BRIDGEPORT — A real estate company in charge of an Archer Avenue SRO in foreclosure is trying to evict the tenants living there, but the way it's doing it might be against the law, according to city officials.
JCF Real Estate, the management company running the 41-room building at 3022 S. Archer Ave., ordered tenants to move out by the end of the day Monday. As of Tuesday night, the complex remained packed with dozens of residents worried they’ll soon be homeless.
But a group of rights activists and the city's Buildings Department have vowed to stand up for them in a fight to keep roofs over their heads.
"The city takes SRO tenants’ rights very seriously," said Mimi Simon, a spokeswoman with with Buildings Department, now working with agencies like the Metropolitan Tenants Organization and Lawyers Committee for Better Housing to "ensure the tenants’ rights are protected from any unlawful evictions."
The law
The city has a SRO Preservation Ordinance that protects tenants from wrongful evictions from single-room occupancy buildings.
The law requires owners to give six months’ notice when they plan to sell a building — enough time to allow the city to find a developer to take over operations.
The ordinance also calls for the owner to pay displaced long-term residents a one-time “relocation” fee that’s the equivalent of three months’ rent, or three times the amount of rent paid over the previous 30 days.
It's assistance the tenants at 3022 S. Archer Ave. need.
A bare-bones housing complex sandwiched between the rumble of the Stevenson Expy. and the buzz of Archer Avenue, the 12,500-square-foot building caters to residents with low income, sporadic employment and pasts riddled with prison stays, drugs and mental illness.
At 3022 S. Archer Ave., a tenant can get a room with communal bathrooms and kitchens for little money.
“Where am I going to go? I ain’t found nothing yet,” said John Richards, who has lived in Room 203 for a year and eight months. The 61-year-old West Virginia native has no family and next to no money. He pays $525 for a room that came with nothing but a big window (rare in this building) and a mini refrigerator. If he has to move out, he doesn’t know how he’ll stay afloat.
“You gotta have money. We ain’t got the money," he said.
Most tenants knew the building had been put up for sale.
In March, the building’s owner, Jim Adkins, sent a letter to residents notifying them that the building was up for grabs — at one time listed for $1.9 million and then dropped to $850,000.
But almost no one knew about the foreclosure proceedings brought against the building back in 2009. Computers, internet and even cell phones are rare in the building, making it difficult for tenants to look up public information and city records.
In 2013, BMO Harris Bank first took over the mortgage, and then a company named Monty Titling Trust 1 did, according to city records.
In 2015, John J. Fitzmaurice and his company, JCF Real Estate, took over the building as a court-appointed receiver, responsible for the management and maintenance of the building.
On Aug. 11, JCF Real Estate sent letters telling tenants they had to be out of the building by Aug. 31 — but the law requires a 30-day notice on evictions.
A second letter showed up on Aug. 24, this time with a new move-out date: Sept. 12.
Fitzmaurice informed the tenants that he could not operate the property any further due to "operational losses." Because of those losses, he determined the "required course of action to preserve the building is to have all occupants of the building vacate the premises."
JCF Real Estate’s two letters did not detail any breach of lease, a requirement by law.
Fitzmaurice also never informed foreclosure court Judge Bridget A. Mitchell of his determination: That maintaining the tenants and running the building is no longer feasible.
The city has been closely following Fitzmaurice's dealings at 3022 S. Archer and found other red flags this week.
In June, Fitzmaurice was awarded over $10,000 in fees from the foreclosure court to pay for repairs on the building. As of Tuesday, he had not obtained any permits for those repairs.
"Nor has he explained to the foreclosure judge why, despite being granted general duties to preserve the building during the foreclosure, he has never rented more than approximately half of the units, a move which would presumably increase the operational income," Simon said.
Fitzmaurice was not available for comment Tuesday.
Jim Adkins, the building’s owner and a third-floor resident, would not talk to DNAinfo Chicago.
“You’ll have to talk to Kathy,” he said, loading some of his possessions into the back of an SUV parked in the building’s cramped parking lot.
'We're really one big crazy family'
"Kathy" is Kathy Born, the 59-year-old building manager at 3022 S. Archer, where she has lived here for “seven, eight years."
“I clean, I fix,” she said. “I break up fights.”
Born does not judge her tenants, many of whom have troubled pasts, stretches of life they wish they could undo.
“Drugs. Alcohol. Just broke up. Some people land here for God knows what reason,” Born said. “Everybody’s got a problem.”
Some residents have served time for drugs, weapons and sex crimes.
JCF Real Estate paid Born $300 a week with free rent. A short time later, they slashed her pay in half — and then stop paying altogether.
"The money stopped coming," she said.
Born, known among tenants as a motherly good friend, learned about the foreclosure “at the last minute." She has no intention of leaving any time soon.
“I’m not pitching anyone out of here,” Born said. “We’re really one big crazy family.”
In Room 208 lives Ramon Barnes.
The 58-year-old former convict said his parents died in a car accident on the Skyway in 1967, when he was only 9. He bounced around foster homes throughout his adolescence and eventually landed in prison for 10 years on drug and gun charges.
He ended up at 3022 S. Archer in January, when mental health provider Thresholds placed him there.
“I’m not leaving,” Barnes said. “I want to see something from the judge.”
Support from the outside
Several community groups have gathered to represent the tenants, including Metropolitan Tenants Organization, the Lawyers' Committee for Better Housing and Pilsen Alliance.
“It’s not going to be as easy as they think,” said Byron Sigcho, executive director of Pilsen Alliance. “They have relocation fees they’re responsible for. A lot of these residents would be homeless otherwise.”
Tenants and the organizations supporting them are trying to meet with Ald. Patrick D. Thompson (11th) to see if there’s anything he can do to help. Thompson was not immediately available for comment Tuesday.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing will represent building tenants in foreclosure proceedings Thursday to persuade the court to appoint a new manager to give residents proper guidelines and notices should they have to leave.
Unhappy neighbors
But some Bridgeport residents and business owners would be happy to see the tenants — and the building — at 3022 S. Archer go away.
“If that building goes away, it would be very good for Bridgeport,” said “Rocky” Yue Chen, co-owner of JSmile51, a dessert cafe across the street from the building.
On more than one occasion, Chen has watched residents walk out of 3022 S. Archer cross the street and cause trouble.
One man walked into JSmile51 and stole the tip jar at the front counter. Another man constantly visited looking for free coffee. Another man walked down the street in a rainstorm wearing no pants.
“I feel bad for the people. 100 percent are not bad,” Chen said. “The city needs to find a solution for where they can go and find help — that’s not in Bridgeport.”
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