Category: Latest News

Invisible Hazards At Home: Lead Poisoning

Posted on by Yesenia

Story By LiMei Vera

When the Bolin family moved into their Lincoln Square apartment in the 47th Ward, they believed they had found the perfect place for their young family. The apartment was affordable and offered a place to grow their roots. They registered their lively two-year-old son for local art and swim classes and prepared to welcome their daughter.

Warning Signs

However, after a year in the apartment, their son began experiencing health problems: he abruptly lost his appetite, had trouble sleeping, and started displaying seemingly inexplicable behavioral changes.

Lead paint chipping.

A visit to the doctor gave the Bolin family an unexpected answer: their son had elevated blood lead levels. For children his age, lead attacks the brain and central nervous system. It can cause irreversible damage, contributing to long-term developmental delays and complex behavioral disorders.

For John Bolin, the news was terrifying:

“We’re his parents and are supposed to keep our children safe. Finding out that it’s in your house, and that the one place that should be the safest place for them to be is actually the worst place for them to be, is incredibly upsetting and scary.”

A city inspector confirmed that the Bolin family’s apartment contained dangerous lead levels in the windows, door casings, doors, stairwells, and walls. No amount of lead exposure is considered safe for children under the age of six, but the Bolins’ home contains 58 times the allowable limit.

While this story is haunting, it is all too common in a city that does not mandate proactive inspections of rental units. In Chicago, units are not typically tested for lead until after a child has already been poisoned. Buildings constructed before 1978 commonly contain lead, yet Chicago has no proactive inspection program.

The Bolin family has made significant adjustments to protect their son, who recently celebrated his third birthday, and their daughter, who is just beginning to crawl. The Bolin family spend “all day cleaning the floors so we aren’t tracking lead all over the apartment.” They have set up a playpen and foam mats for their daughter to protect her from dust containing lead on the floor. They refrain from running the AC units, because the inspector noted that the units may pull lead dust from the windows. And everyday,

Rachel Bolin answers questions from her son. He asks why he feels different, why he can’t go to sleep at night, and why he gets so angry – all symptoms associated with lead exposure.

For Rachel, this has been heartbreaking.

“Our children deserve to live normal lives.”

With the help of MTO, the Bolins terminated their lease, and plan to move. Amidst ongoing visits to the doctor’s office, they also face other challenges, such as finding housing on a limited budget on a short timeline. A quick move is costly, and currently after much pressure, the landlords have offered less than a month’s rent of assistance.

Despite these challenges, the Bolins’ first priority is to get their child into safe and healthy housing. This priority needs to inform our city’s policies, too.

 

Tenants Fight a Roach Infestation with FWP

Posted on by Yesenia

Story by Tulsi McDaniels

In September 2024, tenants Simone and Andrew moved into a building managed by First Western, only to discover a severe roach infestation. They sought help from MTO, who guided them in drafting a formal termination letter to end their lease early.

However, their experience with First Western quickly became a nightmare. As Simone explained,

“Our experience with First Western was one of the most stressful we’ve ever faced. They completely pulled the rug out from under us once we sent them money. We never even got official keys. They are just a half step away from being a complete scam… leaving us without habitable housing. An experience I wish on no one.”

First Western initially denied their request and demanded an additional two months’ rent to terminate the lease. With MTO’s support, Simone and Andrew stood firm, highlighting the building’s failure to meet health and safety standards. Their persistence paid off when First Western agreed to release them from the lease without extra charges, allowing them to move to a safer home.

Their experience demonstrated the importance of tenant rights and the power of advocacy in the face of predatory property management.

Tenant Lockouts Are Illegal

Posted on by Yesenia

Story by Tulsi McDaniels

A picture of a judge's gavel.Only A Judge Can Evict You

In July, MTO counselors jumped into action when tenant Harold D. faced an illegal eviction by his landlord.

The landlord changed the locks. Harold called the police. As often happens, the police declined to act or even to file an official report of the incident.

Despite the police refusing to do their job, Harold and the MTO counselor persisted.

With the help of the Metropolitan Tenants Organization, an advocate engaged with the landlord, informing him of the potential for jail and daily fines for continuing the lockout. This threat of escalating penalties prompted the landlord to restore Harold’s access within the hour.

Thanks to the effective advocacy and Harold’s persistence, he successfully reclaimed his home and upheld his rights as a tenant.

