Pilsen tenants sue landlord, allege retaliation, lack of repairs

A day after filing a lawsuit and minutes after announcing the suit against First Western Properties, tenant Cristina Miranda was handed a notice of nonrenewal stating that she must leave her apartment in the Pilsen neighbohood by the end of July. Miranda, 25, is one of three tenants who sued, alleging the property company, owned by Paul Tsakiris, has increased their rent in retaliation for presenting the company with a notice demanding repairs to the units and building. On Thursday, Miranda and other tenants gathered outside First Western Properties’ office in the West Loop to announce their lawsuit. The firm owns dozens of properties in Pilsen and Little Village. As the announcement ended, someone from the office approached Miranda and handed her a letter stating her lease would not be renewed after it ends May 31.“This is retaliation after the press conference, and it just shows me that they do not intend to engage with us in good faith,” Miranda said. “I intend to stay. I’m confident that a judge will see the work that we’ve done to obtain meaningful repairs and maintenance to our homes and see that this is clearly retaliatory. First Western and Paul Tsakiris are just mad that we’ve successfully organized.”Miranda moved into her Pilsen apartment, at 2003 W. Cermak Road, in January 2023. Just months after moving in, she began to notice several issues — the biggest being a water leak outside her front door that eventually seeped into her unit, damaging the flooring. Miranda said she attempted to contact building management through an online portal, but the issues were never addressed. Eventually she was approached by other tenants who had similar issues, and they collectively decided to form the First Western Tenants Union in March 2023 in hopes of getting the repairs done. After organizing, tenants demanded repairs by contacting management, calling 311, citing proof of building violations on the city’s website, and for seven months, they withheld rent until the repairs were made. The repairs were eventually made, but late fees and the withheld rent amount were added to their ledgers, and the company refused to renew leases until they were paid. First Western tenants rally outside the company’s office. Tenants who organized received significant rent hike notices. Others were presented notices of nonrenewal.Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-TimesIn April, tenants received renewal notices from First Western Properties with significant rent hikes. In the notice, Miranda’s rent for her two-bedroom apartment would go from $1,350 to $1,700. Miranda, who is a phlebotomist, said she may not be able to live there if she can’t negotiate a lower rate. “I very much like the area where I am right now, and I don’t plan on being displaced, but with the cost of living going up it’s going to be really hard for me to manage that much of an increase,” she said. “This is something that is affecting my livelihood directly.”First Western Properties tenants say they organized, then demanded repairs by contacting management, calling 311, citing proof of building violations on the city’s website and for seven months, they withheld rent until the repairs were made. Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-TimesFellow tenant Alex Wirt, 31, said he has dealt with frozen and burst pipes, lack of heat, mold, warped floors and backed-up sewage since he moved in in 2017. Wirt helped form the union to seek repairs and at the same time as Miranda, received a notice that his rent would increase by more than 54%, from $1,325 to $2,050 per month.“It’s just absolutely ridiculous,” he said. “There is nothing that has happened in the apartment that warrants raising the rent that much. The repairs they made don’t mean the value of the apartment went up. It just means they repaired things that were already wrong.”Wirt, who signed on to the lawsuit, said he hopes tenants will be compensated for the company’s retaliatory actions. “Something like this would have been really scary a year ago, and even though it’s shocking, I feel good because we’ve organized. I’m standing in solidarity with my neighbors.” Miranda said she expects other tenants who organized to also receive notices of nonrenewal. Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) joined tenants Thursday and said he supported those who choose to organize in hopes of improving their living conditions. “When tenants organize, and we see retaliation against it, we cannot sit by and watch, we must take action,” Sigcho-Lopez said. “These companies are buying entire blocks and dozens of properties that they aren’t even maintaining properly.” Mo Dadkhan, a lawyer representing Tsakiris and First Western Properties, said the tenants were given an offer to terminate their leases or to move to other buildings but declined.. “On one hand they say that they are unhappy with the condition but when offered the opportunity to leave, they refuse,” Dadkhan said in a statement emailed to the Sun-Times on Friday. “My client has offered to waive the improperly withheld rent from the past year if they decide they want to stay and sign a new lease at the current market rental rates.” Dadkhan called the allegation that rents were raised for making complaints “a bit ridiculous” and said the new rental rates were “reasonable” and reflected the current rental market in the neighborhood. “These tenants have zero intention of doing anything in good faith, they are going to lie, slander, libel, and cyber smear this landlord until the landlord either loses money or caves to their outrageous demands and we intend on fighting so that neither situation occurs,” Dadkhan said in her statement.