Families asking apartment complex for answers after losing their homes

It's been nearly a month since a fire and asbestos contamination at the Cedar Run apartments left dozens of families without a home.

On Tuesday, property management decided to terminate the lease for the tenants in the 62-unit complex and their hotel voucher, leaving many without a home over the holidays.

CBS News Colorado spoke with a former tenant at this complex who told us he was able to find a new home for his family just in time before the holidays, but that has not been the case for several other families.

The former tenant, Eduardo Borjon wants to be the voice for those who need help and is demanding management take action.

"Not everybody has a new place to go, not everybody can afford to go somewhere new," said Borjon.

Borjon and his family were one of the families in the 62-unit complex who completely lost access to their belongings and their home earlier this month.

"We have our rights too, especially the right to our own belongings which is what we are fighting for," said Borjon.

He says even though the apartment said their stuff would be protected, that has not been the case.

"There is people that already had their apartments broken into," said Borjon. "They guaranteed our apartments were safe, but people are already getting stuff stolen out of their units."

That's why many former tenants decided to go into their units Tuesday and take some of their belongings.

"The first thing I did when I got up there was throwing out our clothes, packing it up in bags and blankets, we were getting out belongings that were essential," said Borjon.

They said they felt safe to do so after noticing a few staff going into the units without masks and proper equipment. But for workers who may be around hazards like asbestos, wearing personal protective equipment on the job is important.

"We were just looking for answers - if they would have provided us with proper documentation of the asbestos test like they are supposed to then fine, we will move on as best as we can and move on as we should," said Borjon.

Borjon is looking for answers not only for his family but for the dozens of families now having to start over.

"If they were in our shoes," he said, "wouldn't they be doing everything in their power to get their belongings back? To get their life back together?"

In an email sent to tenants on Dec. 16, property management staff said tenants would be contacted to coordinate details of any refunds that are due and that it would be available by the end of next week - but that wasn't the case for Borjon and his family - instead, they sent him an incorrect invoice with someone else's information.

Property management told tenants right now there are no updates and this remains an ongoing investigation.

CBS News Colorado has reached out to the property management company multiple times and we have not received a response.