Colorado Springs house where suspicious death occurred is condemned, residents evicted

About 25 people suddenly found themselves homeless Friday after authorities ordered them to move out of a large house on Wood Avenue, just north of the Colorado College campus.

It's the same house where an unidentified man died three months ago under suspicious circumstances. That death is unrelated to the current situation at the house.

On Monday, the city's neighborhood services, police and fire departments inspected the home -- which is subdivided into at least nine apartment units -- and found numerous code violations, mostly in the basement.

"There were exposed wires, loose wires, leaky pipes, storage of flammable materials, and other unsafe and unsanitary conditions," said Mitch Hammes, neighborhood services director. "The basement also appeared to be used for storage, which poses a greater fire risk. We've had this house on our radar for several years. "

Hammes said that in condemning the house, authorities responded to concerns from neighbors and tenants of the home.

"If the property owner corrects the code violations, we'll be happy to allow residents to return," he said.

The condemnation notice was posted Tuesday, giving residents until noon Friday to move out. On Friday afternoon, workers arrived and began boarding up windows and doors of the house.

Residents are upset and unhappy about the situation, saying that they didn't have enough time to gather all of their possessions and find other housing.

"We can't even make re-entry to collect our stuff at a later date," said Collette Taylor. "That's why all of us have our stuff on curbs.  There are eight families here, out on the curb. We have nowhere to go. How are we going to find other housing with this pandemic going on?"

Kenneth Couch, the house's assistant manager and maintenance man, also lives there and said no one told him that the house would be condemned.

"They gave us a list from the code inspector," he said.  "I took care of everything the code inspector asked me to take care of, then they come in and say that we didn't."

Couch said he, a fellow resident and two friends tried to address as many of the violations as possible.

"We thought they were working with us in good faith," he said.

City officials said they will make make arrangements to allow residents to retrieve their possessions, and also will direct residents to social service resources.

The house is in the the city's historic Old North End neighborhood and has been a common source of trouble, with police making frequent visits to respond to a variety of issues.

Beth Nichols lives across the street.

"Sadly enough, I'm super-stoked," she said, watching the residents moving out. "I kind of feel bad for them. But then, at the same time, people haven't been taking care of the area. They play loud music from their cars at night, their dogs poop all over the place and attack people. I don't want the house torn down. I want to see someone take care of it."

The home's ownership is unclear. The current owner, who also lives in the house and was ordered to move out, was unavailable for comment Friday. A city spokesman said the house is in foreclosure and someone involved with that is having the house boarded up to protect against trespassers and further damage.

As for the suspicious death at the home in February, police said it happened after a man tried to break up a fight and he suddenly collapsed and died. Police said the autopsy report shows the man had underlying health issues and also had taken illegal drugs.

Police have made no arrests and have asked the District Attorney's Office to determine whether criminal charges are warranted against the people involved in the fight.