An immigrant couple who rented a one-bedroom apartment in a basement for $600 dollars per month received threats from their landlord that he would report them with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, but now the landlords face a lawsuit, because they would have violated a law against housing discrimination in Illinois.
The organization MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) filed the lawsuit on behalf of María Maltos Escutia and Gabriel Valdez García.
“The lawsuit is the second filed by MALDEF under the Immigrant Tenants Protection Act (ITPA), an Illinois law of 2017 that prohibits landlords from using the immigration status of a person to discriminate or harass a tenant“, indicates the organization.
In 2017, Maltos Escutia and Valdez García rented the apartment in the basement of the home of Marco Antonio Contreras and Denise Contreras.
At that time, Maltos Escutia and Valdez García verbally agreed to pay $600 for rent, which included utilities, on the first of every month.
A Latino civil rights organization is suing a Chicago couple who threatened to report tenants to immigration officials after a dispute over rent in
“Landlords should never be allowed to exploit the immigration status of their tenants to gain an unfair and coercive advantage in the housing rental arrangement,” said Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF. “Fortunately, the ITPA prohibits this conduct and should make all Illinois homeowners abandon tactics like threatening to contact ICE.”
According to the lawsuit, in February 2020, the Contreras asked the couple to sign a contract outlining the terms of the lease, claiming that the agreement was necessary for homeowners to obtain a loan to purchase a second home. .
“The couple signed the contract, which changed the due date of the rent to 29 of each month and I paid a deposit of $600. The contract also required the couple to pay for their own utilities,” the report states. “Two months later, the Contreras informed Maltos Escutia and Valdez García that they would increase the rent to $800 per month; a sum that the couple could not pay. Despite the rent increase, the Contreras accepted $600 per month of rent from April through June 2019″.
Though accepted the amount, the owners of the house told the couple that they had to move in August of that year, but they did not give a written notice.
“Later that month, the Contreras entered the apartment and told the couple that the rent for July was due on 29 of June and demanded that they pay”, it is indicated. “When the couple offered to pay a prorated amount since they planned to move, Marcos Contreras threatened to report the couple to federal immigration officials, in violation of Illinois state law.”
At the end tenants moved out of the apartment on 31 July 2020.
“The ITPA guarantees that all tenants in Illinois , regardless of their immigration status, have meaningful access to a safe and stable home,” said Susana Sandoval Vargas, Staff Attorney, MALDEF. “It is important that landlords stop weaponizing the perceived immigration status of tenants in landlord-tenant disputes.”
The lawsuit seeks a $2 fine,000 for each ITPA violation and financial reimbursement for the couple’s lost property, the organization indicates.
Illinois is the second state to enact legislation protecting the rights of immigrant tenants, the first being California with a rule of 2017.
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