Metropolitan Tenants Organization » Headline

Princeton Park Homes: Tenants suffer, Owners prosper

meg — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:57:31 +0000

For Marietta Murphy, the pastoral setting of Princeton Park seemed like the perfect place to raise her five daughters. They could have the freedom to ride their bikes, and she could have a garden. And rents at the South Side housing complex were affordable.

But nine years later, each of her girls suffers from respiratory problems, including asthma and recurring bronchitis, requiring constant treatment. Murphy blames pervasive mold in her townhome – and a landlord who has done nothing about repeated flooding.

Standing water pools in the basement, and mold permeates the air in her home. Walls bubble from water damage, and lead chips fall from windows and door frames onto porches and into gardens. Tenants are living in unsanitary and hazardous conditions while Preston Higgins Jr., the development’s owner, rakes in millions.

Princeton Park tenants are organizing to improve conditions, and they’ve filed a class-action lawsuit against Higgins over mold and lead issues – and violations of Chicago’s landlord tenant ordinance.

Built in the 1940s, the Princeton Park Homes complex occupies a six-square block stretch of land west of the Dan Ryan between 91st and 95th Streets. A century ago, this was a rural area populated by Dutch settlers who cultivated the land for farming. As African Americans migrated north and Chicago grew, the racial fabric of the neighborhood changed, and the new residents needed affordable housing options.

Princeton Park Homes were built to house black middle-class railroad workers and their families. Today the complex is still almost entirely African American, filled with working families that pay market-rate rent.

The development maintains much of its original appeal. Inside Princeton Park the city’s grid system is abandoned for curving streets and cul-de-sacs, and the front lawns of townhomes are well manicured. Princeton Park’s website boasts of the impressive gardens and fosters a healthy competition among residents vying for an annual garden and lawn award.

Princeton Park residents take pride in their yards, but their sense of well-being stops at the front door. Residents report widespread problems with basement flooding and leaky windows and walls that cause mold to grow and ruin their belongings. Children test positive for lead poisoning. Rodents and insect infestations are plentiful.

Lakisha Jones, a single mother of two who’s lived in Princeton Park for two years, suffered six floods in just over a year. A two-foot-high water line marks the height of the most recent flood in her basement. Jones lost baby books and winter clothers, and she’s had to replace a washer – and then purchase a new $400 motor for the new washer after yet another flood.

And after her home was flooded with water contaminated by feces and decaying animals, she and her 9-year-old son contracted bacterial infections that sent them to the hospital with oozing sores and fevers.

Today she doesn’t take any chances – industrial-strength bleach is a regular purchase and is used to combat the mold that creeps up her walls and drips from her ceiling. Each time it rains, Jones is nervous and checks each wall and window for signs of flooding.

“I feel like a hurricane victim, having water run down my walls,” she said. She said she’s complained to the management office numerous times, but “Princeton Park has failed to fix any of the safe and unsanitary conditions inside of the property.”

In their lawsuit, tenants charge that Princeton Park owners pass the cost of maintenance and repairs on to tenants in violation of Chicago’s Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance.

Under the ordinance, landlards are responsible for maintenance unless damage is caused by tenants; charges for general wear and tear should not be passed on to tenants. But the lease at Princeton Park states that “Lessee must make his own repairs…at Lesee’s expense.”

It’s not for lack of money: with rents for nearly a thousand two- and three-bedroom units ranging from $650 to $800 a month, the owner takes in as much as $750,000 each month. According to Dun & Bradstreet, Preston Higgons & Co. nets $1.9 million in profits each year.

Tenants charge that Princeton Park has turned the development’s hazardous conditions into money-making opportunities while allowing the buildings to slowly deteriorate. In addition to their monthly rent, Princeton Park tenants pay for all repair and maintenance visits and all outside contractors. Additional fees range from $5 to unstop a toilet to $45 to clean grease traps, and even more for security doors, wiring, or piping. Tenants end up bearing the lion’s share of the financial burden for apartment condition and repair requests.

