Rats, roaches, mice and mold: Mosaic Apartments repeatedly cited by Denver public health

Residents of a southeast Denver apartment complex -- many of them lower income and immigrants -- are asking for help as they say managers of the Mosaic Apartments, 6900 East Evans Avenue, have not done enough to rid the complex of rats, roaches, mice and mold.

"I know I have rats, they're in the walls, you can hear them," said Shaneequa Wilson, who has lived in a third-floor apartment for about two years, but says the rodents "make me want to leave. It's crazy, it's a bad problem, it's very scary."

She shared video and pictures with CBS News Colorado showing what appear to be rats or mice scurrying around her apartment. Residents repeatedly have referred to a perceived rat infestation.

Denver Department of Public Health and Environment records show apartment managers tried to address Wilson's problems but she says the rats are still hanging around.'I've seen two big ones and they were huge!', she said. She pays $1280 per month for her one-bedroom apartment.

Nearby, another woman from Iran, who asked her name not to be used, shared pictures of numerous dead rats in her apartment. She said at one point, rats bit her on the hand and finger and she sought medical treatment. She claims that by using an electric trap, she caught 20 rats in one night.

"I sit here and see the mice," she said. "All the time, I [am] afraid of mice. Afraid of mice."

She said after repeatedly complaining, apartment managers notified her they would not renew her lease and she would need to move out in April.

The Denver Department of Public Health and Environment said it had 22 complaints from Mosaic residents in a recent seven-month span and four cases remain open. A CBS News Colorado review of DDPHE records shows health inspectors would sometimes have to notify apartment managers three or four times before action was taken on verified resident complaints.

When CBS News Colorado tried to speak to an on-site manager, the woman closed and locked her office door and said "no comment."

In a first-floor apartment, Brie Dennis said her unit is regularly swarmed by roaches.

"I can't even go into my bathroom at certain times. If I turn on the light they are all over the floor. It's bad," she said.

The high volume of rodents may have something to do with the apartment building being adjacent to the Highline Canal, and massive construction at a nearby shopping center, which has likely displaced rats and mice.

In one inspection report, a DDPHE inspector wrote, 'the investigator received a phone call stating that their child had a mouse in their face last night and is now terrified. No work has been done to correct the mice issues."

In another case, a resident told the city investigator, "he has been dealing with mice for 7 months. Caller says he has told landlord about it -- they put traps out -- but there are more mice multiplying."

Investigators say they have repeatedly found "rat holes" around the apartment complex.

Wilson said residents are reluctant to speak up, fearing they will be kicked out and unable to find anywhere else they can afford to live.

City records show the apartment complex is owned by a limited liability corporation based in California.