The Hotline has served as MTO’s eyes and ears into the lives of renters. Since its inception in 1994, the MTO Hotline has fielded more than 150,000 calls, carefully collecting information and tracking data on housing issues. In collecting this data, Hotline counselors have spent thousands of hours listening to the stories told by Chicago’s renters. The story of renters in Chicago is that they are increasingly facing unpredictability in the rental housing market, financial stress, and deteriorated living conditions. Their lives are and have been in tumult for years.
- John Bartlett, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Tenants Organization

Above is an except from the State of the Renter report issued by MTO in 2009. For too long, the needs of renters – invaluable investors in our communities – have been marginalized in favor of a policy that focuses only on homeownership. Renters have been regarded as transient occupants rather than stakeholders. MTO recommends a national housing policy that balances homeownership and rental housing. Policy makers have failed to recognize the importance of a stable rental housing market and certainly have an insufficient understanding of the issues facing renters.

An executive summary of the State of the Renter report can be found below. For the full report, click here. We always welcome feedback. Please feel free to leave comments or questions in the space provided at the bottom of this page.

MTO Short Version Final_2

If you have bed bugs in the Chicagoland area, call the Chicago tenants rights hotline at 773.292.4988. Open M-F from 1-5pm.
Stay tuned for an updated online FAQ on Bed Bugs and what do about them.

Her building, 7263 S. Coles, is quite literally falling apart. Bricks are falling off the front of the South Shore apartment building, not to mention the ceilings are falling in and the electricity is about to cause on fire any minute, she says. The bathtubs won’t drain, so they sit, daily, full of grey water, while families try to wash themselves in the kitchen sink. Mold, insects, pests – you name a problem, they got it.

It’s so bad that the city has deemed it uninhabitable, and Saturday, they will come out to vacate 10 families from the premises. Richards and her neighbors gathered downtown yesterday afternoon, asking for relocation assistance from the party they say is responsible for the building’s profound neglect – Chase Bank.

Read the entire story here at One Story Up

Watch the report from We The People Media here

Join MTO, tenants, and concerned community members this Thursday, July 15th at 11:30am at Chase Tower, 10 S. Dearborn in Downtown Chicago.

Rental properties across the city are deteriorating because the banks responsible have done nothing. For residents, the choice is especially stark – live in substandard conditions or leave the homes they once cherished. This crisis has been developing for years and is getting out of control. Banks have done little or nothing to save our homes and have allowed our communities to weaken.

WE WANT:

• Banks to be responsible for maintaining buildings in foreclosure
• Relocation assistance for the families being displaced by banks that ignore their obligations
• A foreclosure stabilization plan that would promote building maintenance and preservation, thus preventing displacement and abandoned buildings.

Applications will be accepted from June 14, 2010 to July 9, 2010.  Of all applications received, CHA will randomly pull 40,000 names from the list.  These 40,000 applicants will then be placed on the Family Wait List.  If you are put on the Family Wait List, you will be contacted when a subsidized unit is available.  If you are eligible to recieve the subsidy, you will then be able to move into an apartment and your rent will be affordable based on your income.

We all know that affordable housing is hard to find, so don’t miss this rare opportunity to get on the list.

For more information about eligibility, applying, or CHA guidelines, go to CHAwaitlist.org

Why should you come bowl with MTO on Saturday, August 28th?

• great prizes to win in categories such as: highest score, best team name, lowest score, etc
• free pizza, pop, and t-shirt
• you can bring your own team with old friends, or join an MTO team and make new friends
• you’ll be helping your community AND having fun

How does it work?
Once you’re on a team, you get a packet and start collecting pledges. All pledges to the Metropolitan Tenants Organization are tax-deductible. Your supporters can make a flat pledge, or they can pledge a certain amount per pin that you knock down. Each team will play three games, so if you score 100 points in each game, and your friend Joe pledged you $0.05 per pin, your friend Joe contributed $15. Collecting pledges is helpful because as long as you get at least $75 worth of pledges, you can bowl (and win prizes) for free!

To bowl in the MTO Bowl-a-Thon, call or email Clarissa today at 773.292.4980 x 222 or clarissa@tenants-rights.org. You must be registered to bowl.

The following is an updated prize list:

• 3 pairs of tickets to Zanies Comedy Club
• 4 passes to explore the Alder Planetarium
• an autographed Chicago Cubs baseball by Xavier Nady
• 2 tickets for Date-and-Dash, speed dating for singles
• a one hour Design Consultation with the interior design experts at Green Home Chicago
• a gift certificate for legendary sweets from Sweet Molly’s
• a gift certificate for free recording time at the Mystery Street Recording Company
• a gift certificate for falafel and other Middle Eastern delights at Sultan’s Market
• hand-made Native American earrings (beaded, porcupine quills, etc)
• Wii video games (Candy Factory, Word Jong Party)
• a touch screen mp3 player
• mini boom box
• digital camera and digital frame
• dvd player

HUD Subsidized Renters are invited to attend a HUD Townhall Meeting. This meeting is for property-based Section 8 Chicago HUD Subsidized tenants only.

When: Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
Time:   1:00pm till 3:00pm
Where: Access Living
115 W Chicago Ave

The Metropolitan Tenants Organization along with Access Living are providing tenants of subsidized housing a platform to address their concerns regarding maintenance and management of HUD subsidized buildings.

