Englewood Family Forced to Live Without Power or Cooking Gas

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Ezekiel and Shantisha Shaw with two of their five children outside of their home where their lights and cooking gas have been turned off due to an unlawful eviction case. Photo: Lee Edwards
Ezekiel and Shantisha Shaw with two of their five children outside of their home where their lights and cooking gas have been turned off due to an unlawful eviction case. Photo: Lee Edwards

The Shaw family members are in the battle of their lives. While trying to restore electricity and cooking gas services that were recently shut-off in their rental unit, the family is also facing eviction from their apartment at 6936 S. Green St. in the heart of Chicago's Englewood neighborhood.

The Shaws are a close-knit family of seven including five children, the youngest being 14-months-old. The children's' mother Shantisha, is recovering from a stroke that left her partially paralyzed in June 2012.

"I felt scared and anxious when a legal agent from Pierce & Associates[law firm] and came told me that we have to leave [immediately]," Ezekiel Shaw, Shantisha's husband and father of the five children told the Chicago Citizen Newspaper.

Pierce & Associates handles nearly one third of all foreclosure cases in Chicago and did not respond to the Chicago Citizen Newspaper's phone calls before press time. Pierce & Associates handles pre and post foreclosure cases with renters including eviction procedures.

The non-profit organization, Lawyer's Committee for Better Housing (LCBH), a Keep Chicago Renting Coalition organization, works to help tenants who are going through problems like the Shaws.

"Unfortunately, this is a common predicament that tenants face where they're not alerted to the foreclosure and after the banks takes possession they will employ tactics to rid the property of occupants as quickly as possible," said Patricia Fran of LCBH.

She added that the intimidating notice and not paying for the utilities was part of law firm's "constructive eviction" which hopefully causes the renters to leave on their own.

According to the Shaw family, they never received an official eviction notice from Pierce & Associates nor did they receive a notice about their building going into foreclosure. In addition, the Shaws claim that once the bank took over the property, they were never instructed as to where to send their rental payments to or about who would handle any necessary repairs within their unit. In fact, the last contact the Shaws said they had with Pierce & Associates or the foreclosure bank was in January 2013 when they were offered a "Cash for Keys" arrangement but received the wrong paperwork and were told that they would eventually receive the correct documents.

"Cash for Keys" is a deal that allows tenants to vacate the premises of a property in foreclosure quickly to save money on court costs associated with an eviction. The Shaws never received the "Cash for Keys" paperwork nor did they ever hear from the foreclosure bank or Pierce & Associates. That is until a few weeks ago when representatives from Pierce & Associates requested that the family move immediately and then had their utilities turned off.

The Shaws are the last remaining tenant of the building; the other two tenants have already moved out.

Fortunately the Shaws, have the Keep Chicago Renting Coalition in their corner to help them battle Pierce & Associates who they believe is unlawfully attempting to force them to move by using intimidation tactics and making their living conditions unbearable. Action Now, a multi-issue grassroots organization that is part of the Keep Chicago Renting Coalition, has taken the lead on the Shaws case. Ezekiel Shaw is a member of Action Now.

The Keep Chicago Renting Coalition comprises of thirteen labor, community, and policy organizations who are standing with the Shaws to ensure that they are protected by the law and are properly situated in the event that the family has to relocate.

A proposed Keep Chicago Renting Ordinance has already received support from Mayor Emmanuel and will be voted upon in early June. The ordinance would require that foreclosed properties be registered with the city and tenants of the foreclosed property be notified; leases of the tenants would be maintained with a maximum of two percent increase; and $12,000 would be allotted to tenants forced to move before the property is resold.

By Lee Edwards

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