A year or so into her residency, Marietta Murphy’s kitchen sink needed repairs. The aging plumbing system was overburdened and regularly flooded Princeton Park charged her for each maintenance visit.

“I have no idea how much extra they have charged me because it’s tacked onto the rent each month, and with additional fees and yearly rent increases, it’s hard to keep track of,” she said.

In addition to paying maintenance visits each time flooding occurred, Murphy has lost three washers and dryers and a deep freezer in her nine years at Princeton Park. The owners don’t really care, she said. “The office told me there was nothing they could do and that I shouldn’t put anything of value in the basement,” she said. ”They told me I should get renters insurance.”

Murphy points out several vacant homes where tenants voiced complaints to the management office and to Higgins to no avail. ”You better believe Higgins is not living like we are living out here,” she said. ”And if he were to come out here and live one month in the summer with the floods, he’d move out of here.”

The city has fined Preston Higgins LLC and Princeton Park LLC several times for code violations regarding flooding as well as noncompliance with lead abatement. But for Higgins, as for many landlords, such fines seem to be considered a cost of doing business.

Tenants want the city would do more. They’re meeting regularly with the Metropolitan Tenants Organization and pressing city officials to help deal with basement flooding proactively.

At a recent tenant meeting, several residents expressed concern about steps management has taken toward lead abatement. When door frames in a majority of the townhomes were found to contain lead, maintenance workers tacked aluminum strips to cover the lead paint. But tenants say the strips are flimsy and often fall off.

Tenants say they wish Higgins would work with them to improve their living situation. They love Princeton Park for what it could be – a safe, pleasant and affordable neighborhood that fosters community. But they feel like they are investing in Preston Higgins rather than their community.

“I strongly believe that if Mr. Higgins would meet with his tenants once a month that this could be a much better place,” said Murphy. ”Our rent is helping him go to Hawaii, buy luxury cars, and go to those five-star restaurants. Without us, he would be having White Castle and McDonalds like we do.”

Written by Sara Mathers and John Bartlett

Special Thanks to Princeton Park Homes Tenants, Cecilia Nemeth, Paul Bernstein, and MTO Staff.

Photo: Mold in a second floor bedroom caused by flooding

Safety & Security with the Help of MTO…

meg — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:40:13 +0000

Please take a moment to hear one of our member’s describe how MTO assisted him in improving the safety and security of his building.

We hope that his story will inspire to become a member and support our work. We are very thankful for everyone’s support throughout the year! Happy Holidays from all of us at MTO!

A Holiday Message from an MTO member

meg — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:27:14 +0000

We asked one of our members what MTO means to her.

We hope that her story will inspire you to support our work and become a member. We are very grateful for everyone’s support throughout the year.

Vacant Property Ordinance Passes Unanimously

ltargos — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:14:49 +0000

Foreclosure is a nationwide epidemic that crosses color lines, socio-economic status and affects all communities. Often, when it comes to the foreclosure discourse, it is a common misconception that homeowners are solely affected; however, according to a report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, renters make up close to half of foreclosure cases on a national level. This crisis is one that destroys communities and doesn’t discriminate between renters and homeowners.

The Metropolitan Tenants Organization (MTO) is at the forefront of addressing this housing crisis. Currently, MTO works in the East Garfield Park area with a focus on tenants who live in buildings that are going through the foreclosure process. Our primary goal is to inform tenants of their rights and responsibilities concerning the foreclosure process. In addition, MTO is part of a citywide Foreclosure Convening Committee that strives to shape public policy that will alleviate the negative affects of foreclosure on our communities.

On July 28^th, the Chicago City Council unanimously passed an amendment to the Vacant Property Ordinance. For the past year, the Foreclosure Convening Committee has stressed the importance of holding banks accountable for maintaining properties in the foreclosure process. This amendment, supported by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, holds banks responsible to preserve and maintain these vacant properties. This is a huge victory and something communities throughout Chicago should celebrate. As the Mayor mentioned after the vote, “Now the real work begins, and conversations with the banks must start.” This statement is encouraging because it hints at the most important next step – enforcement.

