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Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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The really sad part : local and federal agencies and taxpayer funded NGO’s coaching illegal aliens on how to game ‘the system’ This is what Leftist Democrats are most upset about DOGE – the fraud will be put in the open.
The crazy thing about this is that he didn’t actually call ICE. He just threatened to call ICE. This was during the COVID eviction moratorium. The tenant wasn’t paying rent and the landlord needed the money to pay the mortgage. The illegal immigrant took advantage of the laws and refused to pay rent knowing that he could live there during COVID for free, while forcing the landlord to pay the monthly mortgage out of his own pocket and likely bankrupting him. This is what our system is. When we have an electorate of deadbeats and their sympathizers, we’re going to… Read more »
The problem seems to have been the threat.
The entire court system in Cook County is corrupt and has been forever. Anybody remember Operation Greylord that exposed massive corruption of judges, lawyers, assorted court personnel. There’s a good book out there written by a corrupt attorney whose conscience caught up with him and he became a government informant. WHEN CORRUPTION WAS KING by Robert Cooley is a real eye opener about how the politicians and courts are like an organized crime family.
Yep, read When Corruption Was King and also Murder in Canaryville. Both books are enlightening.
Cook County does not provide online access to criminal records. No transparency.
I had to go to court to remove tenants before, some took over a year to remove, and let me tell you what the 13th floor of the Daley Center is like. There are hundreds of cases a day, a seemingly endless line of small mom & pop type landlords there for cases where the tenant doesn’t show up or a bus stop lawyer is there continuing the case for the 3rd, 4th, 5th time, each time being a month or more. Retired men and women in tears trying to get their property back and being told no, because of… Read more »
I have talked to three small housing providers over the last year and all three quit. They all had traumatic experiences and lost thousands in legal fees and/or property damage. Evictions are becoming increasingly violent and aggressive. The good news is these couples no longer have to deal with the stress and the risks of rental property. Never again they say. Just not worth it. I’d like to know how many Chicago tenants have had to pay $80,000 for verbal threats or for property damage. I think the answer to that is zero. Illinois, especially Chicago, has made it clear… Read more »
Spot on Mark. My buddy told me he was lucky if he broke even on rents. They only time he made real money was when he sold his rental units.
The intention to make money from appreciation and not rents is called the greater fool theory. Prices only go up and there’s always a greater fool to take it off your hands. I’ve tried doing the math on some of the rentals in my area and there’s no way to make a profit with market rate rants unless the landlord puts over 50% down on these massively overpriced units, and even then, an eviction, or medium sized repair, wipes out a year’s profits or more.
I agree. It’s a fools errand to be a landlord in this town.
I’m all for deporting illegal immigrants but I won’t defend slum lords that are fined because they retaliate against one of their tenants for asking for a repair. If you are landlord then fix your rentals up to code. If you disagree with a tenant then don’t make the repair. No need to take their rental money and then threaten them in an abuse of power. These people are scum and so are the people that think this type of behavior is ok. Why not demand sexual favors from your tenants or threaten to report them to ICE? It’s the… Read more »
Illinois wants to legalize prostitution. What’s wrong with sex instead of money for rent.
In this example it wouldn’t be prostitution. It would be blackmail for sex. Even if prostitution was legal this would still be disgusting and illegal.
The article does not say the rental was not up to code. What type of repair it was was not specified. We don’t really hear the housing provider’s side of things in this article. Why do you call the housing providers slumlords? Did you see the rental unit? Were you there when the verbal dispute between landlord/tenant was happening? Was it really a case of retaliation just because tenant asked for a repair? Or were the tenants coached by their free lawyer? Even if the housing provider said something inappropriate during a verbal dispute, a fine of $80,000 is excessive.… Read more »
I don’t call housing providers slum lords. I called this particular provider a slum lord. His tenants asked for a repair on their apartment and he threatened to call ICE against his tenants as a way to blackmail them to not report the landlord, or in this case slum lord. If this slumlord was in the right he/she would have had no need to threaten retaliation agains the tenant.
Good landlords are needed. Disgusting people that threaten you because you want a livable apartment can file bankruptcy.
I don’t think the tenant asked for a repair and was threatened with ICE. I think the tenant wasn’t paying rent during COVID and the landlord was upset he couldn’t evict them in court. The landlord then suggested, likely in anger, that he would call ICE to remove them instead. This law is an abomination. The guy didn’t even call ICE. This law should be unconstitutional for violating free speech. Of course he can say he is going to ICE, in fact, he should be able to Call ICE on them if he wanted to. Because everyone knows that ‘calling… Read more »
You can’t threaten people with blackmail and then hide behind free speech laws. Nice try though. While the case that required the 80k payout might not have been about repairs the other one in the article was about that issue. Another case filed in September 2021 has not yet reached judgment, according to Sandoval Vargas. In that case, a Cicero couple is accused of reporting one of their tenants to immigration officials after the tenant requested a repair in his apartment, according to the lawsuit. It doesn’t matter if it’s about eviction or repairs or any other issue. You can’t… Read more »
IT’S NOT BLACKMAIL BECAUSE THE PARTIES HAD A RENTAL CONTRACT RELATIONSHIP. He can’t blackmail someone into paying him money when the dude already owed him money. The landlord couldn’t evict his tenant because of the COVID moratorium. If you read between the lines, he threatened to call ice naively believing that ICE would evict the tenants for being here illegally as an alternative to an eviction. They hired a ‘civil rights’ lawyer and now he owes them $80,000. If that’s a windfall, and unfair and unjust, I don’t know what is.
Preposterous. Did they get deported yet?? End 0f lawsuit!
Great, a whole new market for $$Illinois Trial Lawyers Asc$$!! All Chicago landlords are evil racist xenophobic money grubbers, it’s a well known fact!!
Nobody wants to be a landlord in Chicago anymore. The anti-landlord legislation and ridiculous frivolous lawsuits will just decrease housing supply. Don’t expect affordable housing if housing providers are treated like crap. Let’s see if the illegals pay your property taxes. $80,000 for what???? Just one more reason not to be a housing provider. The tenants can provoke a landlord all they want. Chicago should be cooperating with ICE. And if you refuse to rent to someone with a criminal record, you can be sued. Who needs this? Related topic: I know I sound like a broken record, but an… Read more »