There is growing evidence that city officials knew, or should have known, about dangerous living conditions inside a South Shore apartment building long before federal immigration agents raided it last week.
Over the weekend, CWBChicago reported that social media videos posted roughly three weeks before the raid showed extensive flooding on the building’s first and second floors, doors kicked off their frames, squatters occupying abandoned units, and tenants running extension cords down hallways and along the exterior to reach working outlets.
Now, the real estate outlet The Real Deal reports that Chicago building inspectors visited the property at 7500 South South Shore Drive just two weeks before the raid, underscoring that officials were aware that people, including children, were living in unsafe and unhealthful conditions in a building plagued by illegal activity.
According to the outlet, the building’s lender, Wells Fargo, has been pressuring its owner to “re-assert control over the building.” In a recent court filing, the bank claimed “the building is unsecured, which allows non-tenants to access the interior. There has also been increased criminal activity and shootings at the property, which is located across the street from an elementary school.”…