Property owner Suzie B. Wilson owed more than $15 million in fines for rat-related code violations — and, along with her sister, now faces legal trouble after a joint investigation by Illinois Answers Project and Block Club.
Rats
Posted inFollow-Up
‘Empire of Neglected And Hazardous Vacant Lots’ Declares Bankruptcy, But City of Chicago Cries Fraud
City attorneys point to transfer of troubled properties to South Dakota shell companies and siphoning money from bank accounts in a court filing.
Posted inFollow-Up
City of Chicago Amps Up Its Legal Battle Against ‘City’s Worst Landowner’
The city is suing Northbrook resident Suzie B. Wilson and her company for more than $10 million, alleging they failed for years to clean up a hazardous West Englewood dump. Wilson was featured in a Illinois Answers Project/Block Club investigation last year.
Posted inFollow-Up
City Targets Real Estate Empire, Owing Millions in Rat-Related Tickets, as ‘Extreme Scofflaws’
Chicago attorneys want to merge several thousand court judgments, totaling more than $9.3 million, so they can be ‘pursued together in the most efficient manner possible’
Posted inFollow-Up
City Goes After Firms That Owe $15M in Rat-related Tickets After Illinois Answers/Block Club Investigation
The debtor is a real estate empire that’s looking for a big payday by selling land for the Red Line expansion. But the city says not so fast.
Posted inFollow-Up
City Plans to Spend $1.5 Million More to Fight Rats in 2024
The budget boost calls for three new rat-fighting crews as Chicago continues to be the “rattiest” in America.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Why Chicago is Losing the War on Rats
New York has a Rat Czar. Other cities are trying new trapping methods. But the “rattiest city in America” can’t keep up with skyrocketing rodent complaints, data shows.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Local Governments Get Slapped with Rat-Related Tickets
In the past four-and-a-half years, the City of Chicago has fined local agencies, including the CHA and the Cook County Land Bank Authority, more than $750,000.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
One Real Estate Empire, $15M in Unpaid Rat-Related Tickets
A group of real estate companies managed by a north suburban woman has racked up hundreds of rat-related tickets on properties — many on Chicago’s South and West sides.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
East Coast Cities Are Zapping Rats With High-Tech Traps
SMART Boxes shock rats with electricity, collect their carcasses, then share data wirelessly with local officials.
