Finished?

I noticed something interesting when I was walking down the alley the other day.

What? You don't walk down the alley on your block?

How else will you know what's really going on in your neighborhood?

Anyhoo...

I was walking down the alley and noticed that the back windows of the newly renovated apartment building are covered in plywood.

The openings where the back doors should be are covered in plywood as well.

It appears that someone from the inside may not be able to exit to the back porch.

How in God's name can you rent apartments to tenants and not have another way out of the building in case of an emergency?

That ain't right and that ain't safe.

Moreover, that doesn't sound legal.

Mystery Solved?

It appears that the mystery of the rehabbed building down the street has been solved.

It’s a rental. A few tenants are already in the building.

I’m gonna be honest with you, I really thought the project was going to go condo.

Why?

The finishes seem above the basic contractor staples that you see throughout most rental buildings.

The floors are gleaming (Real wood? Laminate?) and the appliances are stainless.

You heard me right---stainless.

That’s some high livin’ those kids are doing down there.

All this begs the question, is the building owner renting out the units until the real estate market turns around or is this their first development?

Because who would put high end finishes and a stainless appliance package in a rental?

This ought to be interesting.

Drumbeats

It’s nice to know that I’m not stupid.

That what I’ve been seeing and writing about since 2005 wasn’t a figment of my imagination.

And because people were too greedy or too clueless to see the warning signs all of us are paying the price.

Yeah I know that borrowing beyond one’s means for a home they couldn’t afford played a huge part in this mess.

But if that was the beginning of the end, foreclosures were the final nail in the coffin.

Basing business decisions on asset back securities that can’t be reliably verified is little more than a shell game.

But I think the powers that be kinda picked up the clue phone on that one.

And now the American public is left picking up a 700 billion dollar tab.

And the punch line is it may not be enough.

But the fascinating wrinkle in this whole mess is how Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has taken a stand against tenant foreclosure evictions.

A sense of moral justice and easy on the eyes? Like that happens everyday.

With Cook County’s foreclosures tripling this year to over 40,000, Sheriff Dart said that too many innocent renters were being evicted in a process not of their own making.

Now where did I hear that before?

Then of course a nice little community group from Albany Park neighborhood did their part by alerting the Sheriff to the fact of the innocents trapped in this foolishness.

And there’s the rub my friends.

While I’m a huge fan of personal responsibility, as a culture we’ve gotten away from the notion of looking out for the collective.

Or does that smack of socialism?

While potential subsidized housing and mortgage fraud may not necessarily be poppin’ off in
your ‘hood, it doesn’t mean that somewhere down the line it won’t affect you personally.

So while some people sat up and tisk tisked about the high mortgage defaults on the south and west side of Chicago, little did they know that similar situations were happening all over the country.

A financial storm was brewing and little was done about it in my humble opinion due to the fact of where it was happening and who was immediately affected.

That’s my nice way of saying racism and classism reared its ugly head in an incredibly genteel way.

NIMBYism at it’s finest.

Yes, some people made wrong choices in attempting to afford too much house and signing their name on the dotted line of a mortgage product whose terms they didn’t understand.

But it pretty much a foregone conclusion that the mortgage industry and a whole and the packaging of those mortgage backed assets---with little oversight or regulation might I add---was a time bomb waiting to happen.

And now it’s come to this my friends---my backyard is your backyard.

Too many foreclosures in too many neighborhoods have brought down some venerable and far reaching institutions.

Hell, the government of Iceland might have to go on Link.

So while we may not be our brother’s keeper, it may be on our best interests to listen to the far off drumbeats before they become deafening.

Truth Tellin'

It’s time for some truth telling.

I’ve been noticing some things while walking around the ‘hood and it’s time to call it like I see it.

Traditionally, we all know Black neighborhoods in Chicago have been largely ignored by local government.

This shouldn’t be news.

Yet the thing that chaps my hide is how some people just don’t respect their own neighborhood. How they’ll just throw trash just any which-a-way.

Frankly speaking it just pisses me off.

You practically have to pull teeth around these parts to get people (or institutions) to do right.

I’m sorry, strike that----my alderman is a rock star.

Leslie Hairston is a huge reason why our little stretch of paradise looks as good as it does. And truth be told I’d wager Alderman Cochran has chimed in a time of two to make the magic happen.

I don’t know for sure but I’m just saying…

Nonetheless, no measure of governmental involvement can lift people out of a “ghetto mentality.”

Hell, yeah I said it.

Because that’s only way I can explain why someone who actually lives on my street would turn the parkway into their own personal trash can.

I don’t get why it’s so difficult for some people to pick up after themselves.

