A former tenant of the now-closed Fitzsimmons Place Apartments is suing the building’s owners and management groups, seeking housing for people left homeless by the closure.

Benjamin Degolia, a Denver civil rights attorney, and a client filed the lawsuit to force the property owners to find new housing for their former tenants.

“Our primary goal is to seek justice for most of these families and individuals who were not only subjected to horrific conditions in this apartment complex for years, but were then effectively left homeless and evicted because the landlords refused to do anything about it,” Degolia said.

He argues that the landlord has a legal obligation to help tenants find new accommodation if they are evicted from their apartment because it has been deemed uninhabitable.

“These people have a right to decent housing. They have a right to have replacement housing provided to them by landlords under Colorado’s Habitable Housing Act, and they have a right to seek compensation for having been subjected to these conditions over the past several years,” Degolia said.

On Wednesday afternoon, a judge granted the residents’ request and ordered the owners to provide either a unit comparable to their previous home or hotel rooms. A hearing is scheduled for August 21.

When the city of Aurora closed the Fitzsimmons Place Apartments on Tuesday, residents were left desperately searching for new housing.

“That’s not enough time to find another place to live,” said former resident Jorge Antonio. “They should give us a little more time. That’s not fair. I’ve lived here for six years and… no, that’s not fair.”

Nonprofits and activists were on site Tuesday to help the homeless find new housing, and the city offered temporary hotel accommodations.