but I can help out
another human being.

If you ever get to Upstate NY you and your wife are welcome to stay with us.
We live on a lake with lots of trees. Might eliminate some stress while you
rebound :-)

------
bwb
Doh I am so sorry to hear that :(. Do not blame yourself for not finding a
job, guilt/blame is just going to hurt you here. Be confident when you do
those interviews and submit those applications, just because you have gotten
unlucky so far in finding a new gig does not in anyway reflect who you are.

Do you have anyone you can borrow money from to cover you for a while? Family
or friends? That would be the first option I would suggest.

Do you have family or friends who have a spare area you can crash to sleep at
least?

Can your wife drive for uber/lyft while she is looking for a job, that can
bring home some money and if you own a car that might work. That could help
you get back on step 1 possibly. You might also look in Boulder, as there are
a ton of jobs here she could get instantly and then quit once she finds
something closer to Denver to avoid the commute.

There are some good resources here:
[https://www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/denver-
human-...](https://www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/denver-human-
services/community-outreach/denvers-road-home/homeless-help-resources.html)
*It might not hurt to call and see what options they have. There might be some
city programs in this situation to get you in something for 30 to 90 days
until you are back on your feet.

Another option is to camp and use the shower system someone mentioned. A tent
is cheap and it is a warmer time of year to get away with that. I hope it
doesn't come to that.

I salute your ethics in quitting the last job, but I would urge you next time
to build a safety net and put ethics second to "survival". I can understand if
they were killing or hurting people, but customer data is just a modern day
problem we don't know what to do with as the definition of privacy evolves.

------
codebudo
Have you applied for unemployment? State benefits may not fully pay the rent
but should help. You'll likely need to supply proof that you're looking for
work but that sounds like your plan anyway.

~~~
bequanna
With some exceptions (hostile work environment, etc.), unemployment typically
won't pay out if you quit a job.

~~~
homelessdev
unemployment approved me as the reason I quit was valid (HIPPA violations)

~~~
DoctorOetker
perhaps these were symbolic breadcrums after you revealed your allegiance with
the people instead of the corporation?

if true, this helps explain why you have a hard time finding an IT related
job.

if true, this insight may help you find a job by selectively applying for IT
work at civil right-ish places (EFF, small civil right-ish law firms, etc ...)
as they may be less prone to discriminate on your past "offences", with the
upshot that you might feel more at home in such a job than elsewhere?

------
koliber
> I was 3 days late on my rent this month and now have to appear in court to
> explain why i haven't paid. I fully expect that to lead to an eviction.

This is strange. If you paid, why are you going to court?

Normally, if someone does not pay on time, they may be served a late rent
notice. This is an official warning and has a deadline by which a payment must
be made. If you miss that payment, the landlord can file an eviction case.

You paid. Why would the landlord take you to court?

I am not a lawyer, but even if the above is true, it seems that a judge would
not allow an eviction based __just __on a single 3-day late rent payment.

You have a bit more time to get yourself together.

~~~
tudelo
The laws vary greatly by state regarding eviction in my experience.

------
carapace
Lots of good advice here already. Some of what's below repeats what others
have said. The main thing is _avoid becoming homeless_. I can't stress that
enough. However, if you really can't do that, then here's some advice:

1.) Don't Panic!

You're about to have an adventure. Make it fun. You're not crazy, you don't
have face tattoos(?), you've got skills. You won't be homeless for long, if at
all. Keep your attitude in check.

2.) Head West before Winter!

If you're still out and about by then (unlikely) do not mess with that
Colorado Winter. Brrr! Come out here to CA, OR, or WA. I didn't used to
believe in seasons, not really. Growing up I saw them on TV, of course, but
they were something that happened to other people, like tiger attacks. I spent
a Winter in CO once. _Once._ Fuck that.

3.) Go camping.

You can camp for free in National Forests
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:National_Forests_of_C...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:National_Forests_of_Colorado)
This is a huge country and much of it belongs to you. Take advantage of that.

4.) It's really hard to starve in America.

I mean it's really fucking hard. There are food banks, Churches, and other
places that serve meals or give away food. Usually there's a list that you can
get from a local homeless aid group or something. We throw away huge amount of
food too, I know there are "freegans" in CO.

5.) Ask for help.

