Tag: mto

HUD Subsidized Tenants Issues Forum

Posted on by admin

On March 31st HUD Subsidized tenants from all over the city gathered together for a forum to discuss issues in their buildings.  The goal of the Issues Forum was to identify problematic issues within HUD subsidized buildings in the city of Chicago and to move towards solutions.  MTO worked with organizers and tenants from various community organizations throughout the city such as STOP (Southside Together Organizing for Power), O.N.E. (Organization of the NorthEast) and Access Living along with the National Alliance of HUD Tenants to plan and implement the forum.

Around 30 tenants participated in breakout sessions, on topics including: Maintenance, Security, Recertification, REAC inspections, Reasonable Accommodation, and Organizing Concerns.  Tenants identified issues and formulated demands to bring to HUD in a series of accountability meetings.  Each breakout session developed a concrete list of policy changes and solutions to increase tenant participation in management decision making and to improve living conditions.

Drawing from the issues identified at the Issues Forum, tenants will bring their concerns to the local HUD office in a HUD Town Hall meeting in early summer.  Tenants will present documented problems and individual experiences on to local HUD officials and demand accountability from the local office.  Any issue or policy change that remains unresolved will then be presented in a second HUD accountability session called Eyes and Ears in the late summer or early fall.  The Metropolitan Tenants Organization with its tenant leadership aim to improve living conditions and preserve aging housing stock in HUD subsidized buildings.

 

Tenants and Condo Purchasers Win Protections

Posted on by ltargos
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.

Bed Bug Seminar & Cosi Sandwiches: Thursday, Jan 20th at 6pm

Posted on by ltargos

MTO will be hosting a Bed Bug Workshop at the Chicago Urban League (4510 S. Michigan) on Thursday, Jan 20th from 6 to 8pm. Free parking is available. Sandwiches and refreshments will be served, courtesy of COSI.

MTO’s resident bed bug expert will tell you what bed bugs are, describe early signs of an infestation, and outline what to do and what not to do.

No need to RSVP – this workshop is free and open to the public.

For more information, please contact Farid at 773.292.4980 x 236 or Robert at 773.292.4980 x 242.

Bed Bug Workshop – Dec 2nd, 2010 – No RSVP needed

Posted on by ltargos

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010
6:00pm to 7:30pm
Garfield Park Conservatory
300 N. Central Park, Chicago

A bed bug expert from the Metropolitan Tenants Organization will tell you what bed bugs look like, describe signs of an infestation, and outline what to do and what not to do if you have bed bugs.

No need to RSVP and the workshop is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Kristian at 773.826.8430 x 229 or kmoore@bethelnewlife.org.

Thank you to MTO’s partners, Bethel New Life and Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance.