DENVER — The ACLU of Colorado filed a lawsuit against an Aurora landlord on Tuesday, claiming the landlord repeatedly harassed their Venezuelan tenants and threatened to report them to immigration authorities.
ACLU of Colorado named Avi Schwalb and Nancy Dominguez, as well as PHS Rent, LLC., as the landlord in its lawsuit. Schwalb was indicted earlier this month for 30 felonies, including theft and violation of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, in connection with his son's business, Schwalb Builders.
According to the ACLU of Colorado lawsuit, the plaintiffs, identified as John Doe and Jane Roe, are a Venezuelan couple who live in an apartment with their two sons, ages 15 and 13. The couple has pending applications for asylum in the United States, according to the ACLU of Colorado.
The couple agreed to lease the apartment for $1,800 per month from Sept. 23, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2025. They received rental assistance to pay the initial rent and move-in costs, according to the lawsuit.
In November, the couple "incurred unexpected medical expenses" and fell behind on rent, according to the ACLU of Colorado. In response, the ACLU of Colorado alleges that the landlord "repeatedly threatened and coerced the family."
"We will not allow private parties to terrorize our immigrant neighbors. In this state, Colorado law is very clear," said Emma Mclean-Riggs, an attorney with the ACLU of Colorado. "Our immigrant neighbors have rights, just as folks who have come from here do, and we will not allow private parties to take advantage of this volatile political moment to violate the rights of people who have every single right that everybody else has."
- Read the full lawsuit below
Sometime around Dec. 4, the lawsuit claims that John Doe and his eldest son came home from school to find that the locks had been changed on the apartment. The couple did not receive a notice, and there was "no valid court order for possession of the property," according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states the father and his 15-year-old son were forced to sleep in their car overnight and eventually got back into the apartment through a window.
The next day, Jane Roe called the landlord's office to ask for an explanation. According to the lawsuit, Dominguez told the couple they "could not do anything about it because they are not 'from here,' are Venezuelan and have no rights."
The lawsuit claims John Doe was told he would receive a new key to the apartment if he made an additional payment. John Doe reportedly paid $1,000, and after an additional week without a key, he paid another $300. After the $300 payment, management left a new key in Doe's mailbox, according to the lawsuit.
Then, on Jan. 15, Dominguez reportedly "knocked harshly" on the tenants' door. The tenants answered and Dominguez "shoved some papers through the door and misleadingly told plaintiffs they had "ten days to move out,"" according to the lawsuit.
The papers claimed the tenants were being evicted due to $4,200 in past rent from Nov. 1, 2024, through Jan. 31, 2025. The document allegedly stated that the lease would be terminated as of 10 a.m. on Jan. 29 if the tenants did not pay the missed rent.
A few days later, on Jan. 24, Schwalb reportedly showed up at the apartment. According to the lawsuit, when Jane Roe began to open the door, Schwalb "slammed it back, hitting Ms. Roe in the face."
The lawsuit claims Schwalb had a handwritten paper that allegedly showed what the tenants owed, but he never showed the paper to the tenants. Instead, Schwalb "raised his voice, stating in broken Spanish that they owed him money and if they did not have money, they were going to go outside to the street, in the cold," according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges Schwalb told the tenants they had "one hour, two hours" to leave. When the tenants told Schwalb this was illegal, the lawsuit states he "escalated by threatening that they would be taken outside by immigration enforcement."
According to the lawsuit, Schwalb told the couple that immigration authorities would "come here [to the Apartment] today," and once they arrived, the family would be "out." He also reportedly told the couple, "Migra today." Migra, or la migra, is Spanish slang for immigration enforcement officials.
At one point, Schwalb told the couple that "they did not have papers, and that while good immigrants come to the United States, as Venezuelans, all they did was cause problems," according to the lawsuit.
Schwalb had reportedly visited the apartment previously for maintenance purposes. During those times, Schwalb "shouted" at the tenants and "degraded Plaintiffs' Venezuelan origin to Plaintiffs' neighbors," the lawsuit claims. He also allegedly harassed former neighbors, who were also Venezuelan.
The ACLU of Colorado claims Schwalb, Dominguez, and PHS Rent, LLC. violated Colorado's Immigrant Tenant Protection Act and the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA), as well as state eviction laws.
"It is explicitly prohibited by the Immigrant Tenants Protection Act, which was passed in 2021. So a landlord may not threaten to call immigration enforcement or law enforcement and share any information or perception of the person's immigration status at all, let alone to effectuate an illegal eviction, as occurred here," said Mclean-Riggs.
The ACLU of Colorado is asking the court to deem the defendants' alleged conduct unlawful, stop the alleged behavior, and award actual and statutory damages, to be determined during trial. The ACLU of Colorado has requested a jury trial.
Denver7 Investigates
Schwalb Builders owner, father face criminal charges after grand jury indictment
Denver7 Investigates has reported on the Schwalbs for more than a year. Avi Schwalb and his son, Sean, were indicted for more than two dozen charges, including theft and violation of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, in connection with Sean's business, Schwalb Builders. The indictment connected Schwalb Builders with Avi's business, Avi's Remodeling.
Both Avi and Sean Schwalb are currently out on bond.
Avi and Sean are also named in more than a dozen lawsuits filed by customers who allege they contracted with the company and paid deposits — in some cases hundreds of thousands of dollars — only for the company to either abandon projects after demolition or fail to do any work.
Denver7 reached out to PHS Rent, LLC. for comment on Tuesday but did not receive a response.
Denver7 Investigates' Joe Vaccarelli and Jaclyn Allen contributed to this report.
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