Colorado residents sue for housing after Fitzsimmons Place Apartments shut down
One former tenant of the now-shuttered Fitzsimmons Place Apartments is suing the building's owners and management groups, trying to get housing for people displaced by its closure.
Benjamin Degolia, a Denver civil rights lawyer, and a client have filed the lawsuit in an effort to hold the owners responsible for finding new housing for their former tenants.
"Our primary goal here is to seek justice for these mostly families and individuals, who not only were subjected to horrific conditions in this apartment complex for years but then were effectively made unhoused and displaced because the landlords refused to do anything about it," Degolia said.
He argues that the owner is legally required to help tenants find new housing when they are displaced because their dwellings have been deemed uninhabitable.
"These individuals have a right to dignified housing. They have a right, under Colorado's warranty of habitability statute, to be provided with alternative housing by the landlords, and they have a right to seek damages for being subjected to these conditions over the last several years," Degolia said.
Wednesday afternoon, a judge granted the residents' request, mandating the owners provide either a dwelling unit comparable to their previous unit or hotel rooms. A hearing is set for Aug. 21.
When the Fitzsimmons Place Apartments were shuttered by the City of Aurora on Tuesday, it left residents scrambling to find new housing.
"This is not enough time to find another place," said former resident Jorge Antonio. "They should give us a little more time. It's not fair. I've lived here six years and just... no, it's not fair."
Nonprofit and activist organizations were on hand Tuesday to help the displaced find new housing, and the city offered temporary hotel stays.
