Letter from police chief says Aurora apartments will be closed if property owner doesn't make changes

The residents who live in apartment buildings in Aurora, which has been thrust into the discussion about immigration to the United States, may soon need to find a new place to live.

On Thursday afternoon, CBS Colorado obtained a letter sent to the owners of the property on E 12th Avenue and Dallas Street from the Aurora Police Department, which gives them an ultimatum. Clean up the buildings, or they may face closure. The city of Aurora and residents or the property say property managers have abandoned the complex and are providing no services whatsoever.

"These children, their families, these workers are going to have their futures robbed from them in so many ways," said V Reeves with Housekeys Action Network.

They have been working with residents at the complex to get the owner to take responsibility for his buildings. They say if the buildings are closed, people will be out on the street.

"They're condemning these families and their children to 'houselessness' to being on the streets to, to living in cars. These are things that even with, you know, all of these resources and support outside of the city for Nome Street that, you know, we're still dealing with two months later after Nome Street's closure," Reeves said.  "We still have people in very dangerous positions because of a lack of support and because the landlord has not offered them any kind of money for security deposits or anything to help them out of this situation, despite making millions off of them."

In an interview in early September, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman said the city is doing everything it can to hold the property owner responsible but with little success.

"I think there's some question about whether the property owner just really wants to just let go of the properties and let them go into foreclosure," Reeves said.

The city says it doesn't  want to close the building and hopes this letter will compel the building's owner to cooperate with efforts to provide a safe and clean living place for their tenants. Reeves says they think this whole situation is shady.

"I'm incredibly disappointed in the city of Aurora, in the state of Colorado and in the U.S. for allowing these kinds of actions to go unchecked," Reeves said. "Just because this guy has money to cover his tracks, he's a horrible person. He has a huge record of doing, you know, horrible things and so many violations, and he's getting off scot-free. Where's the justice in that?

In a statement on Thursday afternoon, the city of Aurora said it too has been working to hold the property owner accountable, but he has ignored or rebuffed all of its attempts.