How Heartland Alliance Really Works!

For more than a decade, the elderly residents of Hollywood House, built in 1969, in Edgewater, a North Shore community in Chicago, IL, have endured poor absentee landlord management [some residents have resided here for 20 years or more, ( one wonderful woman comes to mind as she insists that her own residency in this building stretches back 31 years, and so she has a "basis of comparison" of 21 years prior to the present limited partnership arrangement, and that comparison is in favor of the former arrangement.) ]  

In 2010, the management of this building was taken over by Heartland Alliance from the superior management of Hellenic Foundation Chicago, a true 501c3 charity, not to be confused with its inferior limited partner in this building. 

This presently 62+Seniors only building of more than 190 units, which has been managed, during this past decade, by this organization, as it purports to have been founded by Jane Addams, [which is an apochryphal claim, at best, as Jane Addams was never in favor of Political Boss-type arrangements, which is only one among many other objections she would have had to the management, by this organization, of this building. Various organizations vied for the mantle of succession to her organization, prior to her own death in 1935, after winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. The precursors to this organization began their takeover of such components of her establishments as Hull House, in the same time period.] 

This organization makes other ludicrous claims as well. 

This organization is legally represented by a firm which, until very recently, when they removed the claim from their website, [June 2019,] bragged, questionably, about how the firm evicts four hundred (400) families per month in six counties of Northern Illinois, and at least one county in Northern Indiana. If the claim remains true there is very little evidence of its veracity in the records of the second largest County Court Clerk's office in America, The Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, IL. And "Self-Help" remains illegal in all of the 50 States and the territories of these United States of America.

And, at the same time, a similarly true claim of its lead attorney having had his initial law firm experience with the well-known firm of McCoy, Ming and (Leighton) Black, {renamed BLACK, after my Wife's Uncle Walter Kerrigan Black, Esq., [deceased 1999, and buried at Burr-Oak Cemetery, in Alsip, IL.] became a named partner in place of Judge George N Leighton, Esq., [deceased 2018, at 105 years old and buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington VA,] 

George Leighton left the firm for the bench, had a distinguished career as a jurist, and the Criminal Courts Building in the City of Chicago is named for him.

Both the claims of frequent rates of eviction and those of the origin of its founder's career were removed, though preserved by myself for "safe-keeping," from the Real Estate Management/Landlord-advocacy law firm's website at about the same time, June of 2019, as an addition to the website, woefully citing the initiation of a practice in the Circuit Court of Cook County to henceforth audio-record all eviction proceedings, condescendingly deprecated any counterclaims that defending tenants may have.

But contrary to the policies and philosophy of the originator of settlement housing, rent receipts have been rarely, if ever, distributed to persons who have paid every cent due, while, reportedly:

?blank spaces preceded by dollar signs, in yet-to be-signed leases have been presented to desperate prospective lessees, in search of housing to avoid homelessness. If such a prospective resident wishes to consult with an attorney prior to signing, he or she is arrogantly advised to sign the lease, and, only then to consult with his or her attorney...

Fortunately, that manager was relieved of her duties in 2016, following seven others before her, for a total of 10 managers, in ten years management by this organization,.

This organization also houses border "kids in cages" in several of their many other properties.

HHS [Health and Human Services, the Federal Agency] has cited this organization for falsely representing "rentals" of those properties, at government (taxpayer) expense, purporting to be rentals of non-owned buildings, to actually have been "rentals" of properties owned by this organization.   

?All residents are on fixed incomes but several report to me that they have been asked by present management to suddenly pay as much as, or more than, $160.00 in addition to their contracted rate of rent, for unspecified reasons that have no basis in law.

?The building, which has 11 residential floors, compares unfavorably to buildings in the immediate vicinity of substantially larger size when it comes to the issue of accrued City of Chicago building violations. 

22 pages for a neighboring building to the East of 30 stories in each of two towers, 

15 pages for a building of 23 floors, to the South, and 

32 pages for this 12 Story building of much smaller acreage

?The building's management has regularly avoided due process of Law to remove residents from the building, violating the Chicago Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance, as well as the fact that "Self-Help" is illegal in all 50 States. Only one tenant, myself, has been sued for forcible detainer, so far, this year.

But, then, I tend to be a "Whistleblower." So when I discovered, belatedly, in December of 2018, that the unit to which my handicapped wife and I were suddenly asked to move to, from the unit [sans closet space] that we had occupied, from December 2014 through May of 2017, had been the actual scene of a fire in early 2014, ...and that the poorly maintained sprinkler system had failed to reset, leaving three (3) inches of water on all floors down from ours to the basement...

...Therefore involving the entire building in flooding...and rendering the building as a water-damaged-building, or "WDB," as The National Institutes of Health described in a 2013 report on the incidence of Black Mold in the environment or the products of same, or mycotoxins, in the blood and urine of 92% of, patients resident in WDBs, who presented with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, something of which my wife and I complained with no explanation until May 6, 2019, when we received the Mold report.

We had our unit tested by a professional organization which found 3000 spores of Aspergillus/Penicillium per cubic meter of air in our bedroom, and 0 spores in the outside air.

