Sailor Anarres<p>"At least some of the units raided that night were occupied by longtime residents — including senior citizens — who, for one reason or another, had not been paying rent or did not have current leases. In These Times is withholding their names to protect them from retaliation as the court case proceeds.</p><p>One senior citizen tenant fell disastrously behind on rent after they fell victim to a scam. The building’s property management has changed at least three times since Flood purchased it, and during a period when the property was left unsecured, this tenant says, a man began coming to their door claiming to be the current property manager. Because the elevators were frequently out, the tenant struggled to leave the apartment and began handing rent money directly to the man each month. The tenant only realized what was happening, they say, when a new property manager informed them they owed $7,000 in back rent. The tenant was never able to catch up, and without anywhere else to go, moved in with a friend in the building. That friend moved out before the night of the raid, perhaps leading management to believe the unit was vacant.</p><p>Illinois law requires landlords to take tenants to court in order to evict them; harassing or threatening tenants in order to get them to move out is illegal. A new “anti-squatter” law takes effect in Illinois next year, which proponents say will make it easier for local police to bypass the civil eviction process in order to remove unauthorized occupants, but that does not include tenants who owe back rent or have expired leases.</p><p>Chicago tenants need stronger protections, says the Metropolitan Tenants Organization’s Karsh, but the existing ones provide a critical baseline — because “if landlords can just call the feds to get rid of who they want, then that’s a really bleak reality for tenants and their security going forward.”</p><p><a href="https://inthesetimes.com/article/eviction-by-ice-on-chicago-tenants-landlord-renters-immigrants" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">inthesetimes.com/article/evict</span><span class="invisible">ion-by-ice-on-chicago-tenants-landlord-renters-immigrants</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/acab" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>acab</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/chicago" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>chicago</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/socialism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>socialism</span></a></p>