When gangs and illegal tenants began taking over our properties in Aurora, CO, we repeatedly asked the authorities for help. Instead of supporting us, they turned against us. One tactic they used was hitting us with constant code violations, which we’ll now explain.🧵
The more we asked for help, the more we were blamed and targeted.
Why?
There are two possibilities:
either these violations were somehow serious enough to cause a gang takeover (which is clearly absurd),
or they were just a distraction from the real issue.
One of the most frequent code violations we received was for "unlawful vehicles" parked at our buildings—cars without license plates. It’s true there were many, as illegal immigrants and their criminal "landlords" took control.
But if the police weren’t willing to address the illegal immigrants and gangs taking over our buildings, how were these "unlawful vehicles" going to disappear? We couldn’t tow them fast enough before more showed up.
The "unlawful vehicles" are just a symptom of a bigger issue:
rampant and unchecked lawlessness in a city that seems more bothered by innocent property owners asking for help than by the criminal gangs openly operating there.
To show that this is really a city-wide problem, we took a quick drive around our Aurora properties to look for cars without license plates.
In just a few minutes, we took these pictures. If we took more time, we could have taken dozens, if not hundreds, more.
In a well run city in America, cars without license plates can’t be on the streets for more than a few minutes. But in Aurora, they’re everywhere.
Who is to blame for this?
A hardworking American property owner, or a city that’s overwhelmed by illegal immigrants and foreign criminals?!
Oh, and as we drive around the neighborhood, take a look at what happened to our neighbors - stores owned by other hard working American business owners in Aurora.
All these boarded-up businesses in Aurora are a direct result of an incompetent government. They might try to blame us, Walmart, Walgreens, and every other closed store, but we know who is really at fault.
The first step to fixing the problem is to take responsibility!
If they think we should get code violations for every “unlawful vehicle” at our buildings, then they must also believe they should receive violations for every “unlawful vehicle” in the city.
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The situation in Aurora, CO has gained attention, as gangs and illegal immigrants have taken control of our properties. However, the larger issue is that the government not only ignored the crisis but also scapegoated us to avoid accountability. 🧵
Where we stand now:
Two of our properties in Aurora, CO remain under gang control. By "gang control," we mean that most or all of the rental income is diverted to a criminal enterprise comprised of gang members and illegal immigrants instead of the rightful property owners. A third building was shut down by the city for "code violations." Let's take a closer look at these so-called violations.
Like many large, older properties, code violations can happen. We have always addressed them promptly. Our track record proves this. In 2023 we passed 3 full building inspections that included a detailed walk-through of every unit.
So how does the city shut down 99 apartments for code violations after declaring everything up to code? Because it wasn’t about code violations—it was about a criminal takeover of our buildings and the city’s refusal to address it, instead choosing to blame us.
Gangs have taken control of several of our properties in Aurora, Colorado.
In an attempt to discredit this fact for political purposes and avoid governmental accountability, some have spread false information about our situation. Let’s set the record straight...🧵
We started managing these buildings when new owners acquired the Colorado properties in 2019. At the time, the properties were in poor condition, and our mission was to renovate them, thereby increasing their value. This was an ambitious project that would significantly benefit the people of Aurora while providing returns to the new owners.
We understood this project would take years to yield results and would be both time-consuming and costly, involving comprehensive upgrades to every unit and the overall structure. To manage the project effectively, given our New York-based operations, our representative moved to Colorado with his family.
We also undertook a complete renovation of nearly every unit in the now well-known building you’ve seen in the news. (The images shown depict our newly renovated apartments.)
Everything was progressing smoothly: property values were rising, and vacancy rates were dropping. It was a win-win for both the owners and the city of Aurora.
Then, the gangs arrived...
After some time, we noticed a rise in crime and tenant complaints. The most alarming moment occurred when our local CBZ representative was attacked at the end of 2023.
He had gone to inspect a recently vacated three-bedroom apartment (a rare occurrence for such a large unit) only to find a group of men already inside. When he refused their $500 bribe to overlook the situation, they brutally attacked him. (This photo was taken shortly after he escaped, just before being admitted to the hospital. The video footage comes from one of our security cameras, capturing part of the assault.)