And we are in eviction court, now.

But, when we are gone from the building, some other unsuspecting victim will occupy our unit, I am sure.

We need funds to sustain ourselves in the interim, since the Organization which manages this building is well-funded, as a 501-c3 charity, which has recently been de-listed by CharityWatch.org, possibly for failure to file the necessary Annual reports since their most recent submission in 2017, and which vigorously retaliates against persons like myself.

We have spent in excess of the amount we would have spent in rent, in the interim, on various items, including a Lawyer, now withdrawn, so we have to duplicate that expense, for now, until the ARDC takes a look at the problem, who demanded $2000.00 up front, and $800 more due July 8, the day before he served notice to withdraw while I sat with a Breast Cancer survivor, who is a direct witness tothe abovementioned fire in 2014, [if only the lawyer had not immediately left, I would have introduced her to him, but he left smiling,] and then quit the case on July 18, 2019, [a potentially collusive act of ineffectual counsel,] and Mold testing 350.00 per room, reduced to 250.00, because of the potential additional business in the building, and Moving fees, [$1000.00 raised to $2000.00, for additional insurance expense, when the proprietor of a very professional moving firm noted the conditional certificates of inspection in the elevators, {issued by the City of Chicago, March 12, 2019, and due to expire 90 days later on May 12, 2019, though they remain there today,} qualified as "Passenger Elevators" by the city, though the management refers to one, and employs same, as a "Freight" elevotor [see MTBF or mean time before failure,] as there is evidence of a previously existant "Freight" elevator, apparently removed in favor of 11 additional apartments, and Storage fees, or $250.00 per month, starting in July, 2019, though obtaining new housing will require a move to somewhere outside of our immediate area, requiring a serviceable vehicle, especially during Hurricane and tornado season, and for many other reasons such as eating and finding places to and work and sleep, as well as other realities, which we realized when we prepared to move starting in January of 2019.

Given a judicial case of eviction, and despite the fact that before January of 2019, our rent was paid each and every month, on time, we may find it very difficult to secure safe housing in this area..

If we are found liable for unpaid rent during the case, our liability will amount to more than $8000.00, in addition to legal fees, filing fees, and moving expenses out of our two fixed incomes, a total of 1600.00 per month, even though a fair finding before a jury of our peers might conclude that the non-disclosure of the condition of the rental unit would reduce the value of the unit by that amount any fair finder-of-fact may determine as applicable.

[Our withdrawn attorney suggested, before he withdrew, that the fair figure might be $200.00 as opposed to the $679.00 we have paid, or a 71% reduction given our health affects after unknowingly, and without notice-of-defect, living in an environment infested with Black Mold and tested and confirmed by Professional Laboratory Analysis as 3000 spores of Aspergillis/Penicillium per cubic meter, and perhaps even greater amounts prior to discovery and testing if the mold count has reduced since 2017, or an amount that may increase if the amount of mold has increased since 2017, and therefore a 5 figure retroactive rebate to us and payment of any attorney's fees by virtue of the Chicago Residential Landlord-Tenant Ordinance, Municipal Code of Chicago

TITLE 5 HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 5-12 RESIDENTIAL LANDLORDS AND TENANTS

...which our withdrawn attorney purported to have authored in 1986.

But, first we have to find and retain additional counsel, and, since our former counsel was so prominent, in his field, that may prove to be an expensive proposition with very little time remaining to implement such a defense. We next appear, without counsel, so far, on September 6, 2019.

 I am now 74 as of my last birthday, while my wife of 34 years will be 72, on her next birthday.

Meanwhile, the agony of disease of the greater number of other residents in this documented-as-deferred maintenance building requires a greater good.

I will continue to fight for them, regardless of where I and my wife end up.

It is our intention to replenish any funds collected from subsequent writings and media projects to assist other residents as they leave this building for their health's sake

The symptoms of black mold exposure may include:

coughing.

wheezing.

a stuffy nose.

a runny nose.

red eyes.

itchy skin or eyes.

a sore or itchy throat.

nosebleeds.

Black mold exposure can also potentially worsen the symptoms of other respiratory conditions. For example, a person with asthma or a respiratory allergy may find that their symptoms worsen or they experience new symptoms, such as:

persistent coughing

headaches

frequent chest colds

difficulty breathing

allergic reactions

inflammation of the sinuses

general fatigue and lethargy

In rare cases, long-term exposure to high levels of these toxins may lead to more severe symptoms, including:

memory loss

trouble concentrating

sensitivity to light

anxiety

nerve issues, such as numbness in the hands and feet

general pain and cramps

unexplained weight gain

anxiety

At-risk groups

Some people may have a higher risk of developing symptoms than others. At-risk groups include people with:

asthma

seasonal allergies, such as hay fever

mold allergies

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

People with a weakened immune system also have a higher risk and may need to take extra care to avoid black mold exposure.

Black mold exposure may be more harmful in children. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), some research suggests that young children who inhale mold toxins early on in life may be more likely to develop asthma. This seems to be more of an issue in children with a family history of asthma, but additional research is necessary to understand the risks better.

So, Grandparents whose Grandkids visit this building are also at-risk.

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