Residents of condemned Aurora apartment complex plead for more time

AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — The controversy over a condemned Aurora apartment complex continues as residents have just days to find a new place to live.

Families gathered with community members at the 1568 Nome St. apartment complex Thursday to voice their concerns. Meanwhile, the city says the tenants’ concerns are not lost on anyone, but those who manage the building have decided not to work with the residents or the city to remedy the poor conditions of the property.

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One of the residents, Emmanuel, spoke about his concerns.

“Everyone here, right now deserves more than six days. That’s not enough. That’s not enough. We want time,” he said.

The property’s management group claims the issues at the site are the result of Venezuelan gang activity taking over the building, but families residing there say that’s not the case.

“We are not criminals. Many of us left our home countries, coming here seeking a better life and trying to make lives better for our families back in Venezuela, Colombia and Peru. We want everybody to know we are not delinquents. We are not trying to cause a problem,” one of the residents said.

The city cited the conditions of the building and code violations as their reasoning for condemning the building and pushed back on the management’s claim that it was because of gang violence.

“The building owners and managers made the decision to effectively abandon their paying tenants, and this is the unfortunate consequence. The risks of residents remaining in the building and being subjected to its rapidly deteriorating conditions are far too dire,” the city said in a statement Thursday.

Aurora tenant advocates push for 2-month window

Housekeys Action Network Denver, or HAND for short, and East Colfax Community Collective are advocating for these tenants, standing alongside them and making clear demands.

V Reeves with HAND listed part of those demands.

“City Manager Jason Batchelor, delay the closure of 1568 Nome St. by two months to give tenants enough time to move into another home,” Reeves said.

But the city said giving a two-month timeline would be irresponsible of them because of the property conditions.

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Aurora has said they are working with community partners and plan to cover the cost of new security deposits for eligible residents. Advocates said the issue with that is the property management has failed to have proper leases or paperwork for some residents, so proving they live there is an issue.

“City staff are already working tirelessly with community partners, organizations and other members to connect residents of 1568 Nome St. with housing resources,” the city’s Thursday statement reads. “Recognizing that the owners of 1568 Nome St. are not abiding by state law to provide a safe and habitable place for their tenants to live, the city is already planning to cover the costs of new security deposits for affected, eligible residents who seek and secure new housing. Once secured, the city will pay the deposits directly to the new landlords on behalf of the tenants. The city will recover the costs of these payments from the property owners of 1568 Nome St. at a later date.”

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