Then of course these are probably the same people who think its okay not to know where their children are at any given time.

We all know how successful that philosophy worked out around here.

My point is that when something goes wrong in the ‘hood the wailing and gnashing of teeth begin.

Community activists come out of the wood work and “demand” governmental accountability.

Well I have a news flash for you.

Why don’t those activists as well those members of the community hold each other accountable?
Why don’t we speak out as voraciously against shitty landlords who don’t perform adequate tenant background checks and rent to anyone with enough money (or government subsidy) that can afford their rent?

Why don’t we take the fight to them in their comfortable neighborhood as they make money off of ours?

And here’s the tough one.

Why don’t we try to convince the nice lady who lives down the street that her no account grandchildren who live with her do more harm than good to the neighborhood.

You know what I’m talking about.

Despite the fact no one wants to publically admit it, there’s always a home (or homes) on the block that harbors those asshole, layabouts who leech off of a family member and single handedly contribute to rise of crime.

Who bring their bootleg ghetto ass friends along with them and their collection of bad habits.

And when I say bad habits I mean felonious behavior.

I’m not advocating being unnecessarily nosy in people’s affairs but when the situation warrants questioning the status quo, you shouldn’t feel uncomfortable to do so.

After all closed mouths don’t get feed and bullets seemingly never hit their itended targets.

Turning a blind eye to the blatant foolishness that’s going on may one day come back to bite you in ass.

I know it’s not easy.

Nobody wants to be labeled as the self righteous Gladys Kravitz of the block.

But in this “Stop Snitching” atmosphere, perhaps it’s time to go back to some good old fashion community standards.

No I’m no going all conservative on you.

Then of course I don’t think our conservative friends have cornered the market on values and standards.

And no I could give a shit what two (or more) consenting adults choose to do in privacy of their home.

As long it doesn’t attract a negative illegal element.

As you see it’s a slippery slope.

My negative element could be your set of best friends.

The qualifier here is illegal. That’s the whole shooting match---if you’ll forgive the pun.

Ladies and gentlemen we’ve got to do better.

We must either individually or collectively hold those who seek to continue to marginalize our neighborhood accountable for their actions.

We have to want better neighbors who mind their children, throw their trash in the proper receptacles and live law abiding lives.

It’s not enough to hold an anti violence march.

We have to do better.

So the next time you’re up in arms at a CAPS meeting or find yourself thinking that the police aren’t doing enough to keep your neighborhood safe you need to reflect on what you’ve done to improve or eliminate a problems that surround you.

At the very least, you should at least be truthful with yourself.

Validation

It's nice to know I'm not the only one who picked up on this trend.

Caveat Emptor.

It’s The Fraud, Stupid

Since it’s an election year, I have a question for those who purport change.

When is our government going to get out of the business of subsidizing the hucksters that sap money from condo associations?

How?

It’s only a theory but one that bears repeating.

I don’t think it’s too long of a stretch imagining a person that would commit mortgage fraud would also attempt to defraud the government via a subsidized housing program.

Hell, let’s even take the mortgage fraud out of it since the many ways to defraud lenders and devastate neighborhoods has been talked to death.

Let’s just take this theory on it’s own merits.

Assume you have a landlord who owns a unit in a condominium association who applies for a subsidized housing program.

His or her unit passes the initial inspection, they secure a tenant and the payments from the government commence.

From the landlord’s point of view, everything is humming along nicely.

Now let’s throw a few “what if’s” in the mix.

What if the landlord ceases to pay his or her mortgage?

What if the landlord ceases to pay his or her monthly association assessments?

Now the playing field changes.

You would think that a vigilant board would be able to find out if a unit is subsidized or to notify the proper program officials that such shenanigans are taking place.

If you were a betting person, you’d be wrong.

Per current subsidized housing program procedures, unless you’re the client or the landlord, no information can be released.

And I suppose I understand the reasons for that rule.

The world is not a kind place. Let’s face it, there are those out there who would actively discriminate against clients of the program.

Frankly speaking, they’d be dumb asses to court disaster. Federal housing discrimination lawsuits are a bitch.

Nonetheless for a smart fraudster, that lack of communication----or gaping hole if you will---is a license to print money

You see my friends if that cagey trickster isn’t paying his or assessments but is still getting money from the government, how are you going to stop them?

Any attempts to reach out to the bureaucracy that is subsidized housing usually results with being talked to in very clipped, hurried tones.

You’re all but hung up on.

And I should know, I tried to tackle that maze myself.

As a result, the tricksters and fraudsters are potentially---yes I said potentially since I have no proof---getting away with bags of money on the taxpayer’s dime.

It boggles the mind that an individual can commit fraud, default on a mortgage, endanger a person’s primary residence, financially devastate a condo association AND drive down a neighborhood’s property value just like that (*finger snap*)

In a sense if fraud is being committed, one property could be yielding up to two revenue streams. One from the illegal (and inflated) proceeds and another from the subsidized housing revenues.

Now if the suspect landlord is engaging in these activities the mortgage company loses, the condo associations loses, subsidized housing dollars are being thrown out the window and more importantly the tenant loses.

It’s a big fat bag of ass for everybody.

So in this hotly contested election year I’d ask the candidates how they’d protect the interests of the tenants, condo associations and the public piggybank from assholes who are hell bent on taking all of us for a ride.

That’s the reform I’m interested in.

Didn't I Just Say That

Chicago magazine (and frankly anyone with good sense) has also noted the damage done to property values due to foreclosures in "emerging" neighborhoods.

One way to minimize any condo association's risk is to lock it down and make it owner occupied only.

That's not to say that owner occupied units won't wind up in foreclosure, but it's my humble opinion that you'll be a little more motivated to save the roof over your head vs. saving the roof over your tennant's head.

I'm just saying...

Come To Jesus Meeting

Two Sundays ago, I saw the straw that broke the camel’s back.

My new neighbor had the keys to our front door duplicated and given out to her frequent visitors.

I about lost my shit.

I understand that a single woman who lives by herself needs to make sure that a trusted friend has a set of keys to her home. But when the let’s go kick it crew is rolling in and out of the front door of our home, that’s a problem.

So I fired off this little ditty to the owner of the unit:

XXXX,

While out on my front porch this morning I noticed that two or possibly three people have the key to the XXXX-XXXX building front door. Obviously I don't know who's authorized to live in the unit but the number of people who have access to our front door is, on its face, troubling.

Can you or your agent confirm with either XXXX or XXXX who is officially on the lease and take steps to stop your tenant from distributing keys to our front door. This is an egregious safety issue that concerns everyone who lives in or visits our home.

Unfortunately I did not have the e-mail address to your property manager on my home PC as I would of sent this e-mail directly to him, but I felt this issue was so important that I wanted to address it with you directly.

Sincerely,

Woody

While I never received a written reply to my concerns, word had it that the owner’s property manager would attend our next association meeting.

In the middle of our meeting, he did actually show up.

Unfortunately for him, he got an earful that night.

I renewed my concerns about everyone and their mother having a key to the front door. I also let Mr. Property Manager know that the frequency of his tenant’s pot smoking was a well known open secret.

Not only is the hallway filled with smoke but since I live directly above my smoking neighbor, my home smelled like a bong as well.

The other residents of our building that were in attendance all shook their heads in agreement.

Mr. Property Manager had already addressed the front door key issue but did not know that there was a pot smoking issue as well.

Luckily I was there to notify him of that fact.

One of my downstairs neighbors on the other hand, really let her feelings be known about the tenant situation.

While none of our building’s residents appreciated any of these shenanigans, my first floor neighbor is on the front lines of all of this disturbing foolishness.

She hears the increased traffic coming in and out of the door, the people walking over her head, the playing of the loud music at all hours of the night and in some cases the loud voices that accompanied by the increase in foot traffic.

Needless to say she is not a happy camper.

She “expressed” her concerns in a way where there was no doubt to her meaning.

In short we let Mr. Property Manager know that we’re NOT “the spot” or “the let’s go kick it place.”

The fact that we even had to express the lack of communal courtesy from this tenant made the phrase “proper tenant screening” surface in the conversation several times.

We got our point across.

In the few weeks since we had this come to Jesus meeting with the property manager, my new neighbor’s behavior has dramatically improved.

The constant stream of people has been reduced significantly and the 24/7 pot smoking has dropped off quite a bit as well.

Only time will tell if things are getting back to normal.

The Chronic

When I moved to my home five years ago, I purposely chose the top floor.

I had lived on the second floor in my last condo and despite the fact I absolutely loved my neighbors, there is something to be said for having someone walking over your head.

On the south side, that wasn’t a problem.

I was also fortunate to not have hard core smokers for neighbors either.

Sure, someone might light up a cigarette here or a clove there; on occasion something stronger would make a special guest appearance on the weekend or during a party.

But it wasn’t a chronic situation.

That all changed with the departure of two of my neighbors to continue their lives with their new mates.

Because smoke rises and I live on the top floor, when you so much fry and piece of bacon in our building the aroma comes my way.

Hell, I can probably even tell you when you had that bad boy in the skillet.