MTO is currently planning to pilot a lockout project to demonstrate an alternative to relying on the police to enforce the law. Stay tuned and don’t let landlords bully you out of your apartment.

HUD Tenants Form Association, Win Big

Posted on by John Bartlett

HUD tenants recently had concerns about bed bugs, issues with re-certification, retaliation by management, and the use of their community room in their building.  Management at first did nothing to resolve the complaints.  Tenants called MTO and building organizer David Wilson went to the building and informed them of their rights.  Tenants in the Park Shore East building located at 6250 S. Harper then formed an association.

Tenants know that while committed individuals can make change, collective efforts are far stronger than the actions of individuals.  The tenants association requested a meeting with management.  Building management told the tenants they heard their issues and that they would be taken into consideration. At the next tenants’ association meeting, the leadership announced that the management brought in specially trained dogs to check for bed bugs and management agreed to extended time for the community room. It takes a tenants association to assert your rights,  and organizing get the goods!

If you want to form a tenants association, call 773-292-4988 and request to speak with a community organizer.  

 

Organizing Works – Past Campaigns By Ward

Posted on by Gordon Dymowski
2023 - O'Shea Neighbors United Protest Levav Properties Serving Non-Renewal of Lease Notices to Over 100 Beverly Tenants
Beverly Tenant Protest – 2023

Organizing around tenant rights is about winning through building community and collaboration. We are proud of our work in helping tenants win our consistent victories in the city of Chicago. Check out several of our recent tenant organizing successes in this ever-growing list.

2024

  • S. Stony Island (8th Ward) – Tenants expressed concerns about management and security and wanted to form a tenant association. Tenants organized to form an association and, through direct action, ensured that new security measures were implemented. 
  • N. Sheridan (48th Ward) – Building tenants faced various safety issues, including fire prevention, bedbugs, and poor building management. Tenants mobilized and formed a union, presenting management with their demands. Results included repairing fire escapes and the building’s elevator and mitigating a severe outbreak of bedbugs. 
  • S. Daniel Drive (9th Ward) – Tenants organized around the landlord’s reluctance to make necessary repairs. Despite landlord retaliation, tenants organized around holding the landlord accountable. Not only were repairs made, but tenants formed an association to continue efforts to ensure building quality and safety.
  • S. Drexel (20th Ward) – Tenants organized to focus on issues of poor property management. After establishing a union, tenants forced landlords to improve security and ensure further cooperation.
  • W. Cermak Rd (20th Ward) – After receiving significant rent increases without remediation for healthy home issues, tenants organized to assert their rights. After securing legal counsel and withholding rent, tenants received significant repairs (including windows and floors) and improved pest control efforts.
  • S. Champlain (4th Ward) – Tenants organized around health and welfare issues caused by 3500 pounds of sanitary waste and other debris. Results included inspection, engagement of the alderman, and negotiations.

2023

  • W 103rd (19th Ward) – New property management company provided no-cause lease terminations for over 100 residents across six buildings. Tenants organized and received rent forgiveness, rental reimbursement, and some received lease extensions for one year.
  • E. 79th (6th Ward) – Landlord attempted to intimidate tenants by charging for refrigerators, visiting the property with armed security, and threatening eviction. Thanks to tenant organizing, landlord was forced to make changes including security screen doors, tuck pointing, heat, installing a new stove, and tenant rent forgiveness
  • S. Burley (10th Ward) – Tenants organized around issues concerning lack of repairs and the resulting landlord harassment and retaliation. Efforts around organizing resulted in hiring an  extermination company, improving security,  and increased tenant input on renovation priorities.
  • E. 41st St (3rd Ward) – Organizing around efforts to reopen the building’s community room, tenants formed an association to address this and other issues, including smoking in units, ventilation issues, and disrespectful management.
  • E. 38th Street (3rd Ward) – Tenants organized around a series of maintenance issues including broken washers and dryers, bedbug infestations, and a flooded community room. Despite landlord harassment and intimidation, tenants successfully organized and had washers and dryers fixed, bedbugs exterminated, and an improved community room with increased attendance.
  • N. Hudson (27th Ward) – Forming a union to counter management harassment and security issues, tenants were able to have needed repairs made and improve security.