You're doing that here, now, but keep it up and ask everywhere and everyone.
Being too proud is a stupid way to stay homeless. You've got to have _some_
friends or family, eh? If my friend had no place to go and _didn 't_ ask me
for help (that I'd be glad to give) I'd be pretty sad when I found out.

6.) Avoid drugs and drug users.

You cannot trust a meth-head. At all. They will steal your stuff and sell it
to get drugs. Don't let them in your car, don't let them watch your bag while
you pee, etc. No matter how nice or cool they seem, nor how much they seem to
have their shit together _you cannot trust a meth-head._

One weird idea: Consider starting a blog so we can all follow along and root
for you and send help. ;-)

(And for goodness' sake, when you're back in the green, save 10% of your gross
and put it in index funds, you silly man!)

------
DoreenMichele
I haven't read very much of the answers, just enough to know that a lot of
people are not exactly being supportive. I'm a little surprised, though
perhaps I should not be, that with 164 comments, apparently no one has hooked
you up with any of my websites:

[https://sandiegohomelesssurvivalguide.blogspot.com](https://sandiegohomelesssurvivalguide.blogspot.com)

[https://www.pocketputer.com/p/links.html](https://www.pocketputer.com/p/links.html)

[http://streetlifesolutions.blogspot.com](http://streetlifesolutions.blogspot.com)

But let me suggest that it sounds like you still have a little time. It is
best to not end up on the street if you can avoid it.

Call 211. Find out what kinds of support are available locally.

Collect recyclables.

Start selling stuff. You probably can't take it all with you anyway. If it
helps you make rent, awesome.

The Pocket Puter link includes a link to a Google Doc listing freelancing
platforms. I'm having trouble accessing it from my phone, but one of the
listings, probably towards the bottom, is for something with Moonlight in the
name. It is a YC company. That might work better than Upwork.

Ignore whatever negativity you are getting here. The world is full of classist
jerks who think it can't happen to them. It absolutely can happen to anyone.

In spite of all the good news about low unemployment currently, there are
still a lot of systemic issues.

Best of luck.

------
schoen
I know it's not the main focus of your question, but since the eviction hasn't
happened yet, it may be worth continuing to work on making it not happen, by
consulting a tenant lawyer familiar with Colorado law. There may be legal
resources available to you at low or no cost that could improve your chances
of a favorable outcome in court.

[https://www.hud.gov/states/colorado/renting/tenantrights](https://www.hud.gov/states/colorado/renting/tenantrights)

[http://theactioncenterco.org/program-
services/tenantlandlord...](http://theactioncenterco.org/program-
services/tenantlandlord-helpline/) (although "helpline navigators do not give
legal advice" it sounds like they might help with some of your questions and
might also be able to help you find legal help)

------
bg4
After you get back on your feet please work toward an emergency fund with 6
months living expenses in it.

------
mead5432
My wife and I own a catering business in Denver. In the short run, you could
do some deliveries. It’s easy work in the short run and pays decent on an
hourly wage for a couple hours a day so it wouldn’t keep you from interviews
since I t’s only during lunch hours.

That being said, I manage several software engineering teams in Denver around
Union Station. Currently, I’m hiring for several positions, mostly server side
in Ruby and Node. If you’d like to chat a bit about your experience, I could
take you to grab some coffee. If your experience doesn’t really fit with that,
I can help provide feedback on how to improve your chances in interviews. Feel
free to reach out via the email in my profile (it works... just trying to
protect against spam).

------
ggg9990
It doesn’t help now, but in the future please do not quit a job because the
company is behaving unethically. It will eliminate 80% of employers.

~~~
greenyoda
If they're forcing you to do something that you know is criminal (e.g.,
stealing from a customer, tax fraud, etc.) it's much better to quit your job
immediately than to risk going to prison.

If they're not asking you to do something criminal (merely something that you
find unethical), start looking for a new job and quit when you have a firm
offer lined up.

------
partycoder
The strategy here is: solve the short-term crisis first, so you can buy time
to find a good job.

Some ways to buy time in the short-term are:

\- Get a lower paying job even if you are overqualified. Not necessarily
development. Work on ridesharing or delivery if you have to.

\- Raise money, ask for donations (e.g.: gofund.me page).

\- See if you qualify for welfare benefits.

\- Sell things.

Remember, all of the above is just a temporary, short-term compromise.

Then, once you are stable enough, take the time to look for a better job, but
do it in a less committed way, e.g.: your wife first then yourself, or
something like that.

------
bwb
Also, just to make sure, you know about the Built In Colorado job board right?

[https://www.builtincolorado.com/jobs?f[0]=job-
category_devel...](https://www.builtincolorado.com/jobs?f\[0\]=job-
category_developer-engineer)

I worry their process will be slow but I want to throw that out there. I also
would just mention that you quit your last job because your manager was bad, I
would not mention you quit because of data privacy concerns as that can raise
red flags I would imagine.

------
DavidThi808
Please apply at www.WindwardStudios.com. We're looking for a brilliant senior
full stack developer.

