Grazina Jonaviciene is listed as a licensed realtor working for O'flaherty Realtors in Palos Hills, IL so of course I believed that she understands and adheres to landlord/tenant laws.
Grazina owns about 7 homes that she rents out at affordable rates. I rented in the basement of a home in DuPage County, IL. I rented for over 2 years with several problems.
The ranch style home is separated into three units. The main floor, an attached in-laws apartment and four rooms in the basement. Each tenant has their own rental agreement.
Mine was a month to month tenancy for one room in the basement and I would provide a 30 day notice when I wanted to leave. I put a $275 security deposit down. My rent was paid on the first of each month. I was the only tenant that I knew of that paid rent on time. Grazina would call me asking me to hunt down whoever did not pay rent on time. She would put me in the middle of her problems with other tenants.
I watched many tenants come and go. Tenants on the main floor and the in - laws apartment signed 1 year leases in most cases. I did not see one tenant complete their lease with the exception of one person. Usually the tenants broke the lease because of maintenance problems. Usually the problem was the leaky roof. Grazina would send over a non english speaking man to fix the roof however he was not capable of doing this type of repair. He would just pretend there was nothing wrong with it and leave. One tenant could not use her master bedroom for three months because water would pour into it every time it rained. Not until her lease was to expire 4 months later did she finally have it fixed.
Water damage was the main problem in the basement where I lived as well. 3 months after I moved in it was raining hard and the power went out. Water poured into the basement. I was asleep when this happened and another tenant from upstairs came and let me know that I needed to move my property off of the floor before it was ruined. Unfortunately I did not get my vacuum cleaner off of the floor in time and it was ruined. I was up most of night tending to this problem. Grazina did not respond to multiple phone calls regarding where I was to sleep that night. Thankfully the upstairs tenant let me stay on her couch.
The next morning I waded through the basement to get some clean clothes so I could go to work. I explained my situation to co-workers (still haven't heard from Grazina) and they suggested I call the Red Cross. The Red Cross came over later that evening and gave me a Visa Card to go stay in a Hotel for a couple of nights. They gave me a food voucher as well. They helped me when my landlord should have helped me. 3 days later I returned to my room, Grazina's son Karolius sucked the water up with a shop vac and then put a drying compound on the carpet to further absorb the water. I was thankful that Korlius did what he could as the Red Cross instructed me that if the water was not removed in 72 hours a mold problem would occur. Unfortunately Karolius left the drying compound for me to vacuum later. He never offered to finish the job.
Two more times water was an issue in the basement but not as bad as the first time. Grazina allowed the water to dry on its own. No action was taken for the smaller water damages.in the spring of 2008 the water heater (in the basement) was leaking. Before Karolius could replace it mold had already began to spread throughout the basement. The air conditioner was not on at this time to relieve some of the dampness therefore the ceiling tiles became saturated with water leaving them heavy, then moldy once dried. The water heater lines throughout the home caused this damage.
We had problems with utilities being turned off because the bills weren't being paid. Grazina never really bothered to put the issue of who would pay utilities in the leases. She would just hope that somebody would put them in their name and pay them.
The above is just some history of the property, tenants and Grazina.
Now to my complaint: Grazina rented to a new tenant on July 1. She was to rent two of the rooms in the basement with her 4 year old son. She really wanted the in-laws apartment but that was already rented. She told me this many times. She stated that Grazina would try to get the tenant out so she could have it. This new tenant was determined to get the in-laws apartment so she started calling the police on everybody about everything. One silly thing she called the police about was a bench (that was mine) was moved. She stated to the police that someone moved it just because they knew she enjoyed sitting on it. Another incident, she called the police stating the tenant who lived in the in-laws apartment stabbed her sons ball with a knife. It was explained to her that one of the tenants invited her daughter over who brought her dog with her and the dog played with the ball and ultimately popped it. No malice whatsoever.
This new tenant called the police about 14 times about various nonsense. No arrests were ever made. Neighbors started asking me questions about her as they felt she may be a "junkie" and they do not want her presence making the neighborhood look bad. 3 neighbors told me they would be contacting the DuPage County Building and Zoning Enforcement as it is illegal to rent the house as Grazina is renting it. It's a single family home and it cannot be rented to multiple tenants with separate rental agreements. It is especially dangerous to rent in a basement where in case of a fire there is only one way out.
Being nervous about my rights I contacted Building and Zoning Enforcement. I was instructed that yes laws were being violated and the house would be "tagged" for zoning violations. I was told that under no circumstances could I continue to rent in the basement. I was instructed that the landlord would have to take me to court to terminate my tenancy and a judge would allow me 30 days to find another place to live. My eviction would be Grazina's proof that she complied with the zoning laws.
The house was tagged on 8-14-08 for several violations. The violation notice included maintenance issues such as the mold in the basement. I figured I would have until about the end of September to find another place to live.
