AURORA, Colo. — Time is running out for around 50 families who must leave an Aurora apartment complex that was shut down due to safety concerns.
The city informed those living at the building located in the 1500 block of Nome Street that they must vacate by Tuesday.
Dozens of residents were seen packing up their belongings Monday. Advocates were also at the property assisting families.
"These are humans. They have families. They have kids. There's kids here right now. The kids, what are they going to do tomorrow in the morning when they have school? They don't have water, they're not going to be able to brush their teeth, they're not going to be able to eat breakfast," said Nate Kassa with East Colfax Community Collective.
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Many of the tenants who live at the building are new immigrants who said getting into housing was a challenge to begin with. Tenant Maigualida Fonseca said she's unsure what comes next for her and her seven relatives.
“They’re kicking us out as if we were animals. We aren’t animals," Fonseca said in Spanish. “We were scammed. My contract doesn’t end until May."
Advocates and tenants held a press conference in front of the Aurora Municipal Building Monday afternoon, where city officials responded to their concerns directly.
"The city has been committed to providing resources the entire time prior to doing the posting," said Jessica Prosser, director of housing and community services for the City of Aurora. "The city will be funding any resident that’s still at 1568 Nome until Aug. 31 to have a safe clean hotel room for families to be in while they’re looking for a new place to live."
A spokesperson for the City of Aurora also sent Denver7 a statement, saying in part that "the blame for this unfortunate circumstance rests solely with CBZ Management and its principals, the owners and managers of the property, who have repeatedly failed their tenants for years by allowing the building and property to fall into a state of complete disrepair.
Full statement below:
As we have stated repeatedly since last week, the city and its staff wholeheartedly recognize the burden, uncertainty and frustration the abatement process has created for the residents of 1568 Nome St. and that is why we continue to proactively work on ways to support the occupants with resources. Let us be clear, the blame for this unfortunate circumstance rests solely with CBZ Management and its principals, the owners and managers of the property, who have repeatedly failed their tenants for years by allowing the building and property to fall into a state of complete disrepair.
The property remains unfit for human habitation by order of the Aurora city manager. The occupants of the building and property must vacate it by 7 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 13., when the utilities will be shut off. City contractors will subsequently begin boarding up the building and fencing off the entire property. Anyone who refuses to vacate the premises at the direction of city staff could be subject to arrest.
The city continues to partner with community organizations that are committed to providing tangible solutions for the building’s residents. Recognizing that CBZ Management and its principals are not abiding by state law to provide a safe and habitable place for their tenants to live or the resources to relocate, the city will 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.
Additionally, for residents who have not secured new housing by 7 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 13, the city will cover the costs of temporary sheltering at hotel rooms through the end of the month to give residents more time and flexibility to continue their search. The city encourages community partners to connect affected, eligible residents with identified hotel properties.
The city will work to recover the costs of the abatement, security deposits and temporary sheltering at hotel rooms from CBZ Management and its principals at a later date.
Kassa said they appreciated the steps from the city but said they were skeptical about it all being done in time.
"I was not expecting them to come out directly and speak to us. I'm glad that they came and presented the resources that they spoke about, that they're planning to have 85 hotel units available. That's great, but like I said, we can't hope that we can have people's entire families, more than 85 people, their belongings, all their children's belongings, all their stuff, moved in 24 hours," he said.
Kassa said the East Colfax Community Collective plans to continue pushing for the city to extend the condemnation for another week.
"Everyone's eyes are on this story. Everyone is feeling what the tenants are feeling," added Kassa, "We don't want to see any of those kids homeless. We don't want to see any of those kids without water."
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