Through our eviction defense work alongside 9 to 5 Colorado, our housing justice committee uncovered at least 25 evictions filed against tenants of Pine Creek Apartments in southeast Denver. Former Pine Creek residents escaped a building fire in August and were forced to relocate, only to find out that management had started eviction proceedings against them. Our amazing members got a mention in Denverite’s coverage of the story this week:

Lauren Echo, a member of the Denver Democratic Socialists group’s housing committee, said that after seeing the unusual number of eviction cases stemming from Pine Creek, members of her group visited the complex and saw eviction notices posted on the door, behind the fence. They realized many tenants may not have been informed and set out to find as many as they could, searching the internet in some cases.  Echo worries about those they have not reached, who may end up with eviction records without knowing a court has ruled.

“That’s what’s especially bull**** here,” Echo said, adding that with an eviction record, it will be “for the rest of their lives more difficult for them to get housing. It has a permanent effect on people’s lives.”

Denver DSA member and tenant’s rights attorney Jason Legg is representing several former resident’s and has filed a class action suit against management:

Jason Legg said Tschetter Sulzer lawyers used stock eviction legalese that “doesn’t tell tenants exactly why it is they’re facing eviction. It lists every possible reason they might be. Why is that OK?”

We won’t accept slumlords or their unconscionable behavior in our communities. Housing is a human right! With more intense waves of evictions and houseless sweeps on the horizon, we know tenant organizing is as critical as ever. Join the fight to empower one another to stand up: housing@denverdsa.org.