Jorge Cardenas and Griselda Barbosa Martinez thought they knew every inch of their place. They’ve lived in their West Colfax home for more than 20 years, rebuilding it from what Cardenas described as “destroyed” when they bought it. Then a letter showed up that made their yard feel like it wasn’t theirs anymore.
The note, they say, warned that a private company—authorized by the City of Denver—would be coming onto their property in about a week to remove trees for “alley maintenance.” The couple’s account, their attorney’s statements, and the legal fight are laid out in the original post. The short version: they say the alley line was quietly pushed closer to their home, and nobody could plainly show where the boundary actually was.
A door letter that didn’t sound like a request
Most homeowners have had a weird notice taped to the door at some point—utility work, street sweeping, a “we’ll be in the area” flyer. This one wasn’t that. According to the lawsuit described in the report, the letter told them a crew would be coming onto their property and cutting down their trees.
Not trimming. Not evaluating. Removing. And it wasn’t framed as a neighbor-to-neighbor disagreement, either—it came with the weight of city authorization behind it, which changes how a person hears every word on the page…