A judge has ordered CBZ Management to turn over to state investigators records about how the company has run its various Colorado rental properties, including several notoriously dilapidated apartment buildings in Denver and Aurora.
Denver District Judge Jill Deborah Dorancy gave CBZ and its constellation of associated companies until July 28 to comply with several investigative subpoenas from the Colorado Attorney General’s Office that were issued nearly a year ago.
Dorancy wrote that CBZ and its other companies had sought to prevent the state’s “lawful investigation” into whether the landlord violated safe-housing and consumer-protection laws.
Attorney General Phil Weiser’s office sent CBZ and its constituent companies several subpoenas in September as investigators probed the chronically unsafe conditions of the companies’ properties, as well as allegations from tenants that CBZ had engaged in insurance fraud and deceptive practices. The subpoenas seek information about the properties’ ownership, how CBZ advertises its rentals, and how it tracks and responds to maintenance requests, among several other demands for records.
After receiving the subpoenas in September, CBZ’s lawyers first sought several exemptions to delay producing the records, which were granted by the AG, according to court filings. The delays continued into December, when CBZ sued and asked a judge to block the subpoenas; the companies argued the requests were too burdensome and broad.
Weiser’s office then filed its own lawsuit, asking a judge to order CBZ to turn over the records. Dorancy’s rulings ended both cases.
A year ago, CBZ operated 11 apartment buildings in Denver, Aurora, Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Edgewater. The company became nationally infamous in August, when a video showing armed men in one of its Aurora apartment buildings went viral and became a part of the 2024 presidential election.
As Aurora officials moved to shut down one of CBZ’s properties because of its unsafe conditions, CBZ and its owner, the New York-based Shmaryahu Baumgarten, claimed that an influx of Venezuelan gang members had seized CBZ properties and caused their collapse.
The Denver Post reported last year that gangs had infiltrated CBZ’s Aurora properties and that the company had previously and consistently refused to fix a laundry list of unsafe conditions at those buildings dating back years. Similar conditions — including roach infestations, collapsing infrastructure and absent heat and hot water — have also been reported at CBZ’s three Denver properties, though the company has claimed no gang infiltration there.
An email sent to CBZ’s lawyers was not returned Tuesday.
In a statement, Weiser said the subpoenas “are not a suggestion” and that his office will follow the investigation “where the evidence leads.”
“CBZ’s refusal to comply with duly issued subpoenas, despite repeated extensions and accommodations, is unjustified and obstructs a lawful investigation into potential violations of state law,” Weiser wrote. “Companies that stonewall the AG’s office will be held accountable.”
The ruling is the latest legal setback for CBZ and its collapsing rental footprint in Colorado. The company is facing legal action in both Aurora and Denver for failing to maintain its properties, and judges in both cities have issued arrest warrants for Zev Baumgarten, one of CBZ’s managers and Shmaryahu Baumgarten’s brother, for failing to turn up for his court dates.
Unpaid creditors and Aurora officials have closed CBZ’s three Aurora properties, while Denver officials shuttered another building there because it was unsafe.
The company’s attempt to claim that it’s been unfairly targeted because its owners are Jewish was dismissed by an Aurora judge earlier this month because the company presented no evidence to support the allegation, according to Westword.
One of CBZ’s constituent companies is also awaiting a trial in Aurora related to the closure of the Edge of Lowry property, where the video of the armed gang members was taken. That trial was supposed to start this month, but has now been delayed until November.
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