~~~
jnbiche
> We're looking for a brilliant senior full stack developer.

How about just a "solid, hard-working senior developer"? When you say
"brilliant", most good, competent developers think of a truly 1 in 1000
brilliant developer we know, and think of how short we fall from that.

In truth, unless you're doing some kind of advanced machine learning or
cutting edge software work, you likely don't need a brilliant developer. And
indeed, looking at your site, you probably aren't doing anything of the sort.

Instead, a company like yours requires a dependable, competent, team-player.

Why not ask for that?

Edit: Jesus H Christ, is this really that controversial to merit 4 downvotes
in the first 5 minutes? OK, have at it all you brilliant devs. I remember
being in my early 20s, too...

Also, have you geniuses considered that the job post above is addressing a man
who's a bit down on his luck at the moment? Perhaps putting up a post asking
for a "brilliant" developer isn't the best approach? Unless, of course, the OP
isn't the actual target of the comment, but instead he's advertising to HN at
large (which is my guess).

~~~
mlevental
>How about just a "solid, hard-working senior developer"? When you say
"brilliant", most good, competent developers think of a truly 1 in 1000
brilliant developer we know, and think of how short we fall from that.

no one thinks that because it's pr speak. i've never met anyone deterred by
"brilliant" or "ninja" or "10x" or etc.

~~~
lovelearning
No one? Never met? Well then, nice to meet you!

