Jodie Mitchell found out Saturday that her weekly rent at King’s Inn, a decaying, bug-infested motel on East Colfax Avenue in Aurora, was going from $225 to $455, effective immediately.

She and dozens of other residents had as little as two days to pay or get out after a new owner bought the rickety, four-story motel last weekend and nearly doubled daily and weekly rates. About 10 units have been vacated in the last two days as new owners “booted” door handles with plastic covers and, several residents said, chucked belongings into trash bins.

Andy Cross, The Denver Post King's Inn Motel residents only got a few days notice that their weekly rent was doubling, forcing most into a state of panic not knowing where they will be able to go.

Andy Cross, The Denver Post King's Inn Motel residents Alvino Watkins Jr. and his wife Jeannine embrace in their apartment at the inn June 6, 2017 in Aurora. The Watkins were temporarily evicted without notice, had all their belongings removed out onto the balcony and then had their stuff moved back into their room without them being there. Most residents had their weekly rent double with only a few days notice and are being forced out, the Watkins are up to date on their rent figuring that was the reason that their belongs were returned, but are in fear that they too will be forced out. Their weekly rent went from $275 to $455.

King's Inn Hotel residents Jasiah Jones, left, holds his daughter Kylyah, 4-months-old, as she gets a kiss from her mother Krystal Bivens June 6, 2017 in Aurora. Jones and Bivens are fearful of being evicted as the new owners have doubled the weekly rent.



Andy Cross, The Denver Post King's Inn motel resident Violanda Scorsonelli makes a phone call June 6, 2017, in Aurora to figure out what she's going to do after the new owners on the Inn nearly doubled her weekly rent from $200 to $386. Scorsonelli and most of the other residents of the motel were being threatened with eviction in less than a week if they couldn't come up with the money.

Residents, many who have lived there for years, confronted new owner Avi Schwalb outside the motel office Tuesday, some in tears and others shouting as they gathered around him. A few sat in plastic chairs outside the doors to their rooms, vowing not to leave. Aurora police officers had responded four times in three days to disturbance calls, including a fight in the parking lot and a complaint that the owner’s son was walking around with a gun on his hip.

“For bed bugs, roaches, sewage coming up from my tub, you are raising the rent?” said Mitchell, who lives in a motel room with her husband and their two teenagers. “I have a stove that electrocutes me. This was the cheapest place around, so we sucked it up.”

The situation wasn’t the first to raise questions about the rights of long-term motel residents in Colorado, where state law is vague on the matter. Colorado law does not specify that an owner of a motel must follow the eviction process required for apartments or houses rented through a lease, which requires three days’ notice in writing before a renter who has not paid is considered unlawful.

In Greenwood Village, the City Council voted in 2014 to prohibit motel guests from staying more than 29 days. Critics at the time accused the city of trying to get rid of homeless people.

“If they have to pay all this rent, how are they going to eat?” asked Cenece Dixon, a social worker and a pastor at the Throne Room International Church, which has delivered food to King’s Inn and other motels for several years and paid for rooms for people living on the streets.

She said daily rates at motels along Colfax have gone up from about $20 per day to as high as $50 in the last few years. “In Denver and Aurora, people are not being able to pay their rent, and it’s causing them to have to go to a hotel,” she said. “It’s just so hard for people to get on their feet.”

King’s Inn has a “pretty nasty reputation” for drug use, but eviction with two days’ notice is no way to treat long-time residents, said Mitchell’s husband, Mike Alexander, who works at a utility line company. “There are some good people here,” he said. “There are people who work for a living, people on a fixed income, people who are disabled.”

The motel, one of several run-down, daily-rate establishments on the East Colfax strip, is home to six infants and many children, residents said. Its four stories are linked with metal stairs, bathrooms contain mold and carpets are home to bed bugs.

Schwalb, who said he owns 140 living units within six buildings in Aurora, bought King’s Inn four days ago. The previous owner was losing money because he didn’t charge enough, Schwalb said, adding that he intends to clean up the motel and already has started renovating one of the vacant units.

“This is not an apartment. This is a motel,” he told residents who had gathered around him, yelling over each other.

“We don’t get maid service!” one shouted back. “No fresh towels!”

Smaller units are increasing from $20 per day to $35. Schwalb said he could not afford water, electricity, taxes and cable television under the old rates. Larger units, including those with separate bedrooms and small kitchens, cost more than the “sleepers.”

“If they’re saying they can’t pay it, most of them are lying,” he said. Schwalb said he told residents their new rate takes effect the day their weekly rent is due, which gave many of them a week’s notice. Yet residents said they were given two or three days’ notice to pay before eviction.

Aurora police responded to a disturbance call at King’s Inn on Sunday, a fight in the parking lot on Monday and a second call Monday from a resident “complaining about the owner walking around with a gun in plain view on his hip,” according to Aurora police Sgt. Chris Amsler. The owner’s son was carrying the gun openly, which is legal. The owner called police multiple times Tuesday, including to report an attempted assault on an employee, police said. No one was arrested.

Amy Berry, who lives at King’s Inn with her two kids, her sister and her niece, was among residents who said they had nowhere to go. Under the previous owner, Berry worked as an office clerk in exchange for free rent. The new owner wants $385 per week, she said.

“I guess I’m going to sleep in the park tonight,” she said.

The city of Aurora’s homelessness program director visited the motel Tuesday afternoon to help residents find temporary shelter through the Salvation Army or the Comitis Crisis Center, said city spokesman Michael Bryant. The city has no ordinances that pertain to landlord-tenant rights, he said.

Sandy and Leon Elkins have lived at King’s Inn for 15 years, where Leon has worked as the security guard in exchange for free rent. Now they owe $600 per week for their two-bedroom unit. “These people took over,” Leon said. “They walked in here like they are gods of the world.”