As Illinois officials investigate whether a landlord and property manager prompted a massive federal immigration raid on their South Shore building, former residents and organizers say that’s what they’ve long suspected.
Tenants had faced squalid conditions for years, long before the arrival of Venezuelan migrants in the building, and said the property could be so unsecured at times that it felt open to the public and to squatters. Residents have accused the manager of failing to address complaints of disturbing conditions, and some suspected the owner and manager of calling the feds as a backdoor way of clearing the building.
The Illinois Department of Human Rights announced late Wednesday that it would investigate the claims when it filed a formal housing discrimination charge against Wisconsin-based real estate investor Trinity Flood, her company 7500 Shore A LLC, and Strength in Management LLC, the property management company she hired at the South Shore building.
WBEZ and the Sun-Times have previously reported observations from tenants and a map found in the building that detailed each unit, suggesting federal agents may have received inside information before the Sept. 30 raid.
Jonah Karsh, with the Metropolitan Tenants Organization, called the investigation “a big step” to getting justice for the tenants, who “have been through hell — between helicopters showing up on their roof, and then the remaining tenants having to leave on two-and-a-half weeks’ notice in the cold.”
Former resident Darren Hightower was glad to hear about the inquiry but was far less enthusiastic.
“It’s never too late, I guess, but sometimes it feels like it’s too late,” he said. “Look where we are today: Some of the tenants from that building still don’t have a place to stay — myself included.”
State officials said they would look into the allegation that the landlord and property manager “tipped federal officials” that Venezuelan nationals were living in the building without leases and had “threatened other tenants.”
“7500 S Shore building management sought to intimidate and coerce the building’s Black and Hispanic tenants into leaving their apartment units, based on stereotypes about Venezuelan immigrants,” the state complaint read.
“Within hours after the raid, workers employed or contracted by 7500 S Shore building management were tossing tenants’ belongings in the trash and clearing out units vacated by the raid.”
Signed by Illinois Department of Human Rights Director James Bennett, the housing discrimination charge alleges that the landlord and property manager “blamed Venezuelan tenants for their own failure to provide needed locks and security service, as well as other needed maintenance and repairs, and perpetuated stereotypes about Venezuelan gang members to send a message that tenants born outside of the United States were considered gang associates, even if they were law abiding.”
The charge document also says building management unlawfully discriminated against longtime tenants when they refused to make maintenance and repairs.
Flood didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.
Reached by phone Thursday, Corey Oliver, the CEO of the Strength in Management property company, wouldn’t answer questions about his next steps or whether he planned to cooperate with the investigation.
“I have nothing to give you,” he said. “I can’t tell you anything.”
One resident previously told the Sun-Times and WBEZ that he saw someone he believed to be a worker from the building taking pictures of the units “where the Venezuelans lived” before the raid.
WBEZ and Sun-Times reporters also found a crumpled map on a hallway floor days after the raid. It marked each unit inside the five-floor building as “vacant,” “tenant” or as having “firearms.” The units marked “vacant” on the map had clearly been raided, with doors broken down and items scattered everywhere. Most units marked as “tenant” appeared intact, though not all.
Hightower, the former resident, said he and others had seen hints that the property manager or owner had tipped off federal officials.
“It was a lot of facts that we gathered as tenants to back up our theory … that this was a [coordinated] hit,” said Hightower, who said he had seen stickers with an “X” placed over doors to units occupied by either migrants or squatters just before the raid.
Hightower said he’s currently staying with a friend and applying to apartments. He moved out of the building on Dec. 12 without a place to live after a Cook County judge ordered the building to be vacated, citing dangerous conditions.
Hightower, who along with his neighbors had dealt with numerous issues in the building long before the raid, said the IDHR should not only investigate the months leading up to the immigration raid, but “[go] back years, go into [the owner’s and property managers’] books,” to probe other ways in which tenants were mistreated and ignored.
“It’s well overdue that somebody investigates this situation, but it’s taken years for this to be even noticed,” Hightower said. “It’s not OK to manipulate the system for your own gain. You’re playing with people’s lives.”
Karsh, the housing organizer, said former residents deserve material compensation, and the landlord and property manager “need to be put on notice that this kind of behavior is not acceptable” through fines, penalties and a reputational hit “for not caring about their tenants’ safety, and being willing to literally have them arrested, kidnapped, kicked out outside of an eviction process.”
The Illinois Department of Human Rights is likely to gather evidence and seek interviews with former residents and other witnesses, including Flood and Oliver, as part of its inquiry. If investigators find substantial evidence of housing discrimination, they can refer the case to the Illinois Human Rights Commission, which conducts public hearings in front of an administrative law judge.
Whether through a settlement or a judge’s ruling, the property owner and manager could be held liable and ordered to make tenants whole, “as if the discrimination had not occurred,” according to the commission’s website, which adds that the process can take years.
Penalties can include orders to end discriminatory practices, compensation to tenants and fines starting at $16,000, the state says.
A spokesman said about 8%-13% of housing discrimination cases investigated by the Illinois Department of Human Rights find substantial evidence, but many charges are settled or withdrawn before a finding.
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