Caroline, a 73-year old retiree living on the western edge of Humboldt Park, is so grateful for MTO’s new Eviction Prevention Collaboration. Caroline lives on Social Security. On the third Wednesday of each month, she receives her SSI check and pays her rent. Unfortunately, Caroline ended up in the hospital recently and suddenly couldn’t pay the rent. Caroline informed her landlord that the rent was going to be late. The landlord agreed and told Caroline could pay the late rent in installments.
When Caroline went to make her next payment, the landlord suddenly refused the rent and gave her a 30-day notice to vacate her home of the past 5 years by the end of December. The landlord further threatened her by telling her she was going to start showing the unit the very next day. Frantic and not knowing what to do, Caroline called MTO’s Eviction Prevention Collaboration. MTO’s case manager suggested that she talk with the landlord before writing a letter. The landlord said no, and told her to just “get out.” With help from MTO’s case manager, Caroline wrote a letter which reiterated the verbal agreement between they had made. The landlord did not respond to the letter. The case manager suggested she write one more letter and try paying rent when her next check arrives.
This time the landlord accepted the rent. Caroline was ecstatic. There would be no court case. The sheriff would not be coming to her home. She would still have a home after the holidays. You can make sure that Caroline and others like her continue to have a home by donating to MTO.
Every year there are more than 25,000 evictions filed in Cook County. Many more are evicted outside of the court system. Thousands of tenants are displaced. Their lives disrupted. Their communities destabilized. With your financial help, MTO can help stop evictions. Donate now.