Getting Hosed: Two years later, 93-year-old woman's son-in-law still fighting bogus water bill
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The 93-year-old owner of a South Side six flat is getting hosed – fighting a nearly $60,000 water bill for water that city employees admit was never used.
The CBS 2 Investigators brought you the story of Beatrice Ritchie-Patterson two years ago. On Tuesday, CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey had an update on her fight in this latest installment of our award-winning series, "Getting Hosed."
"My wife went down there. The guy looked at her straight in the eye and said, 'If it's in the computer, we're going to bill you – and there are no exceptions," said Russell Johnson Cochran.
Cochran has taken over the fight for Ritchie-Patterson, his mother-in-law.
"I never thought in my wildest imaginings that would still be trying to resolve this water bill in 2023," he said.
Cochran's mother-in-law has owned the building since 1986. The bills were $80 to $90 a month for years - until they skyrocketed to more than $1,300 in 2018, and kept ballooning…
But as Cochran told CBS 2 Investigator Brad Edwards in 2021, the water wasn't even running.
As Edwards explained, Cochran had a City of Chicago plumber confirm again that the water wasn't running - and then he got a second City of Chicago plumber for confirmation.
Two years later, Cochran is still fighting the bill.
"Can anyone afford to pay that bill? I'm just going to say no," he said, "because it's an unreasonable bill."
The CBS 2 investigators brought his concerns to the city - and another two years later, there are still no changes to his bill. And for years, the big, beautiful building in the Grand Boulevard neighborhood that his mother-in-law owned has been boarded up.
Cochran's attorney tells us he's made multiple attempts to engage in negotiations with the city - and there's been effectively no response.
This week, Cochran even took the issue to City Council.
"The only resolution the Finance Department offered was to put Beatrice, a 93-year-old woman, on a payment plan," Cochran told the City Council on Monday.
He added Tuesday, "I always felt like knowledge equals responsibility - and so the aldermen need to know what's going on.
We reached out to the Chicago Department of Water Management for a status on this case. So far, there has been no response.
Cochran says he will keep fighting - as the property sits empty and bone-dry.
"You can't transfer title on a building that has a water bill outstanding," he said.
Cochran says h e is also on the board of directors of a charity that provides low-cost housing for veterans. He would like to turn the Grand Boulevard property into housing for female veterans – but he needs to resolve the $56,000 bill first.