When I don’t have some type of cold or sinus infection, the sniffer is dead on.

Unfortunately this can be a draw back when you have people that live below you that have a difference outlook on recreational pot smoking.

On it’s face, I really don’t give a damn if you want to blaze it up---just don’t let your smoking affect my quality of life.

In short, I don’t want to smell it---at all, ever.

Some of my other neighbors are so circumspect that I had no idea they “smoked” until they mistakenly opened their door to answer my knocks.

I was mildly shocked.

Not because they smoked but because they were so good about concealing the fact.

Ever since my downstairs neighbor moved out, my place has smelled like varying degrees of bad bong water.

The first set of neighbors weren’t that bad with their smoking but you did notice the uptick of the pot smell in the hallway.
At first I thought they were bad but now, I truly know what bad is.

My current downstairs neighbors smoke so much; it’s easier for me to tell you when they don’t smoke as opposed to when they do.

I get up very early in the morning and on most days either my living room or dining room smell like a blunt.

Don’t even get me started about the smell when I come home from work.

Words cannot describe how vastly unhappy this makes me.

Can you imagine if someone in my building tries to sell and a prospective buyer comes in with the hallway smelling like a college frat party?

This ain’t good.

Boo! The Scary Renters

Some scary new developments have been happening around the association lately.

The first has to do with my new neighbors downstairs.

Apparently playing loud music in the early morning hours, “smoking” until my unit smells like an “ashtray” and propping the door open for visitors is how things were done in their last place of residence.

I cannot stress how much we don’t roll like that over here.

But such is the life when you have rentals in your association.

Yeah, yeah---I know not all renters are bad. Blah, blah, blah and cry me a river.

And I have to agree---not all renters are bad.

But I will say, you tend to be a tad on the persnickety side when you realize that a thoughtless act such as leaving the door opens could ruin everyone’s day. Hell, it could even lead to a possible home invasion.

I suspect that my new neighbors don’t have their phone line hooked into the intercom system yet or don’t have a land line.

They will either have to get off their asses to let their guests in or work with their landlord to get the front door intercom situation resolved.

‘Cause I ain’t trying to look up and see one of those Jenkins Boys standing over me as I sleep.

Speaking of being watched…

Another one of my neighbors reports feeling an other worldly presence in the unit that she rents.

Reportedly, she believes that a spirit resides with her.

The more interesting part of the story is that her baby is woken up by the presence and has allegedly reached out to be picked up as if someone is standing by his crib, yet no one is there.

When the nice renter neighbor---we’ll call her Boho----asked our other neighbor (and her good friend) if she had any similar experiences, she replied yes.

Yowsa!

Apparently our spirit visitor has sat on the bed while my other neighbor sleeps.

Now I know all of this sounds far fetched but I don’t disbelieve anything both ladies have to say. In fact, I wouldn’t doubt that a building as old as ours didn’t have a few visitors who are not of this world.

Now I’m no expert but all of the supernatural stories I’ve been seeing on TV the past few weeks say that spirits tend to stay with a location and not with a person.

The stories also went onto say that usually they stay on the earthly plane because an attachment is preventing them from peacefully passing into the next world.

That attachment could be to a person that may need their help or a distraught relative. A pursuit of justice or plain old unfinished business---some of us just aren’t ready to leave this life and move on into the next.

Boy howdy if those walls could talk, I’m sure they’d have some stories to tell.

The odd thing is that when the actual owner lived in the unit, she never experienced any encounters of the supernatural.

I honestly think that some of us are more attuned to the spirit world than the rest of us dunderheads. I believe my neighbor, Boho, is such a person.

I will tell you this: On occasions, I get a little goose in my side when I’m washing dishes or standing in the bathroom.

This doesn’t strike me as odd as I believe that my dearly departed mother was to blame for the shenanigans.

While she hasn’t been walking with us for almost seven years, I know she has to watch over me as I wander about through life’s journeys.

How do I know this?

‘Cause I have the knack of getting out of some fucked up situations that I have no business getting out of.

If I started telling you the stories, you’d call me a liar.

But I won’t quibble with you gentle readers. It enough that I believe---you certainly don’t have to.

Nonetheless, my mother always knew that I hated---and I mean hated---to be goosed.

So if that’s her doing it I tell her that I still don’t like it and to stop.

Nothing’s changed.

Now if the theory holds true and spirits stay with a place and not a person, why would she give me a goose in my “new” place?

While I’ve been living on the south side for close to five years, my mother wasn’t alive when I bought this place in 2001. In fact, it was coming up on the second anniversary of her death.

So is mama stalking me or is someone else mixed up in the fray?