DENVER — Four former tenants who are suing the owners of Mint Urban Infinity Apartments in southeast Denver said on Thursday that the complex wasn't habitable, and they're hoping a judge approves class-action status for their lawsuit.
"It was a nightmare," said Brandon Smith, the lead plaintiff. "It was one of the worst and most stressful times in my life."
When Smith moved into his apartment in the complex, located near South Colorado Boulevard and East Louisiana Avenue, in April of 2021, he said the elevators didn't work and he just had ACL surgery.
"It was incredibly painful for the first six or eight months of hiking up four flights of stairs to get to my apartment, but I had to do it," he said. "There weren't any other options."
Another plaintiff, Shivani Mohan, moved to the complex in May 2019, but she moved out less than a year later after she said she asked repeatedly for locks on the main front doors of her building.
She broke her lease after one incident left her shaken.
"There was a man walking through the hallways with his zipper undone, exposed," Mohan said. "Just walking around."
Despite explaining what happened to the management company, Mohan said they still charged her $2,500 for breaking her lease.
Mohan and Smith are two of the four people asking a Denver District Court judge to approve bringing a class-action lawsuit against the owners of Mint Urban Infinity for operating what they say was a "veritable slum."
The lawsuit alleges "elevators and air conditioning failed for weeks and months, doors and hallways were unsafe, the pool and laundry facilities were in disrepair, and the property suffered from repeated infestations."
"I believe there are 561 apartments at Mint Urban Infinity, and my lawsuit would encompass all of them ideally," Smith said.
The defendants declined an interview with 9NEWS.
Some of the people in the galley of the courtroom Thursday said they hope to be a part of the class-action lawsuit. Griffin O'Connor still lives in the complex, and he said the issues persist but he doesn't have enough money to move out.
"I want them to learn a lesson that treating people like this isn't really OK," said O'Connor of the apartment complex owners.
One of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs is also a Colorado lawmaker. Democrat Rep. Steven Woodrow helped pass a bill last session that would make it easier for tenants to bring landlords to court.
His team said it could take weeks or months before a judge decides whether the case can become a class-action suit.
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