Enforcing the Vacant Property Ordinance is vital to the sustainability of our neighborhoods throughout Chicago. According to a study by the Homeownership Preservation Foundation, each vacant property costs taxpayers between $19,000 and $34,000 in security and maintenance expenses. Taxpayers can no longer foot the bill, and our city can no longer shoulder the socio-economic burden of vacant properties. On July 20^thMTO tenant leader, Ms. Patricia Hightower, gave impassioned testimony at a City Council Committee hearing on the Vacant Property Ordinance. Her testimony provided a clear perspective of how vacant properties affect her neighborhood.

Click here to read her testimony.

Click here to read the Vacant Property Ordinance.

Chicago votes to oppose cuts to HUD

ltargos — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 19:15:55 +0000

On July 28th, families, disabled citizens, and the elderly throughout Chicago celebrated the unanimous passage of a City Council Resolution authored by tenants, organizers, and allies with the Chicago Housing Initiative (CHI) opposing any cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Led by Alderman Suarez, Chairman of the Committee on Housing and Real Estate, forty-seven aldermen signed on to the Resolution, which urged IL Senators Durbin and Kirk to preserve desperately needed HUD funding for Chicago and the nation. In recent years, Congress has cut HUD funding to dangerously low levels and, this year, is threatening once again to decimate programs that help those most in need.

In Chicago alone, HUD funding provides more than $250 million in Public Housing Capital and Operating dollars and helps to house an estimated 185,562 low-income families and seniors. Additionally, HUD’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME programs provide an enormous range of affordable housing, economic development, and social service programs for the residents of Chicago. In fact, a number of wards in Chicago benefit from over $1 million in CDBG funding. These services help Chicagoans avoid foreclosure, hunger, and homelessness. In these difficult economic times, Chicagoans simply can’t risk losing any more of the services HUD funds.

As the debt crisis winds down, and the battle for the budget begins, residents throughout Chicago are sounding the alarm about what a loss of federal funds would mean for Chicago neighborhoods. Passing this City Council Resolution was an important first step, but there is more work to be done. Wilma Pittman Gibson, a community leader with ONE and CHI says she hopes that the City Council “will go one step further and hold a Hearing where we can tell the stories of what these cuts will really mean for our communities.”

Reflections on the Chicago People’s City Council Meeting

ltargos — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 00:56:01 +0000

By Noah Moskowitz, MTO Intern

Amid the muffled chaos of a thousand people looking for their seats, I heard “What does affordable housing mean to you? The mock-interview question was posed to me by a friend working for the union “Unite Here.” At the Chicago People’s City Council Meeting, activists from a dozen community organizations met to form a crowd 1,400 strong, whose animation made it clear that the issues discussed, like affordable housing, were of deep importance.

I realized I didn’t have a great answer. “Access to a home and other basic needs?” The event was formatted as a “debate” between ‘Mr. Moneybags’ (an organizer transformed by a comical top hat) and a series of activists, each personally affected by the problems they discussed. After each exchange the crowd “voted” (by standing/applauding) in favor of proposals offered by one or another of the interlocutors. These proposals tackled insufficient public funding for education, disappearing jobs, deteriorating working conditions, home foreclosure, and of course, affordable housing. It was argued that the backdrop shared by all these issues is their source in massive proposed budget cuts to a range of local public services. These cuts appeared particularly perverse when juxtaposed with the millions Chicago government recently gave to large corporations and banks in the form of tax breaks or Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funding.

Each activist on the platform spoke about the problem at hand, how it affected them, and how it could be traced to irresponsible distribution of government funds. A teacher spoke about how she had more than 30 students in her elementary school classroom. A public employee argued for the importance of his job in the Parks department, but discussed how that sector was shrinking dramatically. Others talked about rising costs of government subsidized housing, foreclosure experiences, and the tightening of government programs like food stamps. The format was meant to be humorous, but the stories the audience heard were sobering and serious, and were as eloquent a call to action as any I’ve heard.

