End of Summer Newsletter 2018
Kimball Tenants Union Solidarity BBQ, Shutting Down an Airbnb Mixer, the Garcia Family’s Fight to Stay In Their Home, and Rent Control Now!
Kimball Tenants Union Solidarity BBQ
On Saturday, July 28, residents of 4843 N Kimball held a BBQ and open house to expose the misdeeds of their landlord Stark Chicago. The tenants, who are members of the Kimball Tenants Union (KTU), spoke out about conditions in their building, including water damage, mold, and even rats.
With the backing of ATU, they formed the Kimball Tenants Union to demand Stark make necessary repairs and meet with them to negotiate the terms of their tenancy. Stark planned to evict all the working class and immigrant tenants of the 52-unit building, that many have lived in for up to 30 years, by August 31 so they can do superficial renovations and raise rents at the building.
The BBQ celebration was attended by community members and their children who held signs, drew messages in chalk, and talked with members of the KTU. Chicago’s WGN-TV reported on the event. Watch their coverage of tenants speaking out and a tour of the building.
Shutting Down an Airbnb Mixer
In June, members and friends of ATU, Somos Logan Square, and Pilsen Alliance planned to go to Navigator Taproom in Logan Square to picket a workshop/mixer called “How to Buy a Multi-Unit Building and Use Airbnb to Skyrocket Your Income,” but the group behind the workshop got word of our mobilization, chickened out & cancelled!
We decided to march instead, and ended up having a great community-building and empowering event! In some ZIP codes, as many as 50% of potentially available homes were put on Airbnb instead of the long-term rental market. This increased housing costs in the surrounding area. Learn more about the action and why we felt it was necessary here.
The Garcia Family’s Fight To Stay In Their Home
This past July and August, the Garcia family has been pulling out all the stops to try and convince their corrupt landlord, Leslie Nguyen, to allow them to stay in their home with a lease. They have been living at 5139 N Bernard since January of last year.
In June, after complaining about the lack of working utilities, their landlord, Leslie, terminated their tenancy. The landlord is claiming renovations have to be made as a justification for threatening to put a family out on the street. In response, the Garcia Family, along with other members of ATU, held a call-in campaign and flyered both the block where they live and Leslie’s residence to let her neighbors know what she is doing. We also completed a delegation to Leslie’s home, to let her know we intend to keep the pressure on until she negotiates.
So far, Leslie has refused to communicate with the tenants. As we move into the fall, there will likely be a press conference in the works. Stay connected to find out how you can support!
Rent Control Now!
On Saturday, August 18, ATU members joined forces with people from all over the city to demand that IL Senate President Cullerton get serious about supporting an elected school board and rent control.
As part of the Lift The Ban Coalition, ATU believes that rent control would be a much-needed tool to curb the greed of landlords and developers raising rents all over the city at the expense of their tenants. Follow Lift The Ban Coalition for updates on how to support the citywide struggle for rent control.
The Autonomous Tenants Union (ATU) is an all-volunteer organization committed to organizing for housing justice from below and to the left. As an independent collective based in Chicago, we strategize together to defend and enforce our right to dignified housing. We believe that housing is a human right not a commodity! We fight for an end to all of evictions, and for community control of housing through the building of popular power.
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