Metropolitan Tenants Organization

My appreciation for the work done by the MTO is slightly mitigated by one complaint:
Their web site lists a number of lawyers who represent tenants in disputes with their landlords, but, as expected, offers no advice or endorsement. I found my excellent, excellent attorney from that list. However, I am aggrieved that the lawyer who represented my landlord is also on that list. That would be no big deal, except that that lawyer (and his firm) played very, very dirty, and actually became instruments of the harassment I was suffering from the landlord. My landlord’s attorney eventually realized the landlord had no case and it was not winnable (I have exhaustive documentation of all of my landlord’s actions), and simply held everything up with pointless motions and (I think) burned through my landlord’s retainer, and then eventually got himself excused from representing my landlord for nonpayment. At one point, he even approached my attorney for a very sneaky deal which would benefit both lawyers and be a detriment to the landlord and myself (my attorney told him where to put it). In sum, the lawyer left everything worse — my justice is delayed, the landlord’s costs have been maximized, and what should have taken a month or two is approaching a year.
So: the takeaway is that (as I have learned) the landlord-​tenant legal community in Chicago is pretty small. There is no mystery about who acts like a professional and who does not. While the MTO may shy away from making any recommendations, they should omit misbehaving attorneys from their referral site. Sometimes, this misbehavior is public record; people seeking a lawyer from the MTO web site should check the Illinois Bar Association disciplinary site :
if they would prefer to end up with a lawyer like mine, who believes in tenant’s rights, than with a sneaky mercenary, who simply believes in getting paid one way or another.

Hi, my name is Tenisha Wilkerson. After being on hold for more than 20 mins this afternoon, a Charlie George answered the call. I am now thinking that was a false name I was given. After telling him my situation with my landlord, he proceeded to respond with an absolute attitude. I requested that he not talk to me in the tone that he was speaking to me in. I did not give him attitude. I was simply looking for advice on what to do with my situation. He stated that he could give me lawyer information, which he did not do that in the end. So I asked for a supervisors name and/​or number. He said, «NO!» very rude and abruptly. I then questioned his responser and he said that it was an organization. So I asked for the information of someone higher than he. He said «C’mon ma’am!»
I have to say I am very displeased with your services and will not be referring anyone to your organization.

I called these guys twice. The first time I called them, the person was articulate, engaging and very helpful. The second time, not so much. They were hard to understand, short with their answers and didn’t even understand the question I was asking. This is a volunteer based organization, and I think it can be helpful, but you could always just read the RTLO and the Municipal Code of Chicago to find your answers.

These are the people who told me to call FEMA after my bedroom flooded. Nuff said.