Dispute between a landlord and city of Markham has young family paying the price

A dispute between the city of Markham and a landlord has left the property owner's tenant and her four young children without water for nearly a month, a newly-filed lawsuit says.

The lack of running water for Iesha Taylor made for a dismal Thanksgiving and has threatened to ruin Christmas as well, says Taylor, a single mom who’s been decamping to nearby hotels so her kids ages 4, 7, 13 and 15 can wash up, shower and sleep.

Taylor was told her water would remain off until mid-January. But in a ruling late Thursday on an emergency motion, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Eve M. Reilly ordered Markham city officials to temporarily restore Taylor’s water service within 24 hours while the case continues.

The trouble started Nov. 18, when without warning the taps stopped working at her rental home in Markham, Taylor said.

She notified the city and was told her water bill was fully paid, but that the water was shut off because the property management company, Chicago Style Management, and her out-of-state landlord hadn’t obtained a necessary landlord license from the city, according to Taylor and the lawsuit filed this week by Legal Aid Chicago.

According to the lawsuit, the property manager quickly applied for the license and paid the fine the next day — but the water remained off.

The landlord, who flew into town, appeared with the property manager and Taylor at the Markham City Council's Dec. 4 meeting to try and speed up the application process. But the landlord’s licensing matter was tabled until the council’s January meeting.

Taylor said there was another family at the meeting who said their water also had been cut off for the same reason.

"I just feel like they're doing it out of spite or something,” she said. “They’re making families homeless and they’re causing stress to families. And that’s not fair."

Jessica Kalmewicki, the Legal Aid Chicago attorney who brought the lawsuit and filed the emergency motion, said she was glad the judge granted the emergency request. But she said the city of Markham, as of Thursday afternoon, still opposed her bid to keep Taylor's water on.

Kalmewicki, associate director of Legal Aid’s housing practice, says she’s seen a lot in her job after nearly 25 years — but never a case like this.

"It’s insane," Kalmewicki said.

The lawsuit says Markham violated Taylor’s rights to equal protection and due process by punishing her for a licensing issue involving her landlord. The city code allows for fines of up to $750 for landlords who violate the license obligations but says nothing about cutting off tenants’ water to punish landlords.

Mayor Roger Agpawa and his administrator did not respond to requests for comment.

City Administrator Derrick Champion declined to address the lawsuit. "There’s no story here," Champion said in an emailed statement. "The problem is with Iesha Taylor’s property management company. … Unfortunately, they did not follow our workflow and processes here at the City of Markham, which are in place for a reason."

Taylor's property manager agreed to speak with the Sun-Times but did not respond to requests for comment.

Markham made the news in June for another unique way it handles municipal violations by holding landlords responsible for their tenants’ unpaid parking fines, according to ABC 7 Chicago.

Meanwhile, Taylor said she has been relying on bottled water and public restrooms during the day while her kids are at school and moving from one hotel to another with her children every evening.

She says it has been disruptive to her children’s education — they’ve missed some school days because of this — and it's especially sad this time of year. On Thanksgiving, "we ordered some food and we stayed at the hotel. It was so depressing," she said.

The children have asked for a Christmas tree, but Taylor hasn’t been able to get one.

"I’m not even in the spirit, and Christmas is my favorite holiday. I can’t even sleep," she said.