Eviction is a chilling word, conjuring up images of the sheriff`s men piling a family`s belongings onto the sidewalk, usually in the pouring rain. When times are tough, and people don`t have money, evictions happen more frequently. But they can be prevented.
”How do you avoid eviction? Pay the rent!” says Chatka Ruggiero, with a laugh. ”That`s the bottom line.” Ruggiero, who owns hundreds of apartment units in Oak Park, says communication is also important. ”If you`re having a problem, call the landlord. Most landlords are understanding, and would prefer the unit to be occupied rather than unoccupied. If you call your landlord and explain the situation, you can probably work out a payment plan.”
Ruggiero, who says that ”98 percent of all landlord-tenant problems can be solved with communication,” notes that she or her staff always call tenants when rent is late, or when there are other problems; she has never evicted anyone for any cause except nonpayment of rent. Not all landlords, though, are like Ruggiero-and in those cases it`s up to the tenant to do the communicating.
”We have a lot of evictions in our area, for a lot of reasons,” says Sharon Ghent, director of the South Shore Tenants Association. ”The No. 1 reason is not being able to pay the rent. Seventy-four percent of the families in our area are renters, and 49 percent of those are female heads of household. Many of them pay 75 percent of their income for rent-and many of them are only one check away from being homeless.”
Cause for conflict
While financial need is the primary cause of evictions in South Shore, another reason is the inappropriate withholding of rent because of some problem with the apartment. ”These are mostly multifamily dwellings,” says Ghent, ”and they may, due to the landlord`s neglect, need repairs. Most times we`ve found that it`s not that the landlords don`t want to fix them up, but that, if they`re trying to keep their apartments affordable, they just don`t have the money to put back into them. But sometimes it`s just negligence.”
Tenant education is one of the association`s mandates, and it holds regular workshops to familiarize residents with their rights and
responsibilities under the law. ”Someone will say, `The landlord hasn`t fixed my sink. I`m gonna withhold my rent.` But you can`t do it that easily. That`s a good way to get evicted,” Ghent explains.
Just as it`s illegal for a landlord to shut off water or heat to force a tenant to move, the tenant who wants to force a landlord to make repairs or resolve persistent problems has to go about it in the right way.
Many tenants with a problem fail to document their communications, Ghent contends. ”They come to us and say, `I told the manager I`d withhold the rent if he didn`t fix this,` and he said, `I`ll get to you.` But there`s nothing in writing, and once you get the eviction notice, it`s too late. Document everything. Even if you`re just going to be a few days late with the rent, put it in writing, and keep a copy. That illustrates your relationship with the landlord, and demonstrates good will. And that`s important, because by the time it gets to court, the levels of anger are high.”
Don`t spend the rent
Another common mistake tenants make is spending the rent money withheld, instead of putting it aside, Ghent says. ”If you can show the judge a money order for each month withheld, and demonstrate that you are ready and able to pay the landlord once repairs are made, you will have a much better case.”
If you do choose to withhold rent, make sure you do it the legal way. Chicago has a landlord-tenant ordinance spelling it all out. (Make sure your apartment building is covered; owner-occupied buildings with six or fewer units are not.)
According to Willie Granderson, director of the Fair Housing Commission of Chicago`s Commission on Human Relations, if there are code violations, the tenant can give the landlord a 14-day written notice that if repairs are not made, he or she will have the work done by a craftsman, and deduct up to $500 from the rent. The tenant can also give a 14-day notice that if the repairs are not made, a portion of the rent will be withheld, due to the ”reduced value” of the apartment. And the tenant can give the landlord 30-day written notice and terminate the lease if the problems are not resolved.
”You can also withhold rent over the loss of essential services,” notes Granderson. ”For example, if you lose your heat, you can notify your landlord, get substitute heat-like an electric heater-and give the landlord the receipt. If the temperature drops below freezing, and you can`t stay in the apartment, you can get substitute housing and be excused from paying your rent for the time you had to stay elsewhere.” While there is no set standard for the amounts that can be withheld, Granderson cautions, ”you can`t go to the Ritz-Carlton. You have to be reasonable.”
Try mediation
Sometimes, in landlord-tenant disputes as elsewhere, mediation is the answer. ”If you`re having a problem, you can contact us,” says Jon Weiss of the not-for-profit Center for Conflict Resolution. ”Quite candidly, the problem there is getting the other person to agree to come in. We have mediators at court, at the Daley Center, and sometimes a judge may suggest that we help the parties work it out.
”A lot of times, the tenant has decided to withhold the rent because of a defect in the apartment-but they don`t do it in the legal way. At the same time, if there`s truly a problem with the apartment, the court wants to know that. Sometimes the landlord will come to understand the problem, and the rent can be repaid. Clearly, mediation can`t help if the tenant cannot or will not pay the rent, or if the landlord is aware of problems and refuses to deal with them.”
Weiss says the Center for Conflict Resolution, which offers its services free of charge, has an 85 percent success rate (they dealt with about 200 eviction cases last year), including cases in which the tenant still moved out, but was able to negotiate the date.
Weiss has some general advice to offer: ”If you`re laid off, explain to your landlord, and make an effort to come up with the money-at least a token payment. Communicate calmly. Tell the landlord when there`s a problem, and be very clear about what that problem is. If the kitchen faucet leaks, or the lock is inadequate, say so. . . .”
Advice from the judge
If more people took Weiss` advice, Judge Michael W. Stuttley`s job might be easier. Stuttley is the supervising judge of the 1st Municipal District`s Forcible Entry and Detainer Section of the Circuit Court of Cook County. In other words, he`s in charge of evictions in Chicago.
”We`ve been averaging 48,000 evictions a year, in Chicago alone, which is just one of six Cook County districts,” says the judge. ”It will probably be closer to 60,000 this year, because of the economy. People are unable to pay the rent. It`s really a serious problem.”
There are three legal causes for eviction, Stuttley says: non-payment of rent; violation of the lease; and termination of the lease (when the lease has not been renewed but the tenant doesn`t leave).
Stuttley calls evictions ”one of the most sensitive areas” of the law.
”No. 1, it`s embarrassing. No. 2, the family is made homeless. So we try to tell the judges to give people personal consideration, to extend the courtesy of listening to them, and to try to provide a way of departing with dignity. We`ll ask if they plan to move, and if the answer is `yes,` we ask how much time they need. We ask the number of people in the household, the number of young children.
”If no one shows up in court, they`ve got seven days to move. If they appear, we`ll give them 14. If the circumstances are extraordinary, we`ll extend that. I once gave a senior citizen 120 days to move.”
Stuttley stresses the importance of coming to court if you`ve been served with eviction papers.
He also believes that everyone who comes to court should seek legal representation. ”. . . If you`re indigent, there are plenty of legal services, provided at no cost, and they do a job that`s outstanding. . . .”
”But if you don`t appear in court,” says Stuttley, ”we can`t inform you of your rights, we can`t inform you of the assistance available. Too often, people bury their heads in the sand. They`ll appear the day before their eviction and want more time. And a lot of times, by then, it`s beyond our control.”
