Owner of Colorado gang-run apartment complex avoids charges for poor health and safety conditions

A Colorado apartment complex owner is avoiding criminal charges related to health violations in his building by agreeing to sell, lease, or board it u p.

Zev Baumgarten, the owner of the property company Nome Partners, faced dozens of charges for failing to maintain the Aspen Grove Apartment Complex, according to the Denver Gazette .

Tenants living in the 99-unit building dealt with rodent infestations, sewage backups, water leaks, and lacked electricity.

Baumgarten claimed that the property company was unable to tend to the tenants' needs because the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had taken it over.

At first, city officials denied Nome Partners's claims of gang activity, but they have since reversed their position. The Denver Gazette had requested records of the email correspondence between the city and the landlord’s lawyer, which laid out concern about the gang activity at its complex, but they were heavily redacted. City officials claimed they could not share the details as they were allegedly protecting the property manager’s lawyer’s “work product.”

Baumgarten reached out to the Aurora Police Department on several occasions for additional patrolling of the property, but the requests were declined.

“He was told we didn’t have the staffing to provide adequate security at all his properties,” Joe Moylan, an Aurora police spokesperson told the Denver Gazette.

In June, the property owner sent letters alerting police and local officials that the gang had taken control of the premises, but officials documented a decline in health and safety since 2021.

Federal officials have reported that the Venezuelan prison gang has made its presence known in the Denver area, which has become home to nearly 43,000 immigrants who have illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in the past 22 months.

The gang is known for human trafficking and dealing narcotics.

Nome Partners acquired the property in 2019 for $12,375,000. Nearly 300 tenants were given eviction notices on Aug. 13. The property is now boarded up and costs about $60,000 to secure and clean.

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However, Nome Partners has been given the option in the agreement with the city to “re-tenant” the building as long as it maintains city code.

Nome Partners also got into trouble for lax health and safety standards at another property that it claims has been overtaken by gangs. These properties are managed by CBZ Management, which is in charge of 11 properties in Denver, Aurora, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo, Colorado.