Affluent Denver suburb accused of bullying disabled homeless guests at Motel 6

A modest Motel 6 in Greenwood Village has become the latest flashpoint in the Denver region’s ongoing struggle with homelessness as the owner of the motel has now sued the wealthy suburb in federal court for allegedly trying to rid itself of undesirable disabled people.

The lawsuit, filed Aug. 1 in U.S. District Court in Denver, contends that through a years-long campaign of harassment, Greenwood Village has violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act by targeting the small number of homeless guests placed at the motel who struggle with mental health and addiction issues – both considered disabilities under the law.

The suburban town of 15,000, with an average household income of about $250,000 and median property values north of $1 million, passed an ordinance in 2014 to limit the stay of any motel guest in Greenwood Village to 29 days in a consecutive 60-day period.

At the time, an exception was made if the guest had a written contract by a governmental or charitable group or an insurance agency to stay at the motel. The lawsuit contends that the allegedly targeted guests at the Motel 6 clearly fall under that exception and should be able to stay longer than 29 days if needed.

Earlier this month the town removed all exceptions to the 29-day rule. It is unclear if the latest action was in response to the lawsuit.

“Passing a law which declares war on people with disabilities is not only illegal, it is disgusting and un-American, but that is exactly what Greenwood Village has done,” said David Lane, the Denver civil rights attorney who filed the suit.

A spokesperson for Greenwood Village declined to comment because of the ongoing litigation.

At the heart of this fight is Dr. Neza Bharucha.

The 34-year-old psychiatrist and mother of four grew up in Georgia and Wyoming, living in motels that her parents ran. “It runs in my blood,” she said. As a child she and her brother helped with laundry and housekeeping.

After medical school in Ohio, she moved to Colorado in 2017 for her psychiatry residency at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Back then she helped her father at the 80s-era motel tucked into a commercial district on Arapahoe Road. Three years ago, in 2021, her husband bought the motel from her father, and she continues to help manage it in addition to her psychiatric practice.

She and her husband once lived at the motel and loved it but moved to a house in Greenwood Village when their family expanded.

She said she has always held a deep belief in helping those in need, especially families who are in crisis with addiction and mental illness. Through the motel she found herself in the unique position to help.

In a chance elevator conversation in 2019 at Denver Health she and a caseworker for the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless were bemoaning how homeless psychiatric patients often were discharged from the hospital back onto the street only to return days later for readmittance after losing their medication or having it stolen. It felt like a revolving door. And an expensive one.

The caseworker said her organization wanted to start some kind of program where discharged patients could go to a motel temporarily to get off the street and have a stable place to stay.

Bharucha said it felt like destiny. “Wait, I have a motel,” she said.

At first it was just five rooms paid for by the non-profit. The cost was roughly $60 per room. The arrangement was so successful that it grew to 10 rooms. Soon other groups followed. In the five years since, Bharucha said more than 2,800 families in crisis have used the motel, although not all for more than 29 days.

And never, she said, were more than about 25 % of the 132 rooms in the motel used for the program.

She added that those with addiction problems are in recovery and not active users. If they were, she said, they would be kicked out. Despite her training she does not offer any psychiatric help to guests, serving only as an inn keeper.

Still, she said, Greenwood Village leaders seem to have been on an orchestrated mission for years to harass both her family and motel guests. At first, she said, it was asking to see a roster of guests and when she and her father refused, she said police began circling the parking lot monitoring how long cars were parked.

“They just don’t want us here,” she said, accusing the town of selective enforcement of an ordinance that seems to give a pass to higher-end hotels.

On April 9, 2021, she received a letter from the Greenwood Village city attorney that said: “The exception for families in crisis is meant to allow families who are displaced due to an emergency (usually a natural emergency) to stay longer than 29 days. It is not meant for individuals who have been released from jail and have nowhere to go and who are suffering from mental health and/or addiction issues.”

Then it got personal.

In August 2022, Bharucha said she was ordered by a Greenwood Village municipal judge to hand over documents about rooms rented by non-profit groups to be used in a “subsequent criminal prosecution.” Bharucha refused. After first losing in municipal court, she won on appeal.

But while that case was still pending, she was charged criminally in May 2023 for violating the town’s 29-day rule. The charge was later dropped. But she said the message was clear. “It was retaliation,” she said. “It’s an abuse of power.”

She called it the worst, most stressful time of her life. So, she decided to turn the tables. That is when, after first searching in vain for a lawyer to take her case, she found civil rights lawyer David Lane who promptly joined the fight.

“Our client is simply trying her best to help the less fortunate in our society and Greenwood Village is doing everything in its power to stop her,” Lane told the Denver Gazette, “We love standing up to bullies like Greenwood Village.”

The lawsuit asks for damages to be set at trial.

Cesar Jimenez, head of supportive housing for Community Economic Defense Project, said his advocacy group began working with Bharucha earlier this year. It joined the lawsuit as a plaintiff because he said his organization was outraged at how she was treated. “I hate what they’ve been doing,” he said of the city.

“She has provided a lifeline to so many people who are marginalized,” said Cathy Alderman, a spokesperson for Colorado Coalition for the Homeless who first partnered with the Motel 6 in 2019.

Alderman criticized the tactics of Greenwood Village, saying that it has shown no proof of any harm by those at the motel and the town has offered no alternative solution.

It is especially difficult for homeless people in crisis in the Denver suburbs. “There are not enough family shelters. Sometimes a motel is the best option,” Alderman said.

It was for Ashlee Rhatigan, a 37-year-old single mother of two, ages 8 and 5.

Her 8-year-old son struggles with emotional and mental health issues. The three of them have been staying at the Motel 6 since June – longer than 29 days—using a voucher from Community Economic Defense Project.

Rhatigan said she lost her steady job at Target because when her son acted out in class she would have to miss work if he was sent home. As often happens, when the regular paycheck disappeared so did the money for rent and her car payment. She was evicted and her car repossessed.

She is hoping for permanent housing and help for her son. “I tell them it is a vacation,” she said, “I don’t want this to be hard on them.”

Most of their possessions were lost in the eviction, a few things were stored. They brought what they could to the motel. She has tried to make it homey with the children’s belongings and an art station in the corner of the room.

The best part of living in the motel over the summer was the small swimming pool which gave her children something to do, she said.

Rhatigan does not like to think of herself as homeless, but she knows she is. “I lost everything,” she said. “We would be on the street if it was not for this motel.”