Resources and Action Steps

Organizing Toolkit - bit.ly/tenanttoolkit

​

Link to this Training Agenda & Resources: bit.ly/TenantDocs

​

Call Gov. Pritzker Now! - bit.ly/JBRentFreeze

​

Sign & Share the #RentFreezeNow Petition - bit.ly/chicagorentfreeze

​

Lease up 2000 Vacant CHA Units! bit.ly/LeaseUpCHA

​

Questions, or Want to Organize? - bit.ly/letsorganize

​

Charlie Isaacs

Uptown People’s Law Center

Charlie@UPLCChicago.org

Tenant Rights Training

Uptown People’s Law Center

Nonprofit legal clinic established 1979 by Uptown residents.

Unjust prison conditions

Landlord-tenant disputes

Social Security disability benefit denials

​

UPLCChicago.org | 4413 N. Sheridan | (773) 769-1411

Disclaimer:�I am not a lawyer,�and this is not official legal advice.��Feel free to send me questions!�Charlie@UPLCChicago.org

​

​

5-DAY NOTICE

​

For Unpaid

Rent OR Illegal Activity

​

​

10-DAY NOTICE

​

For a Lease Violation

​

​

30/60-DAY NOTICE

​

For Lease Termination (30 days for month-to-month, �60 days for 12-month)

must be in writing!

• delivered in person,
• sent by certified mail, OR
• posted on your door.

You can “cure” the problem!

• Cure exactly what the notice says
• Do it within the notice period

Document everything!

• Photos
• Emails
• Witnesses

After the last day of notice, �the landlord can file for �an eviction.

DON’T WORRY

Eviction Filing ≠ Getting Evicted

YOU STILL HAVE TIME

Cure the problem or negotiate

Delivered in person to someone age 13 or over.

You don’t have to answer the door.

But if they catch you avoiding them, they can slip it under the door.

You will have at least 7 days before your court date.

• File a fee waiver
• File an appearance
• Indicate if you want a jury

Room 602 of �the Daley Center

Cure the problem or negotiate

File for fee waiver, appearance, jury

Due to COVID19:

​

No eviction court dates before May 18.

“You’re honor, may I have a one-week continuance to get an attorney?”

Cure the problem or negotiate

File for fee waiver, appearance, jury

Get a one-week continuance

5-6 weeks �if you get a jury trial.

• File a fee waiver
• File an appearance
• Indicate if you want a jury

Cure the problem, negotiate with LL

File for fee waiver, appearance, jury

Get a one-week continuance

Bring defenses, negotiate with LL

The eviction typically won’t happen on the day of the order.

Due to COVID19:

​

NO EVICTIONS �in Cook County before �May 18.

You can move out voluntarily.

You must move out by the date on the order.

Only the �Cook County Sheriff �can actually remove you and your stuff from your home.

LANDLORDS CANNOT CHANGE THE LOCKS.

Can’t mess with the locks, doors, or windows.

Can’t mess with utilities or appliances.

Can’t mess with your stuff or living conditions.

Can’t mess with your mind.

(872) 216-5288

Cure the problem, negotiate with LL

File for fee waiver, appearance, jury

Get a one-week continuance

Bring defenses, negotiate with LL

Voluntary move-out, no LL lockout

Look out for �illegal late fees!

$10 for the first $500 of rent

+ 5% of the remainder of rent

14-Day Letter

for code violations

If the landlord doesn’t fix it, �you might be able to �reduce your rent for May.

If you lived in Section 8 housing, tell your landlord you have an income change IMMEDIATELY.

Charlie Isaacs

Uptown People’s Law Center

Charlie@UPLCChicago.org

If you have any questions, �feel free to email me at Charlie@UPLCChicago.org

Opportunities for More Income

• Tipped workers may qualify for the ONE Fair Wage Emergency fund - ofwemergencyfund.org/help

​

• Expanded Unemployment Benefits: Payments are higher, independent contractors & Self-Employed people can qualify. For more info & how to apply Illinois Legal Aid illinoislegalaid.org/legal-information/getting-unemployment-benefits & helpline for employment questions 800-445-9025.

