Sunnyside Manor Tenants Union Press Conference, 10/12/17
Before Silver Property Group eviction hearing
Sunnyside Manor Tenants Union held a press conference ahead of their first eviction court date and called out Chicago’s “Albany Park Eviction King.”
After 5 months of neglect, the Silver Property Group residents received 30-day eviction notices demanding they move out by August 31. This is not enough time to locate new housing in the neighborhood they love.
Last month Abrams filed for evictions against tenants, despite their multiple attempts to communicate and negotiate with him. Silver’s decision to file eviction before even meeting with the tenants union will put a black mark on their renting history, hurting their chances of finding affordable housing in the future.
ABOUT SILVER PROPERTY GROUP:
- Silver has purchased at least 15 buildings in the neighborhood since 2011, 12 of which went on to fail property inspection. Silver has a strategy of neglecting building conditions in order to pressure existing tenants to move away.
- An estimated 170 Albany Park households — most of them low-income undocumented immigrants, and many families with children — have been displaced following Silver’s purchases of buildings, which are then superficially renovated and rented out at greatly increased rents.
- Silver is increasingly recognized by renters and community organizations as a bad actor in the Albany Park community. 33rd ward alderman Deb Mell has received $3,300 in campaign contributions from Abrams and Silver Property Group since 2014, but recently told the Chicago Reader that she would stop taking campaign donations from Abrams because of his contribution to gentrification in her ward.
We say “NO” to the gentrification of Albany Park and demand that Abrams negotiate with tenants.