For more information please contact:

Metropolitan Tenants Organization
Farid Muhammad
773.292.4980 x 236
faridm@tenants-rights.org

or

Access Living
Deidre Brewster
312.640.2100 x 132

*UPDATE* The subcommittee meeting has been rescheduled for Wednesday, June 16th at 10am at City Hall. Meet on the 2nd floor.

*UPDATE* MTO has learned that the subcommittee meeting scheduled for Monday has been canceled. Check back soon for updates.

On Monday, May 24th, at 10am, Alderman Shiller’s newly formed subcommittee will be hearing testimony from landlords and tenants regarding the two amendments that were considered at the Building Committee meeting in April. The subcommittee meeting will be held at City Hall, on the 2nd floor, in room 201A.

The first amendment, proposed by Alderman Stone, would circumvent the current penalties landlords face for not paying security deposit or interest back to the tenant. If this amendment were to pass, landlords would face absolutely NO penalties for violating the all the security deposit laws set forth in the Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance. Once the landlord has violated their tenants’ rights, then the tenants would be required to remind their landlord that their rights have indeed been violated – in writing, and only then could the tenant even consider pursuing other legal remedies.

The second amendment, proposed by Alderman Shiller, allows landlords who miscalculate interest to be given a second chance to correct the problem before facing legal penalties. This amendment would protect landlords who make innocent mistakes from frivolous lawsuits while simultaneously keeping loopholes closed for bad landlords who intentionally violate their tenants’ right to their own money. MTO is in support of Alderman Shiller’s amendment. Alderman Stone’s amendment does not differentiate between good landlord and bad landlords.

There are more tenants than landlords in the city of Chicago and on May 24th, we want the Alderman on this subcommittee to hear tenant voices. MTO is looking for renters to testify about their rental experiences to this subcommittee. If you want to speak out or have your story told, please contact Loreen Targos at 773.292.4980 x 231 or by email at loreen@tenants-rights.org.

A Dream Foreclosed from LCBH on Vimeo.

Tenants and activists gathered in the second floor lobby of City Hall Tuesday April 27^th before the Building Committee meeting to express their support of Mayor Daley’s amendment to hold banks accountable for tenants’ security deposit in the case of foreclosure. Among them was Peter Mclennon, representing Cook County Clerk David Orr (the Residential Landlord and Tenants Ordinance sponsor in 1986). He urged rejection of the Chicagoland Apartment Association’s amendment being put forth by Alderman Stone. According to Charlotte Starks, a tenant and hotline counselor, “Security deposits being kept by landlords is as prevalent as domestic abuse, in that it does not have a face, does not have a color, it doesn’t have an address. It’s done city-wide, in all of the wards.”

Following the press conference, participants went to room 201A to prepare to testify before the Buildings Committee. The presence was so large that the meeting was moved to the City Council Chambers to accommodate everyone.

Alderman Shiller started the hearing by proposing a subcommittee that would be able to address problems brought forth by landlords and tenants. Alderman Stone chose to hear all testimony from landlord and tenant groups. Approximately 30 people testified to the committee, including Joel Rivera, a tenant turned volunteer counselor for MTO’s Renter’s Rights Hotline, testified “By providing the LL with a 14 day notification prior to any lawsuits regarding the deposit, its basically contradicting a law that the landlord should already know. Upon signing a lease, the landlord is obligated to the RLTO to provide each tenant with a copy of the ordinance summary. So off the bat, the landlord should already be responsible for what his rights are towards the tenant.” John Bartlett, Executive Director of MTO, explained MTO’s desire to work with good landlords on their concerns with the law while simultaneously ensuring loopholes are not opened in the current law that would make it easier for bad landlords to take advantage of their tenant’s money.

Three hours later, after everyone had had their say, Alderman Latasha Thomas stated her support of forming a subcommittee to resolve the issues brought up by those that had testified. Alderman Hairston believed a happy medium could be found between landlords and tenants in a subcommittee. Deputy Commissioner Ellen Sahli explained Mayor Daley’s proposal, specifically that his proposal does not tip the delicate balance in the RLTO away from landlords – instead, it would only affect lien holders, such as banks and only in the case of a foreclosure. Deputy Commissioner Sahli stated her support of a subcommittee and her opposition to Alderman Stone’s amendment.

Chairman Stone explained that his intent with the amendment was to “correct the rigidity of the ordinance.” Alderman Shiller responded that she wanted to address this, but that the “14-day cure” changes economic incentives and changes consequences to landlords if they do not follow the security deposit law as written. Chairman Stone responded that he did not want to be a block on the Mayor’s ordinance. The Buildings Committee then voted unanimously to pass the Mayor’s ordinance onto the full council without any amendments attached. The two amendments will be considered in the new subcommittee headed by Alderman Shiller.

Alderman Shiller’s subcommittee is tentatively scheduled for Monday, May 24.  The committee will continue to look at the amendments proposed by Aldermen Stone and Shiller.  It is important for renters to continue to come attend hearings as we expect the Chicagoland Apartment Association to continue to press for a weakening of Chicago’s ordinance.  Tenants need to inform the alderman of problems they face with security deposits.  If you are interested in testifying at the next hearing please contact  Loreen Targos at 773-292-4980 x 231 or by email at loreen@tenants-rights.org.