South Shore tenants fear removal from home despite years of complaints

Carolyn Figueroa fears the next time she leaves her South Shore home, she’ll return to her belongings on the curb and have no way to get back inside.

Her apartment building, at 6954 S. Paxton Ave., is in danger of being condemned by city officials due to years of negligence, which would render the building unsafe to live in and force residents to move out, according to members of the building’s tenants union.

Union members met last week with city officials, current and former property management and a tenant liaison. Tenants were told that the city is considering declaring the building unlivable. The tenant liaison told residents that the city could clear the building as early as May 1, union members said.

Figueroa, 55, said the three-flat apartment building was “beautiful” when she moved there with her husband in December 2022, but it has since fallen apart.

“I’ve been dealing with water damage, radiators leaking water, rodents, drug dealers, threats, lack of communication through property management,” Figueroa said, adding that her unit has been without heat for months. “I regularly communicated these issues to the property management, but they would never, ever fix anything. At most, they would provide Band-Aid solutions.”

Then in February, her calls to the property management company, CKO Real Estate, stopped being answered. The building was managed by another company for a short time. It’s now managed by Halsted Taylor Real Estate. None of the firms have adequately addressed the mounting tenant complaints, Figeuroa says.

A knobless side door to the apartment building leads to piles of trash and standing water in what’s supposed to be a hallway leading to the front entrance.

Dumpsters in the back alley overflowed with garbage that residents say has rarely been collected.

“The rats are literally coming in the house,” Figueroa said. “They’re making holes. I have to keep buying rat glue, rat poison, and it’s hard to sleep at night because they’re just coming in.”

Residents also complained about security, claiming that some people are occupying the building without legal permission. A front gate to the property had been missing since last year until tenants found it Tuesday.

The tenants union has listed several demands that it hopes the city will enforce on the building owner.

Among the demands, tenants are asking for a new, collectively-bargained lease with information about where to pay rent; $1.25 million to compensate for their own upkeep costs and relocation; as well as reimbursement for rent paid during months if the building is deemed uninhabitable. They also are asking the building owner to make repairs and provide temporary housing until the repairs are completed.

Last month, tenants of another South Shore building formerly managed by CKO Real Estate demanded accountability after being left without heat or water for months at a time.

Messages seeking comment from city officials, building owners and management have not been returned.

Figueroa, who hasn’t missed a rental payment, said her Section 8 housing assistance limits her from being able to move out of the building immediately.

“I don’t know what to do. I’m trying to look for an apartment, but even if I look, I don’t have my [Section 8] papers,” Figueroa said. “I cannot do anything, my hands are tied. I called Section 8, I let them know the city is coming now to condemn the building, I need my emergency papers. They told me, ‘We cannot do nothing, wait until they call you,’ that’s it, so what am I supposed to do?”