Tenants unite forcing Edgewater building owner to clear water damage, make repairs
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Imagine living in conditions like this: water damage, walls falling apart, and pieces of your ceiling missing.
Tenants living in Edison Apartments now celebrate after recent negotiations with Trigild, the building's landlord.
They came to an agreement for new commitments from the property owner. As of Thursday afternoon, the nightmare is over for the North Side apartment building residents.
CBS 2's Shardaa Gray shows us how they came together to win their fight with a giant landlord.
"This all started because of tenants coming together to organize. To assert their rights and their expectations for their living situations," said Arieh Venick of the Metropolitan Tenants Organization.
Trigild took over Edison Apartments' property in September of last year. CBS 2 was told tenants have been living with issues ranging from pest infestation to plumbing problems.
"Because of that situation and other long-lasting issues within in units and common spaces in the building, the tenants decided to come together and advocating for their rights," Venick said.
Photos provided by the Edison Tenants Association show crumbling walls, burst pipes, and rodents.
In the past, tenants with disabilities struggled through elevator outages that left them without full access to the building.
After the building's pipes burst in December, tenants began meeting to discuss ways to improve the conditions in the building. In late April, they contacted Arieh Venick, Metropolitan Tenants Organization.
"We began having regular meetings, reaching out to folks in the building, building power, codifying a vision of what they wanted for that organization."
After some difficulty in working with Trigild to schedule a meeting, organized tenants finally received recognition from management. They were able to sit down with on-site property managers, Trigild executives, and their attorney just two days ago.
"I think Trigild has done what a lot of landlords refuse to do, which is work with and negotiate with organized tenants," Venick said.
In light of this victory, Venick said there is a need for stronger and more robust tenant protections in Chicago.
He says this victory shows the power of individual tenants coming together to fight for their rights.
Late Thursday afternoon, Trigild responded to CBS 2, saying they recently took over property management, recently sat down with the tenants, and have made great strides in improving the property.