Landlords Face Criminal Charges For Building Code Violations After Inspection Reveals That 92 2-Bedroom Apartments Were Allegedly Chopped Up Into 4-Bedroom Units, Leading To Some 400 Tenants Getting Temporarily Booted From Premises

In Boulder, Colorado, the Daily Camera reports:

• Boulder officials charged the owners of Sterling University Peaks apartments on Monday with 184 counts of violating the city's building code for illegally subdividing rooms within the complex.
  
  The decision to prosecute the apartments' owners comes a month after some 400 tenants — mostly University of Colorado students — were temporarily evicted when a city inspector concluded the code violations made the units unsafe.
  
  The city is accusing the owners of installing movable bookshelves to illegally subdivide 92 two-bedroom apartments into four-bedroom spaces [...].
  
  Boulder issued summonses to the property's owners — Crack Shot LLC, White Fox LLC, Marletta Properties Two Holdings LLC and Sterling University Peaks LLC — according to a news release. Matt Johnke, described by the city as the owners' representative, also received a summons.
  
  Each owner was charged with 184 counts of violating the building code — two counts for each of the 92 units the city says the owners illegally modified. Those counts each carry a $1,000 recommended fine, which city officials said means each owner could be fined a total of $184,000.
  
  They have been summoned to appear in Boulder Municipal Court on Oct. 11.
  
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  Ed Byrne, an attorney representing the owners of the complex, said he received summonses for all five defendants around 3 p.m. Monday. He called the charges "quite serious."
  
  Byrne said he did not expect his clients to pay the fines, which added together total $920,000. He said his clients will appear in court to explain their side of the story.
  
  "Under all the circumstances, we do not believe this was a criminal matter," Byrne said. "It was a difference of opinion on code provisions that are susceptible to other interpretations, and we expect to have our day in court." [...] Byrne said he met with city officials to explain the circumstances of the subdivided rooms, adding that he would have preferred to have resolved the matter "outside of the criminal court process."

For more, see Owners of Boulder's Sterling University Peaks cited for illegally subdividing rooms (Each owner facing 184 counts, which could result in $184,000 in fines).