Chicago Homeowner In 3-Unit Condo Depletes Savings After Footing Bill To Carry Entire Building As Others Lose Title To Foreclosure, Deed Forfeiture

In Chicago, Illinois, the Chicago Tribune reports:

• It is hard to tell whether Traci Hargrove is moving on or staying put. On one day she tends the garden at her Rogers Park three-flat, preparing to plant impatiens. But the next day she removes the drapes in her den and takes down her ceiling fans, because she fears losing her home.

• Hargrove is caught in the middle. Below her is a foreclosed property and above her is a unit whose owner has stopped paying assessments. Like a lot of condo owners in Rogers Park, she has paid her mortgage and assessments on time, but has been forced to foot the heat, water and other maintenance bills for the building. "If it were my fault, I could handle it. But my livelihood and happiness is dependent on other owners in the building," she said. "I pay what I have, but it's not enough."

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• "I had no clue what I was getting into," said Traci Hargrove, a part-time driver for Pace, who now acts as the building's handyman and manager. "I pay the utilities, take care of the lawn, electrician work and extermination. I don't want this job. I'm not a landlord. Those aren't my tenants."

• The unit upstairs is owned by the federal government as part of a deed forfeiture. The former owner no longer lives there, and Hargrove is trying to evict the tenant to gain possession of the condo. If she succeeds, she will be able to rent the unit for up to 13 months and collect unpaid assessments.

• Hargrove would use that money, in part, to pay off the $8,122.82 Peoples Gas bill. She has kept the gas company from cutting off service by paying the association's bill out of her personal checking account. "We have depleted our entire savings to hold on to our house," Hargrove, 47, said. "If I leave my home, I want to leave because I'm ready to go, not because someone is forcing me or intimidating me into leaving."

For the story, see The hidden housing crisis (Rogers Park hit hard by condo foreclosures).