Chicago Needs Proactive Rental Inspections to Protect People’s Health

Posted on by Javier Ruiz
Chicago tenants have a right to heat!

Last December, as the temperature outside plummeted, the heat in Ms. Payan’s apartment stopped working. In addition to the lack of heat, Ms. Payan also experienced flooding in her apartment. Multiple conversations with the landlord yielded no improvements. In fact, the landlord threatened Ms. Payan that she would have to pay for the repairs.  Ms. Payan contacted MTO’s Healthy Homes Organizer, Angelica Ugarte, for help.

Angelica helped Ms. Payan to use Chicago’s tenants’ ordinance to terminate the lease and avoid paying rent for the last month so that Ms. Payan could have the money to relocate.  The results of this story are rare. Far too many tenants experience retaliation from their landlord and face eviction when they request repairs or take the necessary steps to assert their rights under the law.  Tenants are educated and empowered by MTO to understand the process and challenge abusive practices in their building. There is little accountability for slum landlords to follow building codes or ensure that apartments are in habitable condition throughout the tenancy.

The only way to hold slum landlords accountable is through regular inspections.  Inspections should not wait until a crisis occurs such as the one faced by Ms. Payan.  Chicago needs an inspection program that promotes regular maintenance.  We encourage you to support the proactive inspection program, CHIPP (Chicago Proactive Inspection Program) which is calling for legislation to mandate routine inspection of all Chicago’s rental apartments.  If you or someone you know would like to join our efforts to promote CHIPP, please call (773) 292-4980.

Statement on the “Migrant” Crisis

Posted on by admin

MTO believes that the recent media frenzy focusing on Chicago’s migrant crisis fails to examine the underlying social issues at play.  Migrants fleeing their homeland in search of safety, security, jobs and housing are not the problem. The problem Chicago faces is a severe lack of affordable housing which began long before the recent influx of migrants.

Everyone deserves a home.  In fact, housing is a basic human necessity.  Homes provide individuals and families with the security of knowing that they have a place to shelter in which they can eat, sleep and enjoy life.  Homes set a foundation for success and achievement.  Yet there are thousands in Chicago living in tents or doubled-up with friends or relatives.  Even more people struggle to maintain a roof over their head.  Some forgo medicine, miss meals, work two or three jobs sacrificing their mental health and time with their loved ones, just to maintain an often lousy, pest-infested unit.  Instead of facing the deeper problem, political leaders and the media declare a Migrant crisis, which blames those in need for the problem.

At MTO, we believe that regardless of circumstances, everyone deserves a home.  Housing needs to be recognized as a human right.

If we view this complex, challenging, and yet solvable problem through a lens of housing injustice, we can develop solutions that lift up longtime Chicago residents as well as new arrivals.  MTO believes there are immediate steps that can be taken to alleviate the housing crisis:

 

  1. Stop the exploitation and neglect of tenants by putting slumlords out of business through aggressive code enforcement and then force the transfer of their properties into the hands of people and institutions who are committed to maintaining decent affordable housing;
  2. Enact laws that stabilize rents and tenancies such as Rent Control and Just Cause Evictions; and
  3. Build, preserve, and lease up affordable housing. Chicago needs not hundreds but tens of thousands of affordable units.

 

These are some initial steps.  Achieving just and equitable housing policies requires work and commitment to respect and honor the lives of all people by making housing a human right.

The Power of Organizing

Posted on by David Wilson

I went to went to Lake Vista Apartments almost three weeks ago at the beginning of September.  The building looked amazing.  Almost everything is new.  The first floor was WOW. I wished I had taken pictures of the building when we started because the change is incredible.  I would move in there, it looks so good.  Seeing the change reminds me of the power tenants have when they work together.

I first went to the building almost 13 years ago and it was a mess.  Lake Vista tenant Mr.  Green called our hotline because he wanted to start a tenants association.  Mr. Green believed in housing equity. He did not think it fair the low-income residents in his building should live in fear because of poor security.  Tenants complained of being robbed in the hallways and parking lot.  With MTO’s help, tenants formed the Lake Vista Tenants Association and elected Mr. Green as President.

His first step as president was to set up an all tenants meetings with the manager and the property owner.  At the meeting, Mr. Green laid out the tenants demand for 24-hour security.  While the owner did not agree to that, the owner did agree to install security cameras in the parking lot, laundry rooms and throughout the first floor.  Security improved.

