The South Side apartment building that was subject to a controversial federal raid last month has been officially deemed too unsafe for tenants to continue living in.
Cook County Circuit Court Judge Debra Seaton issued an order Nov. 7 to appoint a receiver to the 7500 South South Shore Drive property and requested that the receiver, Friedman Real Estate, help the remaining tenants relocate.
“The conditions are just ridiculous,” a tenant said at the Nov. 7 receivership hearing. “There is sewage on both corners of the first floor. Maintenance doesn’t do anything. The security is just crazy, no doors are secure and anyone can just walk in.”
About half a dozen tenants testified about the conditions of the property at the hearing. Seaton ordered that their names and unit numbers not be shared publicly.
After hundreds of agents from the FBI, ATF and ICE led a massive overnight raid on the South Shore building last month, many tenants voluntarily moved out.
The Sept. 30 operation drew national attention for its intensity as well as criticism from local officials who called the tactics heavy-handed and questioned if it violated the rights of tenants who were detained temporarily but not ultimately arrested.
The operation yielded 37 arrests, some of which the Department of Homeland Security noted were for drug trafficking and weapons charges while others were for immigration violations. Additional details on the arrests have been scarce and records requests from The Real Deal for further information have been denied or not returned.
Amid an escalating legal-back-and-forth between Wells Fargo and the building’s owner, a little-known Wisconsin-based investor named Trinity Flood, the raid thrust the South Side building’s longstanding troubles into the spotlight.
Wells Fargo, acting as a trustee on behalf of bond holders, filed a $27 million foreclosure lawsuit against Flood in April, claiming she was behind on mortgage payments tied to the South Shore building as well as several others across Chicago and the U.S.
Though Flood initially fought back against Wells Fargo’s attempts to have a receiver appointed to the property, her attorney said at the Nov. 7 hearing that they were no longer opposing the motion. He did, however, say that they reserved the right to oppose the appointment of a receiver at any of Flood’s other properties.
Since the raid, between 30 to 40 tenants still live at the 130-unit property. Several of them told Seaton at the Nov. 7 hearing that they would like to move out and that it continues to be subject to vandalism and trespassing. Multiple tenants testified that they would have moved out already if they had the financial means to do so.
“It’s unlivable right now due to the ICE raid, the immigrants, the Venezuelans and the flooding,” one tenant said, though it was unclear if the tenant meant that migrants do or do not still currently live in the building. “I lost a lot of stuff due to the raid. It’s just unbearable right now.”
Acknowledging that it may be difficult for the tenants to find housing during the holiday season and without financial assistance, Seaton said the hazardous conditions at the property are still too severe to allow anyone to continue living there.
A broken elevator, a potential gas leak, threat of carbon monoxide poisoning from faulty boilers, an insufficient number of working carbon monoxide detectors and significant electrical wiring issues were all cited as major causes for concern from city inspectors and the judge.
“The court has some real concerns about the electrical problems,” Seaton said. “It is like a trap, waiting for a fire.”
She ordered that the receiver begin working on resolving safety issues as soon as possible and search for programs available to help tenants with relocation costs.
Seaton also gave the receiver authority to begin the eviction process for squatters reported at the property, which is a notoriously difficult legal procedure in Illinois. A recent change to state law to improve that process does not take effect until the new year.
“I think I’m the only tenant left on this floor that isn’t a squatter,” said one tenant, adding that there appear to be squatters on every floor of the five-story building.
Another tenant alleged trespassers have vandalized the property and possibly used it as a place to engage in drug dealing and prostitution.
Before the raid, the building was cited for numerous code violations from the city of Chicago and city inspectors noted over the summer that the property manager, Corey Oliver of Strength in Management, was no longer able to “re-assert control over the building.”
During another hearing regarding Wells Fargo’ receivership request that took place shortly after the Sept. 30 raid, Oliver said he had hired armed security guards to patrol the building from 6PM to 6AM nightly.
At the time, Seaton acknowledged Oliver’s efforts to improve conditions at the property and held off on appointing a receiver. Instead, she ordered a follow-up inspection for Nov. 6 and a hearing to reconsider the issue Nov. 7.
She also asked that tenants attend the Nov. 7 hearing to provide their perspective on the conditions and tell the court whether or not they wanted to move out. Though the overall conditions would dictate her final decision, Seaton said she would also consider tenants’ willingness to move in her ruling.
At the Nov. 7 hearing, tenants revealed that the security guards provided little help to the building and were no longer employed there.
“I am sure they were disgusted by being here,” a tenant said of the security guards. “They didn’t even sit in the building, they sat at the entrance or in their cars.”
Oliver confirmed he had fired the security guards because they had not adequately protected the building and allowed vandalism to take place while they were on duty. But he defended his efforts to improve conditions in a short period of time.
“We have protected lighting in the stairwells, we are constantly removing garbage and constantly mopping up the floors,” Oliver said and added that squatters may be the root of the issues. “It’s one step forward and two steps back.”
Flood’s attorney said perception of the property so far has been “one-sided.”
Seaton disagreed.
“I have heard more than one side of the story. I have heard this case on two different occasions and gave instructions to the property manager and they are still not done and I have pictures,” she said. “I’m not saying the property manager hasn’t taken some steps but he hasn’t taken enough… God forbid a fire occurs in this building and the people get burned up … the court will not allow that.”
Some tenants noted that issues at the property had been piling up for some time and only gained attention after the raid.
“I thought this was a great location at first but I would love to relocate,” said one tenant. “This building hadn’t gotten coverage before the ICE situation but this building has been in decline for two years.”
City code violations and foreclosure records also state conditions at the building started to decline well before the raid took place.
Sometime in the last two years, the conditions at the property deteriorated rapidly, despite it undergoing a multimillion renovation shortly before Flood bought it in 2020.
Seaton said the efforts made since the raid were too little, too late.
“The court does acknowledge that your property management has tried to remediate some of the conditions,” Seaton said to Oliver. “But the court has found that the remediation has not been sufficient to make the building safe and habitable which is why the court is appointing a receiver to relocate the tenants and if necessary to evict the squatters.”
Editor’s note: this post was updated to correct the number of units at 7500 South South Shore Drive.