Yes, such terms in a job description - or in my case, in initial contract
meetings - are red flags for me. Red enough to either never apply or show
myself out with some excuse. Because my definition of "brilliant" may not
match their definition of "brilliant" in terms of capability or efficiency,
and I don't want to find out how high the expectations are after the
agreement's signed.

~~~
icebraining
The point of the interview is to sync up those expectations. If you're
wondering what's their definition of brilliant, that's the perfect time to
ask.

------
sova
Cashflow: you want many of them, things that have royalties or residuals that
add up over time. Better having a bunch of gradual passive incomes instead of
one big income. Making software that is sold in an App Store is a way, but
also offering your web dev services on a month-by-month basis (subscriptions)
may be a potential way to leverage this idea. Longterm you want a way for
money to continually keep finding you, and the quantities don't need to be
huge but the trickles should be many. Start with something that scales and get
it working. Other things that can help you make a passive income are: writing
books (after you have a life worth of experience to write about or very strong
philosophy or understanding, or simply colorful use of language), create music
and sell albums or songs online (i am breaking into busking, myself), create
or invent something that kicks back a small percentage but frequently. It all
adds up, so small things ... don't shy away from them. What's your ideal
vision for job and house and squad situation? Visualizing where you want to be
without stressing so much the "how" can be really beneficial because we are
naturally pathfinders in a rapidly changing world, sometimes we need to focus
on the honeypot and the rest falls into place.

------
guy_c
How much is your rent? How much short are you from paying the due rent?

If your rent is at low-end for your area, then I'd try to avoid getting
evicted. Getting evicted could trigger more expenses (moving costs, new
deposits, etc.). Putting you deeper in the red.

I'd first sell everything non-critical. If you get evicted a big pile of
possessions is going to be a burden anyway.

------
maxxxxx
Put your resume on dice.com and other contracting sites. There are a ton of
recruiters there who need people. You probably won't get paid well and the
work won't be glamorous but it should be fairly quick to find a contract
somewhere in the country. Wherever you find a contract you can rent a room
cheaply and send money home.

------
zapperdapper
I was in a similar position post divorce. Drove away from the family home with
next to nothing and was sleeping in the car. That was actually not as bad as
it sounds - I worked out and showered at the gym, and spent a lot of time in
the office - sometimes sleeping on the sofa in the break room if I thought I
could get away with it. I remember one guy came in one morning and joked with
that old chestnut "you been here all night?" \- I would laugh, but little did
he know!

Then the company went bust almost overnight - VC pulled the plug...

It was then a lot tougher. I moved to Thailand and lived on my credit card. I
got some remote work with a borrowed Windows laptop, and did some marketing
work for local companies. I then moved to Malaysia and became a dive bum. Best
time of my life. I was lucky.

All I can say is hang in there, things have a way of working themselves out...

------
anonymouse_321
OP asking for survival tips. Avoiding the crisis is best, sure. But if that
doesn't work right off, keeping body and soul together needs food. Studied
this a bit when I thought we might be looking at an economic meltdown on a
large scale. YMMV, this is result of reading and practicing from comfort. Most
canned foods are very low on the calories per dollar scale. On the other hand
they need no refrigeration and most can be safely eaten without preparation,
being already fully cooked. Sites like Survivalblog are a wealth of staying
alive info. There are many sites about surviving homelessness too. Find a LDS
cannery in your area and ask if they sell to the public. Most will. A six pack
of #10 can filled with oats or pasta or dry milk goes a long way for very
little coin. They have a pragmatic mission to help folks _before_ a crisis.
Get a wide-mouthed thermos bottle or two. In goes a half cup of oats, a pinch
of salt, dab of butter if you have it. Flavor to taste and ability. Add a cup
of boiling water, seal and let sit 5-10 minutes. Ta-da, a hearty breakfast for
a few cents. Thank Kurt Saxon, regardless of his politics. If you still have a
roof and electrical power, consider a thrift-store bread machine. A few
practice runs with some recipes off the 'net or from the library. '5 minute a
day artisan bread' works well. A rice cooker is another great tool for keeping
well fed on the cheap. Add a wok and you can work up a near infinite variety
of stir-fry tasties. Look at 'Eternal Soup' for how some of our ancestors made
safe use of all nutritional calories that came their way in trying times. If
you are looking at longer term low-cost food intake, remember complete
proteins and micronutrients. Vitamins. We can get by for quite a while on body
reserves but the symptoms of deficiency won't help an already tough situation.
Healing slower, getting sick more easily, worsened depression, insomnia, and
the ever-popular teeth falling out. Sprouting beans, wheat berries, getting a
few ounces of ascorbic acid for doctoring up the bread dough... do a bit of
homework. Keep a healthy mindset.

Blessings to you and yours.

------
systemicdent
I'm surprised (or maybe I didn't read through all the posts in detail) that we
aren't trying to solve the root cause - finding you a job by clearly and
correctly understanding your skills as an engineer. I honestly want to help
and I have a few ideas but I'm not very good at this mode of communication (I
have always used hackernews in readonly mode and this is the first time I am
commenting here - I actually had to create a new account). If you'd be willing
to reach out to me (systemicdent at gmail dot com) I'll do whatever I can to
help you get out of this situation.

------
scott00
If you haven't talked to your landlord, talk to your landlord. If they sent
you a summons after three days, I don't have high hopes, but it's worth a
shot. Explain your situation and see if there's anything they can do for you.
Maybe they'll let you stay until they can rent the place.

Are you someplace you can drive for Uber or Lyft? It's not great money, but
you can probably earn enough in the month you have left to buy a cheap laptop
and pay for food, a cell phone, and a gym membership after you get evicted,
which should improve your ability to keep applying for jobs.

------
RickJWagner
First, sorry you're in this spot. I hope you have friends/church group/family
support to help you in this time.

If it were me, I'd probably have both myself and my wife take whatever
'second' jobs we could (Wal-Mart, fast food, etc.) for nights/weekend income.
I'd reserve my 9-5 hours for a full-press job search.

Good luck to you. Your skills are in demand, so hopefully this won't last
long.

------
dilatedmind
Doesn't the eviction process take at least a month? How long will it take you
to land a new job? It seems pointless to have to be homeless if you're able to
land a job within a month or 2.

Are you in a position to borrow money? Maybe even an online lender like
bestegg.

You could setup a bitcoin wallet and livestream yourself coding, I feel like a
person in your situation is a kind of person I would be willing to donate to.

~~~
amorphid
Having been in this situation, I'd recommend against borrowing money. Only
family and friends will lend it to you, and you know you can't pay them back
anytime soon. Unpaid debt puts a strain on any relationship, and OP is gonna
need all the support they can get.