Improved security was just the beginning for the Lake Vista Tenants Association.  The building was old and in need of maintenance.  The building had pests, mold, appliances and cabinets that were as old as many of the residents.  As President, Mr. Green made sure the tenants understood the RLTO and that they engaged with HUD, the holder of the purse strings.  Mr. Green and the other tenants testified every year at MTO’s HUD Tenants Town Hall.  The tenants association challenged the owner as well as HUD officials to take care of the problems and make the building better for the senior residents. In the end, the owner and HUD officials agreed to rehab the entire complex.

The $14 million rehab is complete. The tenants have new meeting and exercise rooms, new cabinets, remodeled kitchens, and it is all repainted.  Unfortunately, Mr. Green did not get a chance to enjoy the new construction of the building as he is with his Lord but I am proud to say he played a huge role in it. Organizing works.  By David Wilson, Community Organizer

Chicago Needs Proactive Home Inspections!

Posted on by admin

The Chicago Healthy Homes Coalition (CHHC),  a coalition of renters and advocates, proposes to create a citywide rental housing registry and a proactive healthy homes inspection program. This is a matter of racial and health equity.  No Chicago renter should get sick or die because health hazards, such a lead or a lack of smoke detectors, exist.  No renters should have to live with mold, rats, or use their stove for heat.  We call upon the city to create a citywide program to hold bad landlords accountable and to ensure that all housing is safe, decent and accessible.  

Chicago does not regularly inspect housing for basic safety standards. This means that poor housing conditions can go unaddressed until a tenant makes a report to the city, often after an injury or illness. Proactive inspections will ensure that unsafe housing issues are addressed sooner, fewer people will be harmed or injured, and Chicago’s housing stock will be improved.

 

History + Background

A little over half of all Chicagoans are renters. The city is also home to higher-than-average rates of water leaks, heating and plumbing equipment breakdown, problems with broken plaster and peeling paint, and sewage disposal issues, according to the National Center for Healthy Housing. In 2019 renters made more than 30,000 complaints for occupied blight and other habitability issues, with most complaints coming from the South and West Side.

Simultaneously, the city does not currently require proactive inspection of rental units. Dangerous conditions are only addressed after a complaint is filed with the City. Minor issues are not addressed and unreported hazards often transition into disasters before a complaint is filed. Complaint-based inspection is additionally inadequate because inspectors often limit the the investigation only to what is reported. Many complaints are also never investigated; inspectors regularly have trouble accessing properties without landlord cooperation. The lack of a rental property registration system exacerbates this problem, as many owners do not have discoverable contact information, particularly when the property is owned by a limited liability company (LLC).

 

The Consequences

Lead Poisoning: Because over 81% of Chicago’s housing stock was built before the federal government  banned lead-based paint in 1978, most of these buildings, many of which have not been appropriately  maintained, repaired, or renovated, likely contain lead-based paint. Lead is a major neurotoxin that causes lifelong learning disabilities, hearing loss, speech delays, intellectual disability, ADHD, and aggressive/violent behaviors, even at relatively low levels. In many community areas, the childhood lead poisoning rates are more than double or quadruple the city-wide rate: from 4.4 and 5.7 per 100 children in Austin and West Garfield Park, and as high as 7.2 and 7.3 per 100 children in Englewood and West Englewood.

Asthma: Researchers have found excess moisture allows for the breeding of mold, mildew, mites, and  cockroaches, and that cracks allow pests like rodents and bugs to enter the home, all of which have been  linked to greater asthma morbidity and mortality. In Chicago, Black children have twice the prevalence of asthma when compared to White and Hispanic children. 

Societal, Economic, and Educational Harms: Other poor housing conditions, such as presence of rats and cockroaches, missing or malfunctioning necessities (e.g., toilet, stove, windows), and other structural,  electrical, and plumbing issues have been connected to higher  school absenteeism, reduced performance on standardized tests, and cognitive deficiencies in students. 

Fires and Fatalities: Between 2014 and 2019, 140 fires killed 92 Chicagoans. Nearly half of those fires  involved buildings without a working smoke detector. A Chicago Tribune / Better Government Association investigation into fires in the same timeframe found more than two dozen cases in which safety conditions played a role in the fires, but records showed the buildings had not been inspected for five or more years. 

