condemned apartments

Urbana tenants struggle to find new homes

Submitted by CU Citizen Access on Fri, 2011-05-13 15:57

By Jose Diaz/For CU-CitizenAccess/URBANA – Ashlee Bituin lives with her 4-year-old son and is eight months pregnant with her second child. Her doctor has told her she cannot work.

On Dec. 15, 2010, she signed a one-year lease at Urbana Townhomes, located in the 1000 block of South Lierman Avenue in Urbana. Just three months later, she received a letter from the city of Urbana notifying her that the apartment building where she was living had been condemned. She had one month to vacate the apartment.

Jose Diaz/Clemmie Pettigrew, her two children and Ashlee Bituin stand outside Pettigrew’s apartment. Pettigrew has 3 children and is unemployed. She had to move to Memphis to live with her family. Bituin is 8 months pregnant and cannot work. She had to move in with friends and will start looking for a place of her own after she has her baby and can go back to work.

Landlord´s legal troubles grow

Submitted by CU Citizen Access on Sun, 2009-08-23 10:36

CHAMPAIGN — A Champaign landlord facing a criminal charge for allegedly renting an unsafe apartment may lose four apartment buildings and two rental houses after defaulting on a nearly $1.8 million mortgage.

The landlord said that he´s been singled out by the city because of his race and that he wants to reorganize his business or find a buyer.

A federal bankruptcy judge has given Herget Bank of Pekin permission to auction properties that Bernard Ramos owns on West Church Street in Champaign and on South Lynn Street in Urbana.

The properties are scheduled to be auctioned Sept. 25.