Manager of Aurora Apartments That Fueled Gang Rumors Sued by Former Tenants

Former residents of an infamous Aurora apartment building once connected to Venezuelan gang rumors have filed a class-action lawsuit to stop a deal to sell the property.

According to people who lived at the now-closed apartments at 1568 Nome Street, formerly known as Aspen Groves or Fitzsimons Place, the alleged owner, Shmaryahu Baumgarten, owes restitution after the City of Aurora forced a property-wide eviction in 2024.

The city condemned the property and evicted residents in August 2024 because of outstanding code violations dating back to 2020. Today, the property is wrapped by chain-link fences and covered with wooden boards as its four floors and parking lots sit empty.

The lawsuit, filed in the Adams County District Court on March 27, says that residents at 1568 Nome dealt with a “lack of heat, lack of hot water, rodent and insect infestations, structural deterioration, lack of physical security, lack of trash disposal and rampant sewage leaks” dating as far back as 2021.

“We learned last week (from a disclosure by the City of Aurora, not the defendants) that the property is under contract for sale,” Benjamin DeGolia, an attorney representing the tenants, says in an email. “Our concern and suspicion is that they’re attempting to sell off their assets and get out of the state before they can face accountability in court.”

The apartment complex is owned by Nome Partners LLC, an affiliate of CBZ Management. The lawsuit alleges that Baumgarten is the “principal owner and manager” of 1568 Nome. Tenants at other properties managed by CBZ have reported similar property neglect at their homes.

The lawsuit against Nome Partners and Baumgarten was filed on behalf of Javier Hidalgo, who was the main plaintiff in another class-action lawsuit against Nome Partners LLC filed in August 2024. Hidalgo’s original class-action lawsuit against Nome Partners LLC sought to stop the residential eviction through a restraining order and compensate the evicted tenants with damages, with an amount to be decided through a jury trial. In August 2024, a judge ruled that the City of Aurora had to provide housing for the evicted tenants, but the rest of the case is still pending.

When the city ultimately closed 1568 Nome on August 13, 2025, prosecutors struck a deal with Nome Partners LLC to drop criminal code violation charges if the owners sell the property. According to Hidalgo’s lawsuit, the building at 1568 Nome Street was listed for sale for $16.5 million shortly after that deal to avoid criminal charges, but Adams County records show Nome Partners LLC still owns the property.

Shmaryahu’s brother, Zev Baumgarten, has been the target of arrest warrants and a recently settled lawsuit with the City of Aurora. Zev told the media in August 2024 that Venezuelan gang members had muscled him out of control of 1568 Nome, preventing CBZ from taking care of it and the tenants. However, tenants told the media that Zev had abandoned them and the building, leaving it with broken windows and overflowing dumpsters.

Mayor Mike Coffman told media that CBZ Management was “a bunch of out-of-state slumlords” in August 2024, but it didn’t stop Republican politicians like President Donald Trump and former Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky from playing off Baumgarten’s claim as proof of failed Democratic immigration policies.

A murder was committed in August 2024 at the Edge of Lowry, another CBZ property at 1218 Dallas Street; the apartment complex was also the site of kidnappings in December that year. However, Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain has said the CBZ properties had high levels of crime before they were shut down by the city, and the Aurora Police Department has insisted that most claims of Venezuelan gang violence were exaggerated. According to APD, criminals with suspected gang ties were arrested for violent crimes at CBZ properties in 2024, but evidence never suggested a total takeover by any one gang.

Jorge Zavala, Ines Guzman and other former tenants of 1568 Nome are also plaintiffs with Hidalgo in the lawsuit. Guzman, from Puerto Rico, was one of the most vocal tenants in August 2024, telling the media the apartment complex was neglected. She was a co-plaintiff in the August 2024 restraining order filed by Hidalgo to stop the eviction from 1568 Nome, which led to court-ordered housing from Aurora but failed to stop the mass eviction.

Selling Property Could Hurt Potential Lawsuit Payout

According to the lawsuit, lawyers for Nome Partners LLC emailed Megan Platt, the Aurora assistant city attorney, a letter of intent to sell 1568 Nome Street to an “unaffiliated third party.” The buyer is never disclosed in the court filing, the lawsuit alleges.

The letter of intent was sent on February 10, but Hidalgo and DeGolia say they didn’t find out until March 23, when the city handed over documents in response to a subpoena for Hidalgo’s original lawsuit.

The former residents of 1568 Nome want to void the sale to make sure Nome Partners LLC can “satisfy judgment” in the first lawsuit and pay damages if it loses. The new lawsuit also seeks to stop any other sale or transfer of 1568 Nome Street until the first lawsuit is resolved.

Nome Partners LLC allegedly “will not receive reasonably equivalent value in exchange” for the sale, and the building is the only asset that Nome Partners LLC has, according to the new lawsuit. DeGolia worries that if Baumgarten and Nome Partners LLC lose Hidalgo’s original lawsuit, there won’t be enough left to pay up.

“We allege that they are attempting to use the proceeds from the sale to satisfy other debts owed by the entities that control other CBZ Management properties around the state,” DeGolia explains.

The lawsuit asserts that Hidalgo and other tenants are creditors and owed for their eviction from 1568 Nome Street. The sale is “fraudulent,” the lawsuit argues, and would “hinder, delay and defraud its creditors.”

According to DeGolia, no attorney has entered the case on Baumgarten’s behalf. The lawsuit states that Nome Partners LLC’s personal counsel is Michael Marotte of Schenck, Price, Smith & King. Marotte has not responded for comment.

With a lawsuit filed in November 2024, the city sought to recover the cost of evicting several dozen residents from the Edge of Lowry in February 2025, but the lawsuit dragged out for about a year as the city struggled to find Zev, prove he was responsible for the property and defeat a claim that city code enforcers are anti-Semitic.

On February 20, the City of Aurora settled the lawsuit against Zev and Five Dallas Partners, a CBZ affiliate that owned the Edge of Lowry, for $300,000.

CBZ previously owned three apartment complexes in Aurora, but they’re all closed now. On top of the problems at 1568 Nome, lawsuits from U.S. Bank in 2024 led to the closure of the Edge Lowry and the Whispering Pines at 1357 Helena Street, Aurora.

Attorneys for the Baumgartens describe CBZ Management as a “family-owned consortium.” Hidalgo’s lawsuit alleges that Shmaryahu “formed, owned and controlled” Nome Partners LLC, which is registered with the state to CBZ’s business address.

Shmaryahu is also the co-developer and a key investor for a $200 million luxury resort in the Caribbean Turks & Caicos Islands. The Navah resort opened last May, and nine villas have been sold since, each for about $11 million.