Court orders California landlord to pay $80,000 to tenants after threatening to ICE on them

A judge ordered a Chicago landlord last month to pay $80,000 to former tenants after the landlord threatened to call ICE agents on them during a verbal dispute in June 2020, according to court documents.

According to the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), which filed the suit on behalf of the tenants, this marks the first judgment issued under Illinois’s 2019 Immigrant Tenant Protection Act.

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On February 19, Cook County Circuit Judge Catherine A. Schneider ruled that former landlord Marco Antonio Contreras and his wife, Denise Contreras, must pay over $80,000 in damages, along with attorneys’ fees and legal costs, for violating state law.

The judge also ordered a smaller payment to compensate the tenants for being denied access to their belongings.

Marco and Denise Contreras rented the basement of their single-family home in Ashburn to a couple in 2017. However, the initial agreement was a verbal one that set the monthly rent at $600, including utilities. The payment was to be made at the beginning of every month.

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However, in February 2020, Marco and his wife requested a formal written contract, explaining that it was needed as proof of income for a home loan application. The date for payment was also moved to the 29th of each month. The couple however did not receive a copy of the new contract.

Two months later, despite having already vacated the property, the Contreras couple informed the tenants of a rent increase to $800 per month. In June, the landlords announced the sale of the property and indicated that the tenants must vacate by August.

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Later that month, when the landlords entered the basement to demand the July rent on June 29, a dispute arose. After the tenants offered a prorated payment in light of their planned move, Marco Contreras threatened to notify federal immigration authorities, an action alleged to contravene Illinois state law.