Dozens of tenants’ rights advocates rallied Thursday night in front of the annual “Summer Soiree” of the Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance (NBOA) Thursday night demanding new renter protection legislation and accountability for abuse and harm renters have faced from Chicago landlords.
Members of ONE Northside, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, Chicago Union of Tenants, Belden Sawyer Tenant Association, the Metropolitan Tenants Organization, and other neighborhood and tenants’ rights organizations held signs, chanted, gave speeches, and blocked traffic along Ravenswood Ave for approximately two hours as guests were arriving at the fundraiser.
“We’re here demanding a system in which landlords can no longer take advantage of their tenants,” said 39th Ward resident Dalya Lessem Elnecave, a member of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, addressing the crowd. “When I was twelve, the ‘mom and pop’ landlord my family was renting from refused to renew our lease with only a month’s notice, upending our lives. We’re fighting for families. We’re fighting for children. We’re fighting to make sure no one is forced from their home like my family was.
The Protecting Renters Ordinance (PRO), introduced into Chicago’s City Council in May, would create Just Cause provisions that would require landlords to provide valid reasons for eviction or non-renewal, with relocation assistance if the lease termination is not the tenants’ fault. The ordinance would also ban predatory fines, create a rental registry, and expand a current pilot program that provides legal assistance to tenants facing eviction.
“When my neighbors and I were facing eviction,” said Tory de Martelly of the Belden Sawyer Tenant Association, “we could have easily all been among the tens of thousands of tenants in Cook County who are evicted every year, if we hadn’t gotten representation through the Right To Counsel pilot program and Law Center for Better Housing. What we needed was time and someone with the training to inform us of the next steps. Right To Counsel gave us that. No tenant should have to go through this process alone.
The protestors also brought attention to the role played by former NBOA chair Corey Oliver in an infamous ICE raid on a South Shore apartment building last year.
“Last year, residents of 7500 South Shore Dr called my organization for help. Their building was in serious disrepair and they were facing eviction.“ said Jonah Karsh of the Metropolitan Tenants’ Organization. “Former NBOA chair, Corey Oliver was the building’s property manager and is currently under investigation by the Illinois Department of Human Rights for his alleged role in the horrifying ICE raid on that building. And his successor as NBOA chair has defending
Aron Bronstein, has defended Oliver’s handling of the building and the raid.”
Speakers also highlighted the contrast between the PRO and the so-called FAIR ordinance, introduced by Ald. Gil Villegas in June.
“While we’re out here fighting to expand tenants’ rights, some members of city council and the landlord lobbyists they rub shoulders with are trying to roll them back,“ said Loren Pullum of the Chicago Union of Tenants. “We won’t stand for that. We need Just Cause; we need right to counsel; we need real tenant protections; we’re not going back.”