Public Fiscal Costs: Chicago’s inability to address dangerous housing conditions is expensive to the public. Very conservatively estimating that just one-half of Chicago’s 1,376 lead-poisoned children in  2017 required special education, Chicago therefore spent roughly $7.5 million to $15 million per year in additional instructional costs for those students alone. Other studies corroborate that every dollar spent to prevent lead poisoning saves hundreds of dollars in the form of greater earnings and reduced taxpayer-funded health  care, special education, and law enforcement costs.

In  2018, Chicago’s Office of Inspector General found that our current complaint-based system permitted safety and health hazards to go unaddressed for longer than the law allowed. A follow up report in 2019 gave the City recommendations to improve inspections.

 

Our Solution

CHHC is proposing a three-year pilot to begin the transition from Chicago’s ineffective and dangerous complaint-driven inspection system to a proven proactive rental inspection and rental registry program. 

The pilot includes three major components: 

(1) healthy homes inspection of all residential rental properties  in two select community areas; 

(2) a citywide residential rental registry

(3) community outreach to  educate and engage tenants, landlords, and other stakeholders. 

The program is designed to be budget neutral, as it will be funded by registration fees paid by landlords. It  will be implemented by a project manager hired by the city, in collaboration with the Departments of  Housing, Buildings, and Health.

 

Healthy Homes Inspections. The City will develop a healthy homes inspection program to be used citywide and pilot the program in two community areas—one high-need and one mixed-need. The pilot’s healthy homes inspections will incorporate nationally-recognized principles of healthy homes,  including that they be dry, clean, safe, contaminant-free, well-ventilated, thermally controlled, well maintained, and accessible.

Rental Registry. As part of the pilot, the City of Chicago will establish a citywide residential rental registry, to be managed by the Department of Housing. All landlords will be required to register their rental  properties with the City annually, paying a registration fee and providing some basic information about the property.

Repair Grants for Small Landlords. The rental registry fees would go into a fund that prioritizes grants for small landlords who own 6 or fewer units to make necessary repairs. This will encourage landlords to participate in the program.

Community Outreach. Because community buy-in and support is critical to the success of the pilot, the  City will involve key stakeholders in the community at all stages of pilot development and implementation by creating a community advisory board to assist with oversight and evaluation at the  end of the pilot. The City will also hire inspectors and other City personnel from pilot  communities, which will help to ensure that the pilot is implemented equitably and with the needs of the community in mind.  

9 Potential Solutions to Keep Chicagoans Safer From Fires.  Better Government Association

 

Evaluation

To evaluate the pilot project, the City will hire an independent professional who is a healthy housing expert. This individual will design and implement a robust evaluation, collecting and analyzing both qualitative  and quantitative measures. 

Quantitative Measures: Identified hazards; hazards remediated; cost to the City; cost to landlords; training needs; number of inspections/inspectors; frequency of inspector success in property entry; estimated fiscal benefits for the public; financial and health  benefits for impacted households.

Qualitative Measures: Qualitative measures will include open-ended interviews with inspectors,  community stakeholders, advocates, landlords, and tenants about their experiences during the pilot. 

The evaluation will also use the inspection data to identify common housing hazards that are not considered  violations under Chicago’s Building Code and make recommendations for possible amendments. The  evaluator will additionally ascertain compliance with the rental registry requirements, to inform potential  incentives and penalties to ensure compliance.

**Read our full white-paper here.**

 

 

Take Action!

We need City Council to implement this project. Call your Alderman today and demand they support Chicago Healthy Homes!

Join the Coalition! Sign up to be a sponsor.

Global webinar on tenant struggles in the COVID crisis: Saturday May 9 at 1 pm CST.

Posted on by admin
Housing Is A Human Right!

Global webinar on tenant struggles in the COVID crisis: Saturday May 9 at 1 pm CST. The National Alliance of HUD Tenants (NAHT) sister organization in the UK, Defend Council Housing, is hosting a Global Webinar on Saturday, May 9 at 2 pm EST/ 1pm CST! Panelists from Defend Council Housing; a private housing organizing group in London; a tenants movement group in Barcelona; CASA in the Bronx; and Michael Kane from NAHT will be featured!

Just click on here for Youtube Live and here for Facebook Live Saturday May 9 at 1 pm CST.