------
alixaxel
Sorry to hear about your situation.

Please share your email / Upwork profile, also feel free to email me (contact
in the profile) - I might be able to help you.

------
mirajshah
Breathe, it may seem like the world is falling apart, but you will be OK. You
should be able to start a low-skill job to make ends meet. If you're in a
city, start driving Uber and Lyft! The hours are flexible so as to give you
time to apply. Also, do you have any friends or family you can stay with
instead of staying in a shelter or your car? Now is the time to call in any
favors.

Good luck!

------
upbeatlinux
Can you link to your Upwork profile?

Have you tried [https://www.gun.io/](https://www.gun.io/) ?

~~~
jamestimmins
Have you used Gun? If so I'm very curious about your experiences, as I've
heard very mixed reviews.

------
lesss365
Find a cheap laptop on craigslist, thinkpad or chromebook would be good.

Write a selenium script to automate applying for jobs.

Find a spot with wifi and run the script.

------
drogonmead
Just wanted to say that I'm very sorry that this is happening to you. I hope
that you and your wife find a way out of this.

------
KempFood
I’ve been there. Transition to your car, but find someone or some place to
stay before worrying too much. You’re off the grid, so look and plan where to
start again. In the future, always plan for this. But for now your life will
be reset. Just go with the best you can.

Once you can think, stop and do so. Acknowledge you are a SJW and as a result,
lost a standoff with your previous employer when you brought it up. That
company isn’t going to risk the livelihood of its employees, even if you might
and did.

What did I do? Living in my car there’s few options, so I took a job
canvassing for causes I believed in. It paid nothing, but I got out there
doing my SJW stuff and felt better.

When I got off the streets, stayed with relatives, found a tech job and moved
out, I learned somethings.

I never have enough info. Social justice causes are fine, but if you don’t
have all the info, you’ll lose. Support agendas only with all info.

Second, make commitments and stick to them. I agreed to work for an employer,
so to accuse them of bad data practices is not the right move. If the company
bothers you, leave, stop trying to ‘change the world’.

Finally, be prepared. Jobs can be lost at any time. Apartments are not yours,
be prepared to move at any time. And stop spending. Buy what you need. Adults
do not need workstation computers, they need laptops. Not toys, Legos,
Funkopop dolls, etc. Those are for kids.

Yes, after 15 years most have saved or diversified. Improve your handling of
money.

Some turn spiritual at this point and pray your body stays healthy. It’s a
strange journey called life!

~~~
zztzzt
> _I agreed to work for an employer, so to accuse them of bad data practices
> is not the right move._

It's the ethical move. Just because you agreed to work for an employer doesn't
mean you have to accept everything they demand from then on.

~~~
KempFood
No, it’s not his company. He needs to leave.

He’s naive if he thinks they need his ‘extra advice’.

Sure, make judgment calls without all the info. Get fired. Your choice.

------
prawn
If you get desperate enough to live in your car, this might be a useful
resource:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/vandwellers/](https://www.reddit.com/r/vandwellers/)

There are a lot of lifestyle/travellers on there, but also people doing it out
of necessity.

------
amirathi
I feel bad for you man. Why don't you apply for a temporary job at local
coffee shop or a grocery store until you get a proper tech job again? ~50 hour
per week even at minimum wage in CO ($10.2) should cover your rent, right? You
will have Sundays and night time to apply for developer jobs.

------
earenndil
I don't have direct advice, but I might suggest trying to sell the desktop and
buy a laptop. You can probably use a library computer or, as a last resort, a
phone, as a backup in between selling and buying.

------
synthmeat
1\. Borrow money from trusted source.

2\. Buy time with it.

3\. ...

4\. Return that money.

Don't let finance bring you down in your life, ask for help from people around
you. Good chance someone will be able to help you.

This Ask HN is a good start, so I think you're on a good path back up already.

Good luck.

------
iamleppert
I just went through the worst job search in my life but it ended up well for
me in the end, it just took awhile. Don't give up hope! Keep doing the
interviews, something will work out for you eventually!

------
sds357
Check out this group community/forum. Many people getting along in life with
similar circumstances.

[https://www.cheaprvliving.com/](https://www.cheaprvliving.com/)

------
jayec
If you want to send me an email with some more details about your experience,
etc I'd be happy to reach out to some recruiters I know and see if anyone has
anything going. jaye at claruscomputers.com.au

------
ApolloRising
Step 1: Setup a Go Fund me so people can help you out.

Step 2: Get your resume on linkedin, ziprecruiter, indeed.com and msg all the
tech recruiters you can find on linkedin.

Step 3: Reach out to family if you have any to let you stay with them while
you are doing a job search. If not see if a good friend would do that. If not
see if you can at least put your wife up with one of her friends so she is
safe while you look for a gig.

Also look on craigslist for part time programming jobs. Not great money but it
is something. Ask for half up front so you don't get stiffed.

Apply to everything here: [https://www.indeed.com/q-Computer-Programming-l-
Colorado-job...](https://www.indeed.com/q-Computer-Programming-l-Colorado-
jobs.html)