After the event, I had a much better answer. True affordable housing means housing that does not come at a crippling cost to the individual or society. We can’t afford housing if it comes at the expense of good schools, good jobs, or a fair justice system. We can’t afford those decisions, and we should not have to make them.

The meeting concluded with the unveiling of the People’s Resolution, a summary of frustrations and a commitment to working families, public services, and responsible government. Each of the 19 aldermen present signed the resolution and spoke out in support. In addition to these outcomes, the event provided momentum to coalitions organizing around fair federal budgeting, and testified to the effectiveness of organizational collaboration.

Healthy Homes Mean Health Equity – A Message from the Executive Director

ltargos — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 20:26:09 +0000

I just returned from the National Healthy Homes Conference as well as the Green and Healthy Homes Initiative meeting in Denver. The meetings reaffirm MTO’s commitment to involve ourselves and help shape the agenda of this growing movement. Some of the thoughts that I took away from the meeting are as follows.

This movement calls upon us to think differently and to look at the broader picture. It challenges organizations and governmental agencies to get out of their silos and to become “yes we can” facilitators. For instance, one agency described a scenario where a home owner had dangerous lead hazards in their home. The house also had a leaky roof. Because of funding restrictions, the agency had to tell the resident that before the lead hazard could be abated the roof needed to be fixed. Under a green and healthy approach, an agency would look to use green and energy efficiency resources to repair the roof and simultaneously abate the lead. A contractor would be resolving several issues at one time. This is efficient and in the long run, saves money.

Another part of looking at the broader picture means collaborating with other groups. Collaborations allow agencies to bring together specialized skills and focus on solving larger problems. Strong partnerships build connections between issues, increase resources, and create a vision for solving the nation’s larger housing problems.

A few statistics demonstrate the need for a Healthy Homes approach. According the World Health Organization two-thirds of all deaths are caused by non-communicable diseases and 25% can be addressed environmentally. The other important fact is that between 18% and 30 % of green house gases are the result of residential housing. Making our homes greener can have a huge impact on the environment.

The biggest challenge facing us in this effort is financing. In its budget cutting craze, the federal government is looking to cut its investments in healthy homes. Conference participants suggested looking to Medicaid and insurance companies for financing because if we can prevent these home based illnesses in the long run it will create huge cost savings for these institutions. Most everyone agreed that in the end, the federal government must take a leading role in financing these changes.

Finally, for me the biggest reason to support a green and healthy homes framework is that it promotes health equity. Promoting wellness is far more cost effective that treating illness. If we look at who is living in housing which is poorly maintained, in bad neighborhoods that often contain health hazards, we will see it is low-come families, often times families of color. It is the same population which disproportionately suffers from such environmentally related health issues such as lead poisoning and asthma. By making our homes greener and healthier, we will improve everyone’s health and thus in the end it will raise the quality of life for everyone.

Join MTO for the People’s City Council Meeting

roberto — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 19:31:53 +0000

Join the Metropolitan Tenants Organization for the People’s City Council Meeting

On Thursday July 7th, MTO along with 20 other community organizations will be hosting a People’s City Council Meeting to educate the new city council on the issues that affect our communities. Over 1500 people will be attending this event and we are expecting 20 Alderman to be there. This will be a great opportunity to let our elected officials know what some of the important issues in our community are!

Chicago People’s City Council Meeting
July 7th 2011
@ the UIC Forum
725 W Roosevelt
Doors open at 5:30p.m. Event begins at 6:30pm

To attend with the Metropolitan Tenants Organization
RSVP with Robert Clack @ robert@tenants-rights.org or 773.292.4980

Grassroots Collaborative and Allies: Action Now, American Friends Service Committee, Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Chicago Teachers Union, Enlace Chicago, Illinois Hunger Coalition, Lakeview Action Coalition, Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization, Metropolitan Tenants Organization, Pilsen Alliance, SEIU Healthcare Illinois/Indiana, SEIU Local 73, Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation, Southwest Organizing Project, Unite HERE

