Mint Apartments trial could set precedent for how tenant-landlord disputes are handled in Denver
Tenants of the Mint Urban Infinity apartment complex have been waiting for justice for years. In 2021, tenants of the complex, located on South Bellaire Street in Denver, filed a lawsuit against Cardinal Management Group and Mint Urban property owners Glendale Properties I and II.
The class-action lawsuit challenges the living conditions at the nine-building complex, with tenants claiming they were forced to endure uninhabitable conditions. The case could set a precedent for tenant rights and property management accountability in Denver.
A trial began March 3 to determine if tenants at Mint Urban Infinity apartments in Denver are entitled to compensation for alleged illegal and negligent actions by their landlord.
Over the past five years, the 561-unit complex has faced multiple citations from the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment.
Tenants have reported issues like mold, broken elevators, pests, unsecured doors, and lack of hot water, claiming the Cardinal Group Management failed to meet leasing obligations. The class-action lawsuit, filed in October 2021, accuses Cardinal of violating the Colorado Warranty of Habitability. The trial, expected to last until March 12, can determine if the management company owes compensation to former tenants.
About a year ago, CBS Colorado checked in with disabled veteran Christopher Stuart, who was fed up with his situation at Mint Urban Infinity. A year later, not much has changed.
"I'm paying 85% to 90% of my income just to keep shelter," Stuart said.
Stuart is paying rent at a complex where the elevators have been mostly out of service for years. Since CBS last interviewed him in March 2024, his rent has increased by $200.
Inconsistent elevators are especially problematic for someone like Stuart, who has osteoarthritis and lives on the fifth floor.
"My mobility is limited. You don't want to see me coming up these stairs with groceries," he said.
CBS Colorado has attempted to reach both Cardinal Group and Glendale Properties I and II, to no avail. Cardinal Group and Glendale Properties I and II are the property management company and owners named in the lawsuit.
In 2022, new management, Cortland, took over. Although conditions have seemingly improved, the elevators still aren't working. Despite several management changes, Stuart says the same issues persist, and he blames the owners.
"It's greed that's running this monster," Stuart said.
According to the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment, between 2021 and 2023, the department issued 25 administrative citations to Mint Urban Infinity property management for a total of $74,245. There has been no further enforcement action or administrative citations issued in 2024 or 2025 so far.
DDPHE says Mint Urban Infinity is no longer the complex with the most citations and fines in Denver. However, in 2023, it had the most citations and fines of any apartment complex in the city.
The department added that during the two years of elevated enforcement at Mint Urban Infinity, most violations were corrected. However, they were often not corrected promptly, which resulted in citations and fines.
The department further stated that it did not see a reason to shut down the complex. Residences are deemed unsafe for human habitation only when conditions present imminent health and safety risks, such as lack of water to the entire building, where residents are unable to wash hands, flush toilets, shower, or consume water.
Since 2021, none of the violations or conditions at Mint Urban Infinity have risen to a level where it is unsafe for people to live, a spokesperson for DDPHE said. "Our goal is always to balance the public health impacts of risks posed by environmental and public health hazards compared to those created through potential displacement of people from their shelter or residence."
Thousands of current and former tenants are part of the class-action lawsuit, claiming management failed to provide safe living conditions while charging maintenance fees that were never used.
Longtime tenants like Stuart still have hope.
"I am a little disillusioned; however, my glass is half full, so I will look toward a better outcome," Stuart said.