~~~
hackits
Step 1: Setup a Go Fund me so people can help you out.

Number one reason why I don't use Go Fund me. Step 1 should be getting your
shit together not relying on other people.

~~~
bwb
We are supposed to be an American community, not a bunch of people who don't
lend a hand when someone makes a misstep or hits a wall.

I am disgusted how selfish such a huge chunk of this country has become...
half this country can't remember what empathy is, and they have slowly
destroyed our social safety net. I want the government to do more to help
people in this type of position get back on their feet so that they can live a
good life, and contribute to our country and tax base. I want my taxes to go
UP to pay for that, in conjunction with lowering the massive defense spending
we have.

If you are lucky enough to have parents or family who can help you out
awesome, but not everyone has that.

If you are lucky enough to never make a misstep so deep you can't recover on
your own, awesome for you, not everyone has that.

What do you want him to do? Build a time machine, go back in time, and not
make a series of mistakes that helped lead here?

~~~
bmelton
> half this country can't remember what empathy is

Not that I disagree with your overall point, but while I might be being overly
sensitive here, I think it's implicit that 9 times out of 10, when someone
refers to "half the country", what they mean to say is "the half of the
country not affiliated with the political party to which I am affiliated."

Yes, there are selfish people, but largely, that selfishness is not evenly
divisible by party line, and the castigation of "the others" should be
minimized, in my opinion, as most Americans, left, right, or center, are
honestly trying to do what they feel is right.

As it sits, Republicans are statistically quite charitable[1][2], to the point
that 9 of the 10 most charitable states are red states.

Yes, perhaps they see a different role for government than you do, and yes, I
think that the parent to your comment was indeed acting selfishly, but that
doesn't necessarily conflate to partisan beliefs, nor should we attempt to
correlate individual behavior to partisan causation.

[1] - [https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/19/giving-back-
_n_378...](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/19/giving-back-
_n_3781505.html)

[2] - [https://www.nationalreview.com/the-home-front/which-
politica...](https://www.nationalreview.com/the-home-front/which-political-
party-more-charitable-nancy-french/)

~~~
bwb
I don't like either political party, but that doesn't mean they are equal in
how terrible they are, too many people try to equivocate.

We absolutely should do more to castigate people by party line, especially
when their beliefs are based on propaganda. The Republican party is destroying
the future of this country. The Republican media and formal political party
have convinced the majority of its members that people who need help are lazy
welfare queens, and that government can't do anything efficiently. It is a
great narrative, and it is not factually true.

Charity is ineffective, have you looked at how they spend their money and how
much goes to fund-raising and operations? Very few charities actually do
anything meaningful. Government is what does the hard work that keeps states
and the country running. Not to mention the number of funds given to charities
with dubious missions, such as convincing women not to have abortions, or
megachurches trying to buy a jet so that Christ comes back and the world
ends...

Charities are badly run band-aids that are trying to hold the country
together. It isn't a good thing, it is another sign of how far we have sunk in
taking care of our people. That is money that should have been collected via
taxes and actually deployed to help educate people, help them afford health
care, etc etc.

I would urge everyone to start castigating people by party line before it is
too late.

~~~
bmelton
There are Republicans who agree with you on healthcare. Let's not forget that
Obama's ACA was a rehash of Romneycare. There are Republicans in favor of gay
marriage. The attorneys in US v Windsor, which overturned the Defense of
Marriage Act signed into law by Bill Clinton, were Republicans.

