Chicago woman billed $233,000 for water she never used in vacant home with no plumbing
A senior citizen's vacant home in the Back of the Yards neighborhood racked up a staggering $233,000 water bill, despite not having any plumbing for years.
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A senior citizen's vacant home in the Back of the Yards neighborhood racked up a staggering $233,000 water bill, despite not having any plumbing for years.
Eligible homeowners and business owners would be able to have their water bills lowered if they can prove their higher bill is the result of leak in the underground service line.
David Steele got the $5,000 refund he'd been wanting for months, but didn't get an explanation why the city suddenly changed its mind.
Glenn Jones can't sell the vacant house until he figures out the water bill issue with the city.
Through our "Getting Hosed" series on bad water bills, we have found that often communication issues between different city systems have often been the source of the headaches.
Even after David Steele won the first round in his dispute over his bogus water bill, the city figured out a way to hose him again.
The Chicago City Council Finance Committee held a hearing Tuesday with the heads of the Water Management and Finance departments.
A week-by-week log of meter readings showed zero water usage on some entries. Other times, the report came back at 6 million gallons used in a week.
The family knew they had unpaid water charges to settle before selling their three-flat in Roseland, but nothing like the amount they got.
The circumstances vary from case to case, of course, but in short, the pattern involves Chicagoans getting socked with bills for water they didn't use.
"You've got people walking around on fixed income and they can't afford to pay a $500 bill," Burns said. "I would like to see mistakes corrected and I would like to see communication. There's no communication!"
"It's just nuts to me that we have this issue that continues to be reported, on and the city departments are not doing anything about it," Villegas said.
Numerous people whose stories we've reported over the past four years have been getting hosed by bogus bills - often rising into the tens of thousands of dollars.
This did not happen until the CBS 2 Investigators got involved.
Connie Abels has been waiting five years for her hearing.
The homeowner was just being an honest guy and alerted the Chicago Department of Water Management to his unusually low bill.
"The issue with being a city employee is we are obligated to pay any city obligation," said paramedic Lisa Beard.
In Chicago when you die, ComEd shuts off your electricity, and Peoples Gas shuts off your gas. But the city does not stop your water.
Illinois' lead pipe situation is the worst in the country.
Yasser Almanaseer said he has had no luck in getting it fixed.
How does a City of Chicago water bill for $70 turn into a $10,000 tab from one bill to the next?
Getting Hosed, our exposé on Chicago's bad water billing, has saved consumers hundreds of thousands of dollars. So we wanted to know - what happens if you take on the City yourself?
"They told me to hire a good lawyer, that this is probably a billing issue with the city."
Aldermen voted against Ald. Daniel La Spata's proposal for helping low-income residents with water bills, while a competing proposal from Mayor Lori Lightfoot remains bottled up in a separate committee.
Hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans with unmetered accounts pay inflated bills – and you can't get a meter for a fair bill until you get a non-lead service line.
A school and a daycare in Joliet have been placed on lockdown after a driver fleeing police barricaded themselves inside a nearby home.
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Police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, arrested a man in Memphis, Tennessee, on Monday in connection with a 1977 homicide.
A suspect was in custody after trying to sexually assault a woman Monday morning in the Millennium Park parking garage in downtown Chicago.
Skyrocketing property taxes continue to be a hot-button issue in Cook County — particularly since last fall, when many residents saw their tax bills increase by 100% or more.
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Skyrocketing property taxes continue to be a hot-button issue in Cook County — particularly since last fall, when many residents saw their tax bills increase by 100% or more.
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For Cook County residents hoping to lower their property tax bills, applications are open for exemptions.
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A new Iowa law bans local nondiscrimination protections on the basis of gender identity after the state became the first in the U.S. to roll back its civil rights code last year.
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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday announced a $1.5 billion investment from biotherapeutics company CSL for a new plasma therapy manufacturing plant in Kanakee.
The owners of the popular Uncommon Ground restaurant, live music venue, and brewery in Chicago's Wrigleyville community announced this week that they're looking for a successor to take over the business.
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The flagship Ann Sather restaurant on Belmont Avenue in Chicago's Lakeview community will be moving later this year, a restaurant representative said Tuesday.
Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen threw some shade at former teammate Michael Jordan in a new pop commercial.
The City Council in Aurora, Illinois, is likely to lay down the hammer on data centers.
Chicago-native John Mulaney announced a new stop at the Wisconsin State Fair this summer.
Following a ribbon-cutting attended by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Saturday, people were let inside the new space, at 5035 N. Broadway right off Argyle Street, for a special open house.
Chuck Norris' family said his death at 86 was sudden, but did not share any details on the cause.
ABC has canceled its already filmed season of "The Bachelorette" starring Taylor Frankie Paul after video surfaced of a 2023 incident in which she was charged with assault.
Acclaimed Chicago bar and music venue The Hideout has been sold to a performer and former employee, but the owners said it will carry on as the same beloved place that visitors have always known.
Lawmakers have left D.C. for vacation without striking a permanent deal to fund the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
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Family, friends, and classmates are mourning the shooting that killed Lilly Bova in unincorporated Glenview over the weekend. Darius Johnson reports.
President Trump says he may send troops to Iran’s main oil export hub on Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf. The statement came as about 2,500 U.S. Marines arrived in the region, with more on their way.
Chicago police are warning people about using online marketplaces after a string of armed robberies in Gage Park involving anime trading cards.
Prosecutors have asked a judge to hold an Indiana woman on charges that she shot and killed the father of her children, his mother, and his stepfather.
Cook County Sheriff's police detectives were searching for a person of interest Sunday after a teenager was shot and killed in the apartment where she lived in unincorporated Glenview the day before.
A plane full of passengers finally made it to Chicago Sunday night, after their flight from New York was diverted to Detroit because of an unruly passenger.
An Illinois State Police squad car was involved in a crash early Monday on Chicago's West Side.
A school and a daycare in Joliet have been placed on lockdown after a driver fleeing police barricaded themselves inside a nearby home.
Two more women have filed lawsuits against Massage Envy, accusing the company of failing to protect them against sexual assaults by two of their therapists.
Homeowners in Berwyn said they are constantly having to pump out sewage to keep it from flooding their basements.
CBS News Chicago learned that she was hired at the school in Mundelein in 2023, which was after DCFS found credible evidence that Servant had injured her children as a form of discipline.
United Steel Workers union representatives said that some workers had already had their access cards deactivated.
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The Chicago Blackhawks are planning to honor the late Troy Murray next month.
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The road to the Final Four is now set, and the Fighting Illini won't have to travel too far, as a trip to Indianapolis is only about two hours away from campus.
Jack Hughes finished with two goals and two assists as the Devils rallied for a 5-3 win over the visiting Blackhawks on Sunday night.
Christian Yelich hit a three-run homer off Seranthony Domínguez to cap a six-run rally in the eighth inning as the Milwaukee Brewers completed a season-opening sweep by beating the Chicago White Sox 9-7 on Sunday.
Police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, arrested a man in Memphis, Tennessee, on Monday in connection with a 1977 homicide.
Prosecutors have asked a judge to hold a woman in custody until trial on charges that she shot and killed the father of her children, his mother, and his stepfather at a home in unincorporated Crete in Chicago's far south suburbs.
Cook County Sheriff's police detectives were searching for a person of interest Monday after a teenager was shot and killed in the apartment where she lived in unincorporated Glenview over the weekend.
Three people were shot, and one of them was killed, at a party in Will County south of Chicago early Sunday morning.
Chicago police on Sunday were looking for a man they say attacked a senior at the Belmont Red-Brown-Purple Line 'L' stop earlier this month.
