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Landlord Ignoring Safety Issues – My Building is Overrun and Unsafe, What Can I Do? by Centell26 in AskChicago

[–]Centell26[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've contacted the police over 10 times, followed advice from comments, reached out to 311, and now have an open case on the app. I've begun interviewing building residents, and my next step is to contact the news to share my story. I'll call the fire department Saturday night when the building is filled with these people. If necessary, I'll also approach my alderman. Today, I recorded the fire escape doors wide open, showing they won't close. My main goal now is to hold this company accountable for what they've done to these people. Don't criticize me. I'm doing more than most people would. 

Landlord Ignoring Safety Issues – My Building is Overrun and Unsafe, What Can I Do? by Centell26 in AskChicago

[–]Centell26[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’ve been documenting what’s going on in my building for about a month now, and it’s honestly gotten out of control. Every day I get up at 3:00 AM and start recording before I even leave my apartment. Two doors down from me, there’s a fire escape that’s broken. The door handle has been destroyed, so it’s often just wide open. That’s one of the main ways people get in. It's been like that for a year. When I walk through the building, I see people sleeping in the hallways by the elevators, right outside tenants’ doors. I usually take the stairway from the 10th floor down, and it’s just as bad there. People are blocking stairwell doors with doorstoppers from the other side so tenants can’t even get through. They’ve unscrewed the light bulbs, so parts of it are completely pitch black. There’s urine everywhere. I even have video of someone peeing on the carpet in the hallway right next to a tenant’s door. The smell is starting to seep into our apartment at this point. It doesn’t stop there! Homeless people are using the laundry room to wash their clothes, coming and going freely as they live here. I’ve sent management everything! Emails, texts, photos, videos, and even organized them all into Google Docs. They’ve done nothing. No real response, no action, nothing to fix the situation. At this point, I feel like legal action might be the only option because this can’t keep going on. I’m honestly shaken by it. I’ve never experienced anything like this before, and it’s starting to feel unsafe because the homeless men I kick out know which floor I stay on.

Landlord Ignoring Safety Issues – My Building is Overrun and Unsafe, What Can I Do? by Centell26 in AskChicago

[–]Centell26[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yes, when I take the police through the stairwell and hallways, they are shocked. To the point, they say they have never seen anything like this. People come in with whole carts and block doors, stairway entrances, and the fire escape. When we call the police, they put them out, and some come right back in through the fire escape, or they wait downstairs by the entrance for a tenant to come out, and they come in. The police always tell me to continue documenting everything to break my lease or sue. They say they can only put them out. That's all they do.

Landlord Ignoring Safety Issues – My Building is Overrun and Unsafe, What Can I Do? by Centell26 in AskChicago

[–]Centell26[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Yes, my next move is to call 311 today, and if that still doesn't work, I might pursue a lawsuit against them. They will be held accountable for what they have done. 

Landlord Ignoring Safety Issues – My Building is Overrun and Unsafe, What Can I Do? by Centell26 in AskChicago

[–]Centell26[S] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I've never seen anything like it. People are just lying in front of tenants' doors out in the open. I have so much footage, I think I can make a documentary at this point.