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WINDYCITYMEDIAGROUP

Rogers Park transgender woman, her landlord both file lawsuits
by Matt Simonette
2014-11-22


A transgender woman, who has already filed a discrimination complaint against her landlord, alleging that he tried to throw her out of her Rogers Park apartment because of her gender identity and because her fiancé is Black, is now suing the landlord for violating the city's Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance. The landlord in turn formally filed to evict the woman a few days after her lawsuit was filed.

[See earlier coverage at the link: Article Link Here .]

According to a lawsuit filed Nov. 4, Michelle Roberts, 6413 N. Glenwood Ave., is suing her landlord, Zoran Knezev, over a number of violations, including having too many renters in the building.

Windy City Times previously reported that Roberts had entered into an unorthodox leasing arrangement with Knezev. She signed a lease to pay him $450 a month, but was essentially only paying for her bedroom and access to her unit's common areas. Knezev had other renters in the same apartment, all under separate agreements.

Roberts' lawsuit claims that she is owed money because of those extra renters. According to Illinois Municipal Code, when the number of individual rents collected by a landlord exceeds the number of rentable units, the landlord is liable to the occupants for three times the amount the renters paid. In Roberts' case, that means Knezev would owe her $1,350 per month for eight months, or about $10,800. She is asking for additional amounts because Knezev allegedly did not provide her with a copy of a summary of the Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance or inform her of the bank in which her security deposit had been placed.

In September, Roberts filed a discrimination complaint against Knezev, alleging that he attempted to illegally evict her both because she is transgender and because her fiancé, Sidney Morgan, is Black. Knezev's representatives allegedly told Roberts that they were unable to keep tenants in the unit because of their being uncomfortable around Roberts; she maintains, however, that tenants left because of the conditions of the premises. Knesev previously denied the discrimination and said that he was complying with the complaint. He filed an eviction suit in Cook County Circuit Court Nov. 7, according to court records. Both Roberts and Morgan are named in the suit. The Illinois Retaliatory Eviction Act prohibits landlords from evicting a tenant in direct response to a discrimination complaint.

Morgan said that a hearing on the eviction was scheduled for Nov. 25.

For now, Roberts wants to wait out the rest of the lease, which runs out in February. She injured herself at work in early September and has been living off a worker's compensation package, so she doesn't want to move sooner.

"We wanted more time for Michelle to heal, and to have her be able to get through the holidays," Morgan said.

Roberts added, "It's crazy how this thing has gotten so out of hand. Just when you think it might be over, there's another chapter."


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