Stand Up Against the Eviction of a Tenant for having Bed Bugs

ltargos — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 15:09:01 +0000

On Thursday, June 23rd, please join the Metropolitan Tenants Organization at a rally supporting a YMCA senior, disabled resident, Alonzo Carter. Alonzo is a member of the Emil Jones Tenant Council in a property owned and managed by the YMCA. The YMCA’s Emil Jones building is a senior complex located at 19 E. 110th Place. The YMCA filed an eviction case against Alonzo in housing court for non-compliance for bed bug extermination – a strenuous process involving heavy lifting, moving of large furniture, etc, which is often too arduous for elderly and disabled residents to do without assistance.

In an effort to comply with the bed bug extermination of his unit, Alonzo threw out some of his furniture. The property managers instructed the building maintenance team to remove some of his furnishings, which according to bed bug experts, is illegal and typically not necessary. The disabled tenant was also required to do some heavy lifting of furniture. Although there was an infestation in multiple units and many tenants were unable to fully comply with with the preparation process, the only 2 eviction cases filed were against members of the tenant council.

At a jury trial that took place on April 20, 2011, he was found guilty.

Despite the jury’s poor decision there is still hope! His attorneys
are filing a motion for Judge Leonard Murray to overturn the eviction.

Bed bugs have become a common nuisance in the City of Chicago and renters should be aware of potential illegal landlord retaliation. Chicago is fifth in the nation in terms of severity of bed bug epidemics.

Come join us and demand that the YMCA drop this case and learn about your renter’s rights regarding bedbugs.

Where: Thresholds Lawson YMCA
Address: 30 West Chicago Ave.
Chicago, IL. 60654

Just of the Chicago stop on the Red Line.

When: Thursday June 23rd @ 12 noon
This event is being sponsored by the Metropolitan Tenants Organization’s Community Congress of Tenants. If you need further information please contact Robert Clack, 773.292.4980 ext. 242.

Tenants and Condo Purchasers Win Protections

ltargos — Thu, 05 May 2011 16:52:25 +0000

WBEZ/AP M. Spencer Green

CITY COUNCIL PASSES CONDO CONVERSION ORDINANCE

With Mayor Daley overseeing his final Chicago City Council meeting, the aldermen unanimously passed a condo conversion ordinance. The ordinance represents five years of struggle on the part of tenants, condominium buyers, community organizations and advocates. This legislation will protect tenants and condominium buyers caught in the instability created by the conversion of rental buildings to condominium buildings.

The roots of this ordinance are found in the condo craze of 2005 to 2007, which ultimately contributed to the mortgage crisis and related foreclosure crisis. In 2006, renters were being ejected from their homes with minimal to no notice and left those purchasing converted units with few protections against what was often a speedy and poorly implemented conversion process. Quickly, those victimized in the process, along with their advocates, recognized the need for protections to be put in place. This outcry resulted in Mayor Daley appointing Alderman Ray Suarez to lead the Condo Conversion Task Force. The Task Force’s work spanned almost four years and ultimately led to an ordinance that provides renters and condo buyers with critical protections including:

Changing the notification period from 120 days to 180 days. For seniors and those with disabilities, notification would change from 180 to 210 days.
Low and moderate income renters receive relocation assistance. The assistance equals the larger of one month’s rent or $1,500 (up to a maximum of $2,500).
Consumer protections for condo buyers.

According to Zakiyyah S. Muhammad, a victim of condo conversion, “I enjoyed fighting for protections for families who rent so that they can avoid the devastation that I encountered. This ordinance has been a long time coming; when you fight you win!” MTO celebrates the victory for tenants’ rights and the clear demonstration that tenants, working together, have the power to create change to protect their rights to safe, decent and affordable rental housing.

In another victory for affordable housing advocates, the City Council passed the Sweet Home Chicago Ordinance which allows TIF funds to be used for maintaining affordable housing.

The full text of the Condo Conversion Ordinance can be found here.