DENVER — This week, a Denver jury sided with former tenants in a class action lawsuit against an apartment complex at the center of neglect concerns.
The jury awarded roughly $13.5 million to more than 2,000 residents of the Mint Urban Infinity apartment complex near Louisiana Avenue and Colorado Boulevard in Denver. The payout will go to tenants in the form of a 31.42% rent reduction per unit per month for the class period, which ran from October 22, 2018, through June 28, 2022.
The jury ruled that both property ownership (Glendale Properties) and management (Cardinal Group) violated Colorado’s Warranty of Habitability, with ownership 70 percent at fault and management 30 percent at fault. The jury also found the Defendants violated their obligations to maintain the property under the lease, for damages of $200 per unit, per month.
- Watch our first report on Mint Urban Infinity in the video player below
Denver7 has been covering issues at the Mint Urban Infinity apartments since 2021. Tenants told Denver7 at the time they lost air conditioning in the summer and also dealt with other issues like break-ins, black mold, and elevators that were frequently shut down or felt unsafe.
“Because we were missing a door for six months, there were trespassers, homeless people sleeping in the hallways, and then people just outside of the community coming into the halls,” said former Mint Urban Infinity tenant Shivani Mohan.
Another former tenant, Brandon Smith, was so fed up with the conditions that he brought other tenants together to start the class action lawsuit. He spoke with Denver7 in 2021 when the lawsuit was first filed and again on Friday after the jury’s decision.
“I’m relieved,” he said. “I’m glad this is done, and I'm really proud of the work that we've done together.
“This took hundreds of tenants coming together and standing together and saying, ‘No, we've had enough. We can't tolerate this anymore.’”
Smith went on to say Friday that ownership and management violated the Warranty of Habitability basic livability standards laid out by the state “for money.”
“If that's if that's what it is, then we're gonna come after you for money,” he said.
Previous coverage of Mint Urban Infinity apartments:
Residents at Denver apartments haven't had AC in weeks Mint Urban Infinity Apartment residents still without AC Denver residents frustrated after days without hot water Residents at Denver complex unite to share issues with property Residents of Mint Urban apartments seek class action lawsuit Residents fed up after hateful graffiti not removed after a weekCardinal Group did not respond to Denver7’s requests for comment but told our partners at The Denver Post it is “disappointed in the outcome,” which will have a “material adverse impact on affordable housing in Denver.”
The tenants’ attorneys disagree.
“It is possible to invest in affordable housing in this state and to respect and take care of your tenants’ wellbeings and to also be a profitable business,” said attorney Benjamin Degolia. “So this is just a false narrative.”
“People have all the money in the world to litigate a case instead of just maintaining a property and avoiding this in the first place,” added attorney Jason Legg.
Degolia and Legg said this is the first time a class action Warranty of Habitability lawsuit has made it to trial in Colorado. They hope the jury’s decision sends a message to landlords.
“If you subject your tenants to these kinds of conditions, if you fail to make repairs and maintenance at your property, you're going to face consequences,” said Degolia.
He said it should also be a message to tenants.
“If they organize their communities like these brave tenants did, they can take the fight to their landlords and they can get justice,” said Degolia.
The tenants’ attorneys said Friday they expect the defendants to appeal the jury’s decision.
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