For the past 30 years it was been my occupation to buy houses in various states of disrepair and renovate them to be in accordance with local code. My properties are leased through a RENT-TO-OWN arrangement, primarily to families who wish to own a home yet cannot secure a loan from a bank. Part of my tenant’s monthly rent was credited to their set purchasing price, and in exchange my tenants agree to take full responsibility for all repairs and maintenance of the home at their expense. Over the years many of my “renters” have become home owners. For those tenants who honor their end of the lease, I typically lower their monthly payment each year; even as my taxes and insurance costs have seen yearly increases, most of my customers have seen yearly decreases in their monthly payments as the home is paid down.
About 10 years ago, I was informed by Granite city that a business license would now be required for each of my Granite city rent-to-own properties. Shortly after, Granite city made another change: I would now have to comply with something Granite city called “Crime-free” law in order to maintain the licenses that I was recently made to purchase. “Crime-free” housing seemed like a worthy goal, so I naively agreed to obey this so-called “Crime-free” law.
Then in 2013 I had my first issue with the “Crime-free law”, when then Crime-free police Captain Gagich demanded that I evict an entire family over a single 18” marijuana seedling found on my tenant’s back-porch and an expired FOID card. I spoke to the Granite city mayor privately about this compulsory eviction demand. I informed him that my tenant’s were good people, that they had no where else to stay, and that I felt that it was unreasonable for Captain Gagich to force the entire family from their home over such minor offenses. The mayor admitted that “Gagich can be a bit over-zealous at times” and that the issue would be decided at the upcoming hearing to revoke my business license. Check out Exhibit Z for more information.
At the hearing, I noted that I already had one vacant house in Granite City and could not afford to have another, and that my customers had no where else to go. I was informed that the only way I could keep my customers and my business license would be to inexplicably “relocate the family” to my vacant house also located in Granite city. They were among my best customers, they took care of their home and paid on time, so I re-located them in-order to keep my license, and they are still living there today. Unfortunately this came at a cost to the livelihood of my customers who were forced to move for no reason, and I was left with a needlessly vacant home requiring substantial refurbishment before it could be relisted.
I believe that the targeted harassment of my business began in 2015, shortly after Crime-free police Captain Gagich demanded that I evict yet another customer, this time an expecting mother. I demanded a hearing, where I argued that my customer had not been accused of any crime, that her boyfriend, the accused, claimed to be innocent and had not even been tried yet, and that Granite city had no right to force me to evict an innocent customer solely because her boyfriend had been accused (but not found guilty) of a crime.
“They are guilty if I say they are guilty”
-Former Granite city Police Capt. Gagich
Captain Gagich replied “They are guilty if I say they are guilty.” The city attorney added “You have to understand Kevin, trials take too long we (Granite City) want them out now.” The Granite city hearing officer ruled that I was guilty and “in violation of crime-free law”, he commanded me to begin the eviction promptly or face the revocation of my business license.
I gave my customer as much time to move as I could afford, however due to pressure from Granite city and my customer falling behind on her payments I had to file for eviction.
I contacted Captain Gagich to report that I had began the eviction (assuming he would be pleased), instead he admonished me because I was too slow in evicting my tenant, and I “evicted her for the wrong reason”, as I had listed non-payment as the official reason for filing eviction. He stated that he was going to “have my license revoked anyway”. I later received a call from Captain Gagich, where he stated that Granite city attorneys would not allow him to revoke my business license because my tenant was already under eviction, and that he would “just have to find another way”.
Since then I have been the target of numerous ordinance violations that have no basis in fact. As an example, among several such situations, I received a citation alleging ordinance violations for a rental property which was not owned nor manged by myself. Despite advising Granite city officials and the city attorney of that fact, I was forced to attend not one but three separate court appearances until the matter was abruptly dismissed without explanation. Soon after this dismissal, Granite city apparently issued a new citation because I had “no business license” for the same property which I had previously advised the city that I did not own, and soon after a default judgment was issued in the amount of $750.00. See citation 54540 for more information.
Then in 2017 I was unjustly arrested by Granite city while reporting a felony theft that occurred at one of my properties. Just before taking my mug shot, the booking officer informed me that the arrest was most likely a “‘going-away present’ from Captain Gagich” (who had recently moved to a different municipality). This incident is described in detail in my amended complaint, which is part of my current small claims action against Granite city, the complaint can be viewed on Ticket 378’s dedicated page.
As a result of Granite city’s ongoing harassment campaign, I have been unable to operate my 30+ year Granite City business. In addition to the harassment through the issuance of unsupported citations, and the waste of time and money spent contesting them, Granite city officials have resorted to harassing my tenants at their home. Several of my tenants have been approached by Granite city officials slandering myself, my leases, and my properties; recently during one such visit, city officials offered my client a list of “alternative housing” from “approved landlords”, and in fact that customer left my property soon after, citing what she was told by Granite city officials as her reasoning.
Currently I have 2 vacant houses in Granite city, and city officials spoke to the previous tenants of both properties prior to them leaving; to make matters worse a third tenant has recently contacted me to inform me that they will be leaving because of problems they have been having with Granite city officials. More details on this page.
I am aware of at least one other Granite city landlord who, like myself, has also been the victim of Granite city’s targeted harassment campaign. That landlord is currently involved in Federal legal action against Granite city challenging the ordinance.
I have only seen the downstream effects of this campaign; I don’t know what is really going on, or more importantly why. If I were to hazard a guess however, I would say it likely has something to do with the real-estate left behind by the landlords being driven out of the city, and I would be very interested in learning who is buying up all the low-cost real-estate left behind by the landlords targeted by Granite city.