Group Protests Illegal Eviction Notices Outside Local Property Management Office

The Cook County Sheriff demanded Wednesday morning that a Lincoln Park property management company stop giving area tenants illegal eviction notices containing threats and "misleading, inaccurate information."

CHIProperties has reportedly been posting the alerts to renters who live in units that are the subject of foreclosure proceedings. The notices warn tenants that they are considered trespassers and say an eviction process has started, even if a suit hasn't been properly filed in Circuit Court, according to officials from the sheriff's office.

Dozens of protesters marched Wednesday from the Red Line stop at North and Clybourn Avenues to the company's office at 1512 N. Fremont Street, officials said. Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart was among them.

“This notice is illegal, highly deceptive, and amounts to a constructive eviction in apparent violation of various federal, state and local laws, including the federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009, the Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Law as well as the Chicago Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance,” he said, in a written statement.

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When banks foreclose on properties and want to evict tenants, they must follow the proper procedures in court. Sheriff’s deputies then enforce the court order and carry out evictions, they said.

Dart has asked that CHIProperties provide his office with the addresses of every property in Cook County where they've posted the illegal notices. He's also asking that anyone who has received one contact his office.

Awareness stems from a couple residents who got the flyers and showed them to the Lawyers' Committee for Better Housing—a Chicago-based group that helps renters.

Those tenants, who were paying their rent and, according to the law, must be given 90 days notice to move out, were reportedly scared and believed it was necessary to leave their homes on short notice. 

" ... Dart has worked diligently to ensure the evictions his office enforces are done legally and humanely," officials said, in a news release. "The sheriff’s office has a director of social services, who works with families, seniors, and those with special needs who are facing evictions."

In October 2010, he halted mortgage foreclosure evictions involving Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase and GMAC/Ally after questions arose about the legitimacy of their foreclosure court filings. Many appeared to have been “robo-signed.” 

In 2012, the office completed a total of 9,827 evictions. In 2011, it completed 7,002. 

If you've received a notice from CHIProperties, call 773-674-7710. 

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