A court-appointed landlord is fixing up Aurora apartments that were caught up in the “Tren de Aragua” immigration controversy — and paying tenants to move out.
Kevin Singer recently took over management of Whispering Pines Apartments and part of the Edge at Lowry complex. Singer is charged with running the properties while a lawsuit over their ownership plays out.
But Singer is struggling to convince tenants to pay rent, he said, and instead is offering many of them money to leave. The apartments are off Colfax Avenue and Chambers Road.
In a recent court report, Singer confirmed details about the condition of Whispering Pines that tenants had alleged. One building lacked hot water for at least a month. The property’s condition is so poor that Travelers has refused to renew its insurance.
Tenants have complained for months about rodents, broken appliances, mold and more. Meanwhile concerns about crime at the apartment complexes mounted after a fatal shooting and a widely circulated video of six armed men at the Edge.
The property owner has claimed that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua took over the buildings and started stealing rent payments.
Why aren’t tenants paying rent?
Singer has been trying since late September to get the property functional and to get tenants to start paying rent again, his report said.
“Although tenants have generally been cooperative … I have learned that one or more tenant advocacy organizations has apparently met with tenants and advised them not to pay rents, which has complicated my work,” Singer reported.
Only one unit paid rent by the end of October, Singer reported. The rent revenues are meant to be used for upkeep and operation of the apartments, among other things.
V Reeves, an advocate working with tenants, said that tenants aren’t paying because many of the units are still uninhabitable, especially for more than $1,800 in rent. The new management has given tenants little time to come up with the money, she said.
She has simply told renters of their rights, including laws about habitability, she said. And the new management was asking for a full month’s rent despite only running the place for part of October, she said.
“These folks are autonomous, we as a community will support them,” she said. “It makes sense that nobody paid on that day, because this was an unrealistic demand … for units that are still in decrepit condition,” she said.
Representatives for two tenant advocate organizations didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Singer is trying a different strategy: He is offering to pay tenants to move out of Whispering Pines, if they want. The offer is for $1,200, Reeves said. She argued the new managers should offer tenants a break on rent instead of “bribing” them to leave.
Singer has declined comment on the apartments, referring reporters to his court filings.
New cameras, security and doors
Singer wrote that Whispering Pines was “in better condition than anticipated.”
The buildings were a center of national attention over claims that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had taken over the buildings.
“Although there was some evidence of criminal activity, it appeared that the more serious issues which attracted media coverage prior to my appointment had largely been resolved due to the efforts of the Aurora Police Department,” Singer wrote.
Meanwhile, Singer has taken on numerous changes, including:
- Repairing a boiler that had been out for weeks or longer
- Hiring multiple security companies to patrol the building
- Installing nearly 40 new security cameras on eight towers around the property
- Installing self-locking doors in common areas
- “Taking control” of 11 vacant units
- “Re-establishing” security cameras in hallways
- Clearing blocked sewer lines and cleaning out trash and debris
- Cleaning the building and boarding up broken windows
- Exterminating pests and repairing fences
The building is “in better condition than anticipated but suffered from numerous code violations,” Singer reported. He invoiced the court for $55,000 for services rendered in late September and October.
Singer’s report for the Edge at Lowry wasn’t yet available.
Reeves said some of the upgrades felt more like surveillance than service for tenants. The new security teams have blocked her and other advocates from the property, even when they’re invited, she said.
“They place these huge surveillance cameras with lights that don't let people sleep at night in the center of the buildings,” she said.
Why is there a lawsuit about the buildings?
U.S. Bank is suing the owners of the properties — who are linked to the company CBZ Management — and alleging that they failed to make loan payments. The properties were the collateral for the loans.
As a result, judges appointed Kevin Singer to run both properties as a third party and act as the “receiver.”
Management of the buildings changed hands in late September and early October as the result of a pair of lawsuits. Another CBZ-owned building, Fitzsimons Apartments, was previously closed by the city.