​

• Any person who made $75,000 or less will receive $1,200 from the federal government, including $500 per child. They are claiming these will arrive by April 17^th. Undocumented people will not receive this money. nytimes.com/article/coronavirus-stimulus-package-questions-answers.html

​

• People’s Gas & ComEd have suspended disconnections, but it appears they are still billing people.

​

• Emergency Rental Assistance Program, call 311 chicago.gov/city/en/depts/fss/provdrs/emerg/svcs/homeless_prevention.html

​

Intro to Organizing

Defending ourselves, fighting for what we deserve!

Defend yourself, fight for what you deserve!

• We all deserve housing as a human right!
• We don’t deserve to be treated unjustly, we don’t deserve to have our homes threatened!

​

Organizing

• Organizing is convincing your neighbors and networks of support to act together to negotiate and achieve your demands.
• Solidarity is the key! Solidarity is having each other's backs.
• The more people involved, the stronger you are, the more promising the results!
• Build unity and stay united!

End Goal

• The fight will end in some kind of agreement
• Either before court or settled in court
• When you organize and fight, it’s less likely it will end in the Sheriff evicting you.

​

Strategy

Strategy = Your plan for how to turn what you have into the leverage you need to get what you want.

​

What you have

• Your rights!
• Your neighbors, tenants that have the same landlord, organizing them into a tenant union
• Your networks, people to mobilize for support
• Organizations to help guide you
• Free speech / make your fight public!

​

The leverage you need

• Use what you have to cost the landlord more to keep fighting you than to negotiate and settle an agreement.
• Affect the landlord’s interests: their $$$, their reputation, the relationships that make them successful

Your Campaign (Your Fight!)

• Every campaign against a landlord is different.
• What has worked in the past:
• Using your rights to prolong the eviction process
• Can go even longer with a lawyer
• Forming a tenant union
• Marches on the landlord, pickets, mass call-ins, leafleting
• Mass rent strike (you need high % participation from tenants of the same landlord)

Potential Results

• Results we’ve had:
• Many months more to move
• Many months of rent forgiven
• Case sealed (court record removed from public view).
• Improved living conditions
• Extended leases
• This crisis opens up more possibilities!

Main Takeaways

It’s possible to fight back against the landlord and win!

Court Timeline

Forming a Tenant Union and Starting Negotiations

​

Talking to your neighbors

• The first step in organizing your building is ALWAYS to talk to neighbors
• If you already know some people, contact them first and see if they’ll help
• Use COVID-19 safety precautions when door knocking - wash your hands first, step 6 feet back after knocking, and don’t do it if you’re sick!
• People are lonely and scared - they want to talk!
• Listen more than you speak - see how people are doing, let them express themselves, then ask if they want to work together on a solution
• Get contact info so you can follow up for a tenants meeting and other next steps!
• Ultimate goal is create a tenants union, because you have more power (and more legal protection) as a united group

Why talk to neighbors?

To form a tenants union!

​

Benefits of forming a tenants union:

• Strength in numbers
• Harder for landlord to divide you and spread misinformation
• For most tenants in Chicago, forming a union can provide you with legal protection from retaliation

​

How to form one:

• Talk to your neighbors, hold a tenants meeting, decide on a name, and decide on your shared demands, strategy, and next steps.
• Send a written notice - letter or email - informing your landlord that you’ve formed a tenants union. Make sure to list the names and unit numbers of each member - don’t speak for any tenants who are not members of the union!

​

Risks

​

• Landlord Retaliation in any form is illegal, but possible. Filing eviction for non-payment is not always considered retaliation.

​

• Eviction filing goes on your credit, making it more challenging, but not impossible, to move.

​

• Winning an agreement is never guaranteed. It takes work and patience.

​

​

Opportunities

​

• Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

​

• Landlords can’t accept rent during the Eviction Court Process. It can last 2-8 months.

​

• Your landlord prefers some rent to no rent. You have leverage.

​

• The Chief Judge of Cook County just added more time to the Court closure, to May 18^th. He could do it again.

​

• Everyone is asking themselves and their neighbors, the same question right now.

​

• We’ve won a lot more, in much harder circumstances.

​

Organizing Risks & Opportunities