Landlord Accused Of Using Illegal "Self-Help Eviction Procedure" In Failed Attempt To Boot Delinquent Family From Rental Home

In Geneva, Illinois, The Geneva Republican reports:

• Early Monday afternoon, the power at Stacey Schnaitman’s house suddenly shut down. “I ran outside,” she said. “There was a man outside that told me, ‘This house is supposed to be vacant.’” But it’s not vacant. Living at the four-bedroom, two-bathroom house on the 1200 block of Illinois Avenue is the Schnaitman family: Stacey, 37, and James, 39, and their children, Greer, 4; Cheyenne, 3; James Jr., 1; and their unborn daughter, Aslyn.

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• The family is amid an eviction dispute with the landlord that could leave the Schnaitmans homeless. They say they’ve been paying most of their bills to landlord Ken Voegele, who says he has received no rent or utility payments for months. [...] St. Charles police were dispatched to the Schnaitman house [...], according to department spokesman Paul McCurtain. Police said the landlord was trying to shut off the home’s water and electricity. Stacey Schnaitman said the landlord had sent a letter to the city saying the house was vacant and asking that utilities be turned off.

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• An e-mail obtained by The Republican sent to the family [...] by Sue Voegele, wife of Ken, warned the family that it would soon be without utilities. “Hi Stacey and Jim,” the e-mail said. “Ken asked me to let you know that the utilities at the house on Illinois Street will be shut off next week.” Robert Surratt, the city’s code enforcement officer, said [...] that he was just on the phone about the situation. “I (told them), ‘Make sure you leave (the utilities) on,’” Surratt said. “People can’t use the city to do their eviction for them. They just can’t. We won’t turn it off to get someone out of a house.”

• Utility bills for the property were in Ken Voegele’s name until Monday, when Stacey Schnaitman said she changed the Nicor Gas and St. Charles bills to her name, on recommendation from the city. According to documents obtained by The Republican, the family had previously been paying the utility bills via checks written to Voegele.

For the story, see Family of five struggles with eviction dispute.