On Saturday, June 26th, our entire apartment flooded during a particularly heavy rainfall. Every single room had about 5"-6" of water. Although we were able to salvage our couch and mattress, many documents and collectibles were lost and a chest of drawers and several shelves were damaged. We were glad that there was no great damage or injury (others had worse damage from falling trees and high winds) and because we didn't lose anything of great value, thought we would be okay. We even looked at the situation as a sign that we needed to purge, digitize and rethink our storage habits.

Unfortunately, our landlord decided that there is enough damage that he would like to do a gut rehab of the apartment and wants us to vacate with all of our belongings as soon as possible. He says he would like to have us return, but will not guarantee that we can, will do no renovations while we are living here and can give us no timeline for repairs or the possibility of returning. He did not renew our lease when it expired, so legally we are on a month-to-month basis and it is in his legal right to ask us to vacate within 30 days. He has not offered any sort of compensation, but has promised to move us into a new location once we find it. He is offering no help in finding another apartment and all of his units are full. We are allowed to stay here, but would be required to sign a release form. Since we have had experience with mold, we don't want to stay here any longer than necessary. The landlord also wants us to pay full rent while we find another apartment. We did consult a lawyer, but he doesn't think that it is worth pursuing any sort of action.

Because Kenney is a 65 y.o. disabled veteran, we have a 10 y.o. big "puppy", I bake pīrāgi, we rely on public transportation and we are in an emergency situation, apartment hunting has not been easy. We are trying not to be too picky, but we need to be picky to be able to be comfortable and function. We have two real estate friend heroes helping us and are sure we will find something soon.

Reality has now set in, however. Even though the moving itself will be taken care of by the landlord, deposits, fees, credit checks, etc. are too much for us to handle, especially since we did not have time to plan for those expenses and we are being required to continue paying rent. Many management companies require 1.5 months rent security deposit, $300-500 move in fees, $250-300 pet fees, as well as application fees. It is likely that we will have to spend $2,500-$3,000 to secure a new apartment and if we don't have the money available right away, the apartment will be given to someone else. It is possible that we will be lucky and find a owner occupied building and won't have to deal with management companies, but because we are in this urgent situation, we can't rely on that.

I am happy to thank anyone who donates with pīrāgi! If you are in the Chicago area, I will bake some as soon as I am able. If you are not, I can send you some as soon as the weather allows. I'm also happy to help cater an event, cook a nice dinner or pot of soup :)