Category: More headlines

Right now, someone in Chicago is being locked out of their apartment by their landlord. These illegal evictions turn tenants’ lives upside down. Families are uprooted from their homes, affecting their jobs, schools and their support networks. The majority of lockout victims are women. Most end up moving, too afraid to face their bully landlord.

Towanda Talley was not going to let her landlord intimidate her. Last week she came home from work and was shocked to find that the door to her Englewood apartment had been completely removed. Just days before, Towanda called the MTO Tenants Rights Hotline because the apartment she shared with her son had a mice infestation and there mold was growing in the bathroom.

Towanda and her son are model tenants; she has always paid the rent on time. So when she sent a letter requesting that her landlord make the repairs, she expected them to be addressed in a reasonable fashion. What happened next was anything but reasonable.

Towanda came home Friday evening to find her apartment completely accessible from the outside, the front door missing, hinges and all. Shocked, she spoke with a neighbor who told her that one of the landlord’s employees had showed up, tools in hand, and completely removed the door to Towanda’s apartment. He disappeared up the street, taking the door with him.

Towanda turned to MTO once again, ready to take action. As advised, she headed straight to the District Police Station to file a report. Officers initially told her, incorrectly, that the issue was “a civil matter”. Undeterred, she requested to speak with a Supervisor, who ultimately assisted her in filing the report.

The landlord was nowhere to be found. So she called her son and hours later, he was there finishing installing a new door. Towanda will deduct the cost of the door off of her rent. The Supervisor issued a “Miscellaneous X” card and told her to call back immediately if the landlord or her employee return to the property. If they did, the Supervisor told her, they would be arrested.

This blatant act of retaliation is a clear violation of the law, and a cruel, inhumane way to treat any member of the community. Thankfully, Towanda’s landlord hasn’t been back.  

We must work to end this practice, because housing is a human right.

The Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed a hate crime lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of  Iris Howe and her family against their neighbor, Terry Calliari.

Iris Howe, who is African-American, alleges that Calliari, who is white, has perpetrated a continuing pattern of racially motivated intimidation and harassment against the Howe family for the more than four years that both parties have lived on the 800 block of West Partridge Lane in northwest suburban Mount Prospect.

According to the lawsuit, Calliari has harassed Howe, her daughter, Sidney Powell, and son, Samuel Mobley, since the day the Howe family moved into their home in April 2009.  Specifically, the suit alleges that Calliari has repeatedly  referred to Howe family members using the the N-word and other racial slurs; followed the Howe children around the neighborhood in her car, often coming within inches of them; attempted to instigate physical altercations with the Howe children; and on at least one occasion told the family to leave the neighborhood.

The suit further alleges that Calliari’s malicious actions have caused the Howe family emotional distress, pain, and suffering and seeks a permanent injunction barring Calliari from contact with the family as well as punitive and compensatory damages for emotional distress and loss of civil rights.

“Our goal is to secure compensation for the denial of the Howe family’s rights and for the extreme emotional distress they have been forced to endure,” said Baum, Director of Pro Bono Services at Katten. “We hope that by bringing this suit, justice will be served, and others will be deterred from engaging in this type of racist and abusive conduct.”

Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Fair Housing Project Director Betsy Shuman-Moore stated, “We are pleased to continue our partnership with Katten in the very important work of fighting hate crimes and housing discrimination.”

Click here to read the full press release.

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Tenants and organizers have worked long and hard to secure this rehab, and the results are phenomenal! Related Companies was recently honored with the Outstanding For-Profit Neighborhood Real Estate Project Award for Parkway Gardens. At the urging of the Parkway Gardens Tenant Association with support from MTO, Related Companies has successfully taken on one of Chicago’s largest, oldest and most troubled housing developments and restored it as an asset to the Woodlawn community.

Once home to Michelle Obama, Parkway Gardens was built as a 13-acre co-op in the 1950’s. With 35 buildings and over 700 units, this complex is a cornerstone of the community and we are thrilled to see it restored to its former glory. We are so proud of the tenants of Parkway Gardens!

Mass evictions and drastic rent increases have long been a staple tool of unscrupulous real estate developers. Now, tenants in 2536 N. Sawyer, a 50-unit apartment complex in Logan Square purchased by M. Fishman & Co., are fighting back. Tired of “pay up or get out” tactics, tenants and community members held a picket and march outside of the Fishman offices Thursday night. The crowd, full of children, families and local residents, received honks of support as they chanted “Fishman Equals Mass Eviction!” After attempting to deliver rent checks, and getting denied by Fishman staff, tenants shared testimonies about their experiences with Fishman. Afterward, the crowd marched to Fishman-owned Logan Theater (M. Fishman bought and rehabbed the Logan Theater with $1,000,000 in TIF money) to distribute leaflets and speak with patrons. Tenants are outraged that a developer who used money from the community is now displacing it.

In December, M. Fishman gave many rent-paying tenants 30-day eviction notices or a 250 dollar rent increase. Tenants include veterans, seniors, and young mothers. Many of the children in the building have attended local public schools for years. Ined Rosario says “We deserve respect and the right to be heard. We won’t be pushed from neighborhood to neighborhood because we can’t afford it. We’re people and our lives are worth more than money.”

Mark Fishman, President of the company and resident of Deerfield, IL, started an organization called I am Logan Square to “support the arts and cultural development”. Yet tenant Paul Donnely says, “through these evictions, Mark Fishman shows that the working families who already are Logan Square aren’t even considered in his development plan.” 

Tenants have requested to meet with M. Fishman & Co. Initially, M. Fishman employees agreed to meet with 2-3 representatives. However, after tenants asked that they meet with everyone affected, that offer was verbally retracted, and written communication to the tenants from Fishman and Co. has completely ceased. Tenants and organizers say Thursday’s action is just the beginning.