Aurora pauses the closing of problem apartments after a caretaker is appointed

Aurora city officials are postponing plans to close dilapidated — and now politically infamous — apartment buildings after control of two of the properties was turned over from their owners to a court-ordered caretaker.

The court took action after property owners defaulted on millions of dollars in loans. Lawyers for the US Bank Trust Company have filed two lawsuits in recent weeks seeking to put Aurora’s Whispering Pines and 200 apartment complexes in Columbia into receivership. That’s a court-appointed process that transfers control of assets to an appointed trustee to help unpaid creditors recover their loans.

Both properties, controlled by troubled property owner CBZ Management through a web of limited liability companies, were put up as collateral for about $10 million across two loans.

US Bank’s attorneys wrote that the property owners have not made payments in three months and have repaid virtually none of the original loan amounts.

CBZ has claimed in recent months that its properties – which have been plagued for years by persistent health code violations and allegations of management neglect – have been taken over by a transnational Venezuelan gang called Tren de Aragua. The allegations sparked a state and then national firestorm, culminating in Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s plans to hold a rally in Aurora on Friday at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center.

The moratorium order has prompted Aurora officials to delay upcoming plans to close 200 Columbia and the adjacent CBZ property, Edge of Lowry, due to increased criminal activity and ongoing health code violations. The Edge of Lowry apartments gained national fame in late summer after a video of armed men in a hallway went viral and sparked the gang claims.

“We are thrilled that the property owners and managers have agreed to allow a court-appointed, third-party trustee to take control of these private properties to finally address the long-standing issues at each of them suit,” Aurora spokesperson Ryan Luby wrote in an email on Tuesday. . “Tenants and various activists and advocates have called for more accountability, stability and security, and that is exactly what these actions will deliver.”

In court, CBZ’s attorneys did not challenge either lawsuit against the U.S. Bank, and both properties were quickly placed into receivership. The court-appointed receiver, Kevin Singer of California, will now have full control of the properties — including the ability to end leases, collect rent and make repairs that tenants and city inspectors say have been left out for years.

US Bank, which previously paid for a private investigation into gang activity at CBZ properties, requested Singer’s appointment, writing that he had “experience managing properties affected by the presence of gangs and addressing and eliminating that problem.” Singer was previously appointed curator of a nonprofit housing project for the homeless in Los Angeles.

Tenants at Whispering Pines were told the concierge would be on site as soon as this week to assess the properties.

City officials have said the gangs’ claims are exaggerated, while also confirming that CBZ properties have been “significantly affected” by gangs. In previous interviews, current and former tenants have also described criminal activity. But they have also blamed CBZ and its Colorado-based owner, Zev Baumgarten, for persistently failing to fix mold, pest and hot water issues — among a litany of other problems — over a period of years at the properties. the company in Denver and Aurora. .

Walter Slatkin, the attorney for CBZ and the participating companies that formally own the properties, did not return a message seeking comment Tuesday.

Attorneys for the US Bank Trust Company also did not respond to questions about the fate of the properties or the dozens of tenants living in them.

According to financial records, Edge of Lowry’s property was also used as collateral for a loan. UBS Bank, which provided the loan, did not return a message requesting information on the status of the loan, and no lawsuit has been filed to gain control of the property.

In his email, Luby wrote that city officials hope “the remaining buildings will follow suit” and go into receivership.