Two dozen families are still homeless after a tornado tore through their west-suburban Woodridge community back on June 20, 2021, and nearly two years later, they still have no clear timeline for when they will be allowed to move back in. Natalie Martinez has the story.
Two dozen families are still homeless after a tornado tore through their west-suburban Woodridge community back on June 20, 2021, and nearly two years later, they still have no clear timeline for when they will be allowed to move back in.
Some of the Woodridge Country Club #5 owners blame their home-owners association (HOA) and property manager for delaying major, structural repairs necessary for them to return home, while the HOA and property manager have pointed to their insurer as responsible for the delays.
Since February, NBC 5 Responds and Telemundo Responde have been speaking with homeowners and piecing together a timeline using public records, emails from the HOA and property manager, as well as the HOA’s own monthly financial reports, to find out what’s keeping these owners from returning home.
While many of the homeowners tell NBC 5 they had personal insurance policies which paid out assistance funds, they say that money ran out long ago and they’re now stuck paying two sets of rent, as well as other monthly expenses for a home they cannot even live in.
“It’s quite infuriating,” said Crystal Tylin, one of the 24 Woodridge Country Club #5 homeowners waiting to return home.
Kirit Rangwala, another homeowner, told us it’s difficult to walk through the shell of his townhome he shared with his wife and 98-year-old mother.
“It is a very heartbreaking thing to see this,” Rangwala said, showing each room. “There’s a lot of tension in this.”
Woodridge Country Club #5 consists of three buildings, with eight units each that are still damaged and have been vacated since 2021.
Rob Burisek owns one of those townhomes, and said just hours before the twister struck that Father’s Day night, he had just gotten an offer on his Woodridge Country Club #5 unit for sale.
“Twenty four hours later, the tornado happened and my life became a nightmare,” Burisek said, now living with his mother in Texas while the repairs are underway. “Little did we know that we’d be sitting here almost two years later.”
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“I think the [property] management company is dragging it out way too far,” said Frances Jacobson, Burisek’s mother.
In fact, five owners expressed the same concerns to NBC 5 and Telemundo about their home-owner’s association (HOA) and its property management company, MC Property Management Corporation or MCPMC: the agencies responsible for their home repairs.
NBC 5 and Telemundo reviewed emails sent from MCPMC to homeowners over the last 21 months and found they do not show a clear timeline given to homeowners for when the repairs were expected to be completed.
MCPMC and the Woodridge HOA did not respond to our questions, either.
From the start, MCPMC told homeowners in Oct. 2021 that the work was “extensive” including foundational work, indoor framing, and electrical repairs needed.
MCPMC said it hoped construction would start in spring 2022 and told owners to “hold off” on other repairs until inspections were completed by its public adjuster, and the insurance adjuster assigned to their claim.
By early December, though, public records show the community hit its first hurdle.
A $1.2 million lien was filed on all of the Woodridge Country Club #5 homes by a disaster cleanup and remediation company called SERVPRO, according to copies of the liens filed with the DuPage County Recorder’s office and shared with homeowners.
SERVPRO told NBC 5 what it said in its legal filings: That MCPMC had hired it to perform restoration services two days after the tornado struck, and the work was completed by Aug. 14.
But SERVPRO “was not paid for the work,” and from Nov. 30, 2021 through Dec. 2, 2021, it filed liens on all of the Woodridge Country Club #5 homes to collect the debt.
Woodridge owners said they were surprised to learn of it, only after they were served with the lien.
“It said, ‘There's been a lien filed on your home due to a $1.2 million unpaid balance,” said Rosa Mora, the daughter of one of the Woodridge Country Club #5 owners. “That was the first red flag.”
That lien debt was not settled until April 7, 2022, when the liens were released, according to DuPage County records and SERVPRO.
The next day, MCPMC obtained its only work permits to-date to repair the homes’ roof and plumbing systems: work that is now completed, according to the Village Administrator.
It wasn’t until this past January that some homeowners say they finally learned from MCPMC how much it estimated all other structural repair and restoration work would cost, in order for them to move back in.
In an email sent on Jan. 9, and reviewed by NBC 5, MCPMC told owners that “in late Aug. 2022, the Public Adjuster (PA,) on behalf of the General Contractor (GC,) submitted a $4.6 million dollar proposal to the association’s insurance adjuster at Farmers.”
But the association hit another roadblock: MCPMC said the HOA’s insurer, Farmers Insurance, required a third-party to inspect the work. Those inspections took place in January, and it’s unclear if Farmers approved the full amount.
MCPMC told owners at the time, “We do understand that this is extremely frustrating and a financial strain for our homeowners and residents… we continue to work on this project daily, and ‘push’ the respective parties for movement on this project.”
Not all of the owners NBC 5 and Telemundo spoke with have blamed the property manager and HOA for the repair delays.
Maria Rivas was the Woodridge Country Club #5 HOA’s former president, and is one of the owners left homeless after the tornado damaged her unit.
Rivas feels Farmers Insurance is responsible for the process taking so long.
“I truly believe that they’re dragging their feet,” Rivas said.
Early this month, Illinois lawmakers and the Mayor of Woodridge held a news conference at the Woodridge Country Club 5 homes, addressing the repair delays and assuring owners that they are listening.
At that news conference, lawmakers also seemed to point the finger at the insurance approval process for the delays.
“We finally got movement with Farmers with rehab and repair on the properties,” said State Senator John Curran of the 41st District. “We see a little light at the end of the tunnel.”
In its only statement to NBC 5 and Telemundo, Carlo Caprio of MCPMC addressed working with Farmers every day since the tornado struck nearly two years ago.
“It is important to understand that this tornado caused an extremely large insurance loss for the association and we have worked tirelessly to get to a resolution with the insurance carrier,” Caprio said by email on April 3.
Caprio continued, “The scope of work and funding for this reconstruction is significant and this is why it has taken so much time to get a resolution and approvals needed from the insurance carrier to start the re-construction efforts.”
Farmers Insurance would not comment beyond that it’s “currently working with its customer to resolve this claim.”
In March, the Woodridge Country Club #5 HOA filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Insurance regarding Farmers Insurance, but state regulators would not elaborate on what the complaint is about, only that it is under review.
But the HOA’s own monthly financial reports show Farmers Insurance has paid out $3.1 million in “insurance proceeds” to the property manager and HOA, from July 1, 2021, through Feb. 28, 2023.
Of that amount, the HOA’s reports state $2.9 million has been spent on “insurance expenses” with no further details or breakdown of what those expenses consist of.
As of Feb. 28, the HOA had $209,010 left over in its “insurance proceeds,” according to the Woodridge Country Club 5’s February 2023 budget report sent to homeowners.
In MCPMC’s statement to NBC 5 and Telemundo, it acknowledged that on March 31, Farmers had approved a “significant payout for the construction phase of the project,” but NBC 5 and Telemundo did not review the financial report for that month.
When asked how the $2.9 million in “insurance expenses” was spent, the HOA and MCPMC did not respond to NBC 5 and Telemundo’s questions.
To date, Village of Woodridge Administrator Al Stonitsch confirms no other work permits have been approved, besides the roofing and plumbing permits from back in April 2022. That permitted work was estimated to cost $1.1 million.
By speaking out, the homeowners who talked to NBC 5 and Telemundo hope they will get a full accounting of how all insurance proceeds have been spent, and the work it will take to get them home.
“We just wish there was more honest communication to help us alleviate this stress or unknowing going on right now,” owner Burisek said.