There are Republicans who support charity, a strong social safety net, and
taking care of their friends and neighbors.

~~~
s2g
and then they talk about all that and go out and vote for people who support
none of those things.

Actions speak a lot louder than words. If you vote republican you absolutely
stand behind those things.

------
chrshawkes
I would suggest you consider leaving Colorado if your job prospects are that
poor there. I'm located in DC and constantly get hounded by recruiters looking
to fill positions.

------
futureweb0
I am surprised about this. A cloudy future. Is this the future of web
programming? Expecting downvotes.

------
bradgnar
This story does not make sense

~~~
homelessdev
which part?

~~~
IanDrake
How have you been an engineer for 15 years and still:

\- Rent an apartment

\- Don’t have a few laptops laying around

\- Don’t have any savings while having no kids

Each item above, on its own, is normal but all together doesn’t make sense.

For the last 15 years you should have been making 60-200k and you obviously
didn’t sink it into a house, computer hardware, or savings. Where did it all
go?

That’s why this doesn’t add up, to me at least.

I’m not saying you’re lying, but that I can’t figure out how you got to this
point.

~~~
mrleiter
So many things could have happened, not everyone is able to save up. Also,
it's irrelevant - either you want to help or not. Discussing the
"impossibility" of his situation is not yours to judge, seriously.

~~~
IanDrake
I’m not judging.

A cautionary tail could do a lot of good here.

Why not let something good come out of the discussion that could prevent
others from ending up in this situation?

A postmortem of sorts.

I could have ended up like this guy, but I found personal finance religion
when I was 28. After making six figures for six years all I had was monthly
payments equal to my paycheck and not much to show for it.

It’s pathetic how many people here leap to pity. The OP wasn’t asking for it.

~~~
mrleiter
Yes, a cautionary tale would be good. It's just the way you phrased it that
was bugging me.

Also, I was not gunning for pity, nor was OP, true. Still, in such moments
kind strangers on the internet who wish you well still feel good I believe.

Thanks for clearing it up!

------
wingerlang
Can you get your old job back or is that bridge burned?

------
justboxing
I see several offers for laptop and other assistance, so you need to create an
email address for this (if worried about getting found out, embarassed etc
with using real email address) and put it in your about page right now, so
that these kind folks can get in touch with you, and you can get a head start
and try to avoid going homeless....

Who knows, you may even be able to get some short contract from someone here
and stay afloat for a few weeks / months.

Wishing you the best!

------
keyle
Why has this been knocked off the front page all of the sudden?

~~~
sschueller
It appears to have been flagged. I think it should not be flagged regardless
of the OPs post as the information in the comments is very useful.

------
patrickg_zill
Email in profile. I am in Denver / Boulder area and would like to help you.

------
megaman22
Why would 3 days late on your rent involve a court date and eviction?

If I recall, the last few leases I signed had clauses like a $25 late fee for
up to a week overdue. And as a landlord, at least here in NH, if somebody
doesn't pay immediately, and you want to get rid of them, you have to deliver
a written demand for rent, which allows X number of days for response, before
you can commence eviction proceedings.

~~~
quiq
It'd be really shocking to me if this happened in the US without some prior
history/grounds for eviction. Maybe I'm mistaken, but I'm pretty sure most
states have pretty pro-tenant laws when it comes to these sorts of things.

OP- if this is nothing but 3 days late on rent, check your lease and your
local laws. I can't imagine many places in the western world allow eviction
from an actual residence over something like this.

~~~
civilitty
Unfortunately, Colorado's eviction laws are not as pro-tenant as California's
or other Western countries'. Based on a cursory search, it doesn't take more
than 30 days between the missed payment and a judge ordering a sheriff to
evict you in person.

~~~
tapvt
But a late payment (only 3 days!) rather than a missed one. A court appearance
seems very heavy-handed to me. I'd hope the judge will see that.

~~~
civilitty
The thinking probably goes that it's only a late payment if the tenant makes
an agreement with the landlord, in which case the landlord wouldn't be giving
them notice to vacate. If it has gotten that far then it is a missed payment
because the tenant couldn't (or didn't try to) reach an agreement in time and
it resulted in the tenant breaking the lease. I think many leases include
provisions for late payments for this reason, even in states with pro-tenant
laws.

------
malmsteen
stop saying the reason why u quit in job interviews

------
sitzkrieg
sadf