On or about August 23rd I came home from work and there was no water in the house. I called Grazina without a response from her. Knocked on the door of the girl who called the police constantly to ask if she knew what was going on. She was in her room with her son however she would not answer the door. I had guests coming over for a barbeque as this was Friday night and I needed to know what was going on so I could decide if I needed to cancel the barbeque. The tenant in the in-laws apartment decided to have the police knock on the girls door for information. Maybe she would answer for them.
The police came and knocked for about 20 minutes. An officer tried to contact Grazina as well to no avail. We all heard the boy in the room whimper however the officer would not acknowledge this. I used my tape recorder to record this incident as I was tired of the "he said, she said" nonsense that had been going on. The officer on the scene was made aware of this and chose his words carefully.
Since the officer was unable to break down the girls door and demand answers I called my neighbor over to take a look at the problem. He found where the water main is in the basement and informed me that someone had turned it off. I asked him to turn it back on and he did. I went thru with my barbeque since I now had water.
BTW the girl in the room finally did show herself and the cop was down the street waiting for her. Of course more chaos with her, and finally she admitted that she or her son broke the bathroom sink and Grazina instructed her to turn off the water. So now water was leaking all over the basement and we had no choice but to turn the water off again. Now I have water in the basement on the floor but no running water. What a nightmare.
On the following day, a Saturday I called Grazina (she actullay answered her phone for once) and told her to forget the eviction proceedings required by Building and Zoning Enforcement that I was going to start moving out some of my belongings this weekend. The fact that there is no running water, water on the floor and the mold was out of control the basement was now uninhabitable. She agreed that I was paid up until the end of the month and she would allow me until then to remove all of my belongings. I would also be entitled to the return of my security deposit. I saved her the cost of having to evict me to comply with the building and zoning violations.
I moved some of my belongs that Saturday to a friends house where I would be staying. The following weekend would be the end of the month and Labor Day weekend. I called Grazina again and told her I would remove the remaining items on the following Sunday. She was in agreement. Notice how she answers her phone when you are willing to save her money?
I returned to remove my remaining belongings on Sunday (day before Labor Day) and the locks on the door to the basement were changed. I called the police, took them 2 hours to arrive. I made a report and they instructed me to set up a time with Grazina to retrieve my belongings. At the time of the report the police tried repeatedly to contact Grazina to no avail.
On Monday evening (Labor Day) I finally reached Grazina and we agreed to meet at 6pm the following day to retrieve my belongings. She failed to show up.
I called her later and she said she would like to try at a later date. I stated that I have been cooperative and also saved her the cost of having to evict me and I would no longer play her games. I told her I'd see her in court and never spoke to her again.
I contacted the Judge Mathis show via the website and recieved a call from Karen about 2 weeks later. She stated that Grazina would have to be willing to participate to have Judge Mathis hear the case. Of course Grazina would not participate.
I have calculated my damages to be about $2,600. To file a case in small claims would cost me about $300 which I do not have. I used all of my savings finding alternative housing. Furthermore, even if I win my case against Grazina does not guarantee that she would pay the judgement. Actually I know she would not pay the judgement due to the following information retained via a private investigation.
Grazina Jonaviciene was charged by the Village of Oakbrook Terrace in 2004 for violation of land usage. Again in 2008 by the same Village. She obviously believes she is above the law. The 2008 case against her is ongoing for failure to obtain a rental dwelling license.
Grazina demonstrates repeatedly that she does not have to comply with rental laws. I recently visited the home in DuPage County that I used to reside in. The main floor of the house is considered legal for renting therefore I was able to visit the tenant there. The in-laws apartment was tagged for having a gas stove in it, a single family home in DuPage County can only have one gas stove. It was permitted (when added to the home) to be a sitting room. I do not have personal knowledge of whether or not Grazina was able to have it re-zoned as an in-laws apartment suitable for renting however the stove is still there, new tenants are residing in the unit. The girl with the boy remains in the basement which under no circumstances is anyone to rent this area of the home. A gas stove remains in the basement as well. As far as I know DuPage County does not have a case against Grazina for continuing to violate the zoning laws there.
Another reason I believe that Grazina believes that she is above the law is because every time she gets caught doing something wrong she does not correct the wrong, she repeats it.
Examples: The town she lives in, Burr Ridge has now cited her for a second time regarding her lack of control of her dogs. Obviously her neighbors are fed up with her disregard and continue to complain to the police.
Well, that's my rip off report. Grazina Jonaviciene ripped me off in the amount of $2,600. I would love to take her to court but I feel it will be a waste of time and money. I suggest that everybody refrain from renting from this woman as you will most likely be renting in violation of Building and Zoning laws. Grazina will not assist you when she gets caught, she will make you a victim.
I will continue to monitor the crimes Grazina commits and report accordingly. If the media would like to launch their own investigation I would cooperate 100%.
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