The Event

On a Sunday afternoon, December 4, 2022, around 1:50 PM a small fire began in the stairwell of Cedar Run Apartments Building A., 840 S Oneida St, Denver, CO 80224. A faint sound of two smoke alarms beeping out of sync could be heard. The tenants evacuated the building and surprisingly found property management staff already on site and directing everyone out of the building.

On a Sunday.

Sunday?

The only day of the week the leasing office is closed.

Within 6 minutes the Denver FD arrived. Within 15 minutes the fire is out. Handled with precision and speed. Denver FD verifies the building is structurally sound and takes off to the next mission. This is when the real damage happens.

As the tenants begin to return to their homes to continue their Sunday plans, they are stopped by the staff of Apartment Management Consultants LLC. The official representation of the owners, Gelt Inc. Staff immediately informed all tenants they are not allowed in the building and to find somewhere else to stay for the night. In the background, the Colorado Premier Restoration company begins blocking off access to the stairwell. Tenants begin questioning as to why their homes were off limits. Then the Red Cross shows up with info for a shelter miles away. No transportation offered to the disabled or elderly tenants, just directions to the shelter. The same directions your phone could give you. By 7:00 PM Colorado Premier Restoration company begins posting “Keep out” signs to the building entry doors. Management falsely states the FD made the decision and then refuses any and all info for the next 6 hours. The AMC LLC staff says “more info will be available at some point” and leaves around 9:00 PM and goes home. Confused and scrambling to find somewhere to go, tenants fill the parking lot. Some leave and some stay to just sleep in cars.

The next morning December 6, tenants try to check on their homes and once management arrives, the evacuation begins again. This time with armed Front Range Patrol security guards and Colorado Premier Restoration starts boarding up the building. Management is heard telling restoration employees that a mattress was set on fire. Hotels are offered to the tenants for the next few days but still no information or reason why the building is off limits. When calls are made, the Colorado Department of Health and Environment verify they have no knowledge of the building being condemned. Same goes for Denver Building Code Inspectors, Denver PD, Denver FD, and Department of Local Affairs.

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December 5, unknown to the tenants at the time and only discovered 90 days later, there was no asbestos contamination. Prokop Environmental LLC performed an air sampling test and found only one microscopic fiber of asbestos in the entire building. Over the next 90 days this information would be held from the tenants. AMC LLC would continue to place fear upon the tenants and seize their homes and property.

December 7, the hotels are extended to the 13th. Management recommends that the tenants file renters insurance claims but refuses to say if there is damage to the units, property, or the tenants. By this point the tenants are communicating with each other and sharing contact info, pictures, and videos.

December 10, this weekend the first video from a tenant’s indoor security camera was shared. It shows two unidentified males grabbing property then noticing the camera and facing it against the wall.

December 12, still no updates and the hotels are extended again to Friday December 16. Still no answers for the tenants or their insurance.

December 13, management says they are “just still waiting on a plan of action from the State Of Colorado.” Colorado Premier Restoration has built a 6 ft tall chain link fence around the entire building and boards up all doors and first floor windows preventing anyone from entering. Management now states that “the City of Denver and The State of Colorado have condemned the building” The tenants called the Denver PD for the first civil assistance. The PD informs the landlords that the tenants have the legal right to their personal belongings and homes. Management has the rooms extended to the 19th and still refuses any answers, testing reports, point of contact or documents from any Colorado governmental entity.

December 14, no update.

December 15, no updates and the hotels are extended to checkout December 20. The Staff close their office early and throw their employee Christmas Party.

December 16, one hour before Cedar Run office closes, all tenants receive an email that reads

“The recent fire at the Cedar Run Apartments has caused damage to the building which has made it uninhabitable...

”Due to the damage and destruction of the property, we are terminating all leases effective Monday, December 19, 2022....

those of you in hotels, those stays will be extended only through Monday evening, December 19th…

We cannot say what will happen with your contents but you should assume you will not have access to them for some time…

you were previously advised,...claim on your renters’ insurance policy for any

damages you may suffer as a result of the fire. Questions should be directed to Gina Pacheco at 303-399-0526.” our deepest thoughts to everybody that was affected by the fire in building A. – Gina, Jessica, Rod Leif, Zach and Henry. This does not qualify as a Notice of Service required by the courts.

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December 20, the tenants' frustration level has boiled over. More videos of units being looted by third party contractors, maintenance staff spraying chemicals in tenants units and shutting cameras off. Property staff and contractors not wearing asbestos protection walking in and out of the building. The Denver PD is called by tenants for another civil assist. The residents begin to ask questions and demand their property. Colorado Premier Restoration employees stand guard outside of the building’s entrance with either a phone in their hand or a hammer. Denver PD arrives and begins to question the on site staff. The PD investigation revealed the testing results determined there was no asbestos found in the stairwell or hallways. 16 days tenants have no home and they couldn't find any asbestos. The property manager specifically says Jeffrey L. Wolfe with the CDPHE has condemned the building. Not quarantined, condemned. Condemned is defined as to the State of Colorado has taken ownership of the building. There is no proof shown to the PD to support this claim. More videos of maintenance spraying chemicals and drilling holes in the wall under cabinets and inside of cabinets. Which would technically release asbestos from behind the drywall. We all realize we’ve been lied to for the last 17 days.

Within minutes of the staff leaving, tenants storm the building. Everyone helps each other gather their personal property while avoiding the opening of any doors or breaching the hallways. The Front Range Patrol showed up armed and ready to investigate the situation. They see residents grabbing their clothes, personal documents, family pictures, and prescription medications. They made sure no property was being damaged and left. Throughout the entire night you could see families climbing 4 stories with ladders, makeshift scaffolding, and ropes. Adults, teens, and kids going from the outside of the building and entering through balconies. All personal items tossed over balconies because at least then there was a possibility of getting items back undamaged. Moms throw decorated Christmas trees and wrapped gifts from balconies while their kids watch the destruction of their holiday which was less than 5 days away. Everyone’s access to the shelter and safety of their homes is restricted and all their personal property confiscated or stolen. Families in a scramble to preserve urns, photos, keepsakes, unable to hold back tears, some crying or sobbing uncontrollably. Yet I still see these victims make an effort to clean the unit before they leave in the early morning hours. It was one of the saddest events I've seen. Even the armed security guards had to walk away. I'm positive the entire time this was happening, the Cedar Run staff was cozy and resting peacefully in their homes.

The next day, December 21, everything was boarded back up and a second armed guard company, Oculus Security, was brought in. Inspectors arrive to enter all units for testing. Over two weeks since the fire occurred. I received an email informing me that I moved out on December 3, 2022. The day before the fire. I have not moved out at all. I do not accept this and I explain this to the entire management team immediately via email and in person at the Cedar Run office. The management team present included Regina Pacheco, Nicole Benn, and Robyn Streeks. I explain that we are currently in a legal eviction proceeding with the courts and remind them I have been illegally locked out since the 4th. This fraudulent document they created states my lease balance due up to December 19th but tries to claim I moved out on December 3rd, my deposit will not be returned and shows an absurd balance owed to “Cedar Run.” So I disputed it and explained that the management team, their claim I moved out the day before the fire would now dismisses any renters insurance claim or even possibly looks like a fraudulent claim. Their response was “just have your insurance call the office.” No one has answered the office phone or responded to emails since the fire. Creating this document was done to retaliate against me for filing a court motion to remove the barricades and let myself and the other tenants access their rightful homes and property.

That night some were still sleeping in their cars in the parking lot. The temperature drops below -10° and it's almost impossible to sleep for longer than 30 minutes at a time before the pain from the cold wakes you. Since the fire every action by Apartment Management Consultants LLC, representatives of Gelt Inc, the owners of Cedar Run Apartments, has been intentional and with malice, completely disregarding multiple human rights and in violation of Colorado State Laws, Denver City municipal codes and ordinances, U.S. Constitution, OSHA, EPA, and Health Department.

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After reading the fire report it became a little clearer. The FD received the asbestos information from Colorado Premier Restoration. A company that is a part of the Colorado Apartment Association (association of companies working together for feeding off tenants) and Colorado Premier Restoration has no asbestos certification or training relating to asbestos. Their website relates their "specialty" is basically putting boards over windows and fences around homes. But the company Pure Abatement Inc has the required asbestos certifications. Now the best part about all of this is that Colorado Premier Restoration and Pure Abatement are both registered corporations in the State of Colorado. Both of these corporations have their own board of directors. Both corporations have the same two people making up their board of directors. This means that one corporation is feeding work to the other and both companies are controlled by the same two people, Alex Limbert and Christopher Weston.

1) Why would this company know of the fire within 30 minutes and be on site?

2) Why would they call to inform these heroes? The FD are actually trained to deal with fire/asbestos and already possess a far greater knowledge of asbestos compared to a company that per their website “specializes” in boarding up apartment buildings.

3) Why was property management already on site when the office was closed Sunday?

4) Why claim the FD closed the building?

5) Why claim on separate occasions that the State of Colorado, the City of Denver, and the Health Department closed the building?

6) Why lie to the tenants about the testing instead of actually having a test performed?

7) Why lie about the results?

8) What chemical was sprayed?

9) Why drill into the walls the day before testing the units?

10) Why destroy the lives of over a hundred people?

11) Why are the tenants that are allowed to transfer units forced to sign new leases with a rental increase?

12) Why were the lights in the hallways and garage flickering and then not working for over a week?

13) Why did you leave the mattress after being told for a week that it appeared?

14) Why pay for hotels and keep tenants away from the Arson Investigator?

15) Why are you in this industry if you take satisfaction in hurting and stealing from tenants?

16) Why did you ever think it would go unnoticed?

17) Why didn’t you learn to clean stairwells from your, almost identical, stairwell fire AMC LLC allowed in Utah (BRODERICK v. APARTMENT MGMT. CONSULTANTS)

18) Why would you ever think your insanely scripted lease supersedes Colorado State Law?

19) Why would you think you can bypass courts regarding your signed rental contract and your selfish desire to end it?

20) And finally why would you ever think that this is over?

You must know that you will be held accountable at some point by someone and corporate lap dogs are nothing more than just dogs. Your company will throw you out just as you did to all of these families. For no purpose or reasoning, other than just being the person you naturally are.