South Side Couple Who Evicted Alleged Squatter Now Faces Foreclosure on Same House

Marcia and Carlon Lee finally got Shermaine Powell-Gillard out of their South Side house. Now they might lose the house anyway.

The couple spent months trying to remove Powell-Gillard and her boyfriend, who they say had taken over the property without permission. Their case drew attention last year after a local investigation into the dispute aired, and Powell-Gillard was arrested soon after. She later pleaded guilty to theft and was sentenced to 24 months probation and 50 hours of community service.

By the time the Lees got the house back, it wasn't in the condition they'd left it. Marcia Lee said Powell-Gillard damaged the property before leaving.

"When we did get her out of the home, she destroyed the home," Lee said.

Repairing the damage cost money the couple didn't have lined up, and the mortgage payments slipped while they worked to get the house back on the market. Lee said she kept in weekly contact with a representative from the lender, Silver Hill Capital, throughout that stretch, explaining the delay and asking for patience.

"I've talked to this rep every single week. I let him know we were going to be late on the mortgage because the property is damaged and we have to fix it up," Lee said. "He told me, 'Keep us abreast, Marcia. We're going to do our best to help you out.'"

Instead, the Lees were served with a foreclosure notice. Lee said she is still working with the mortgage company but has not been able to stop the process.

"We are fighting with the mortgage company," she said. "It has put me in a position where I can't sleep at night."

Silver Hill Capital did not respond to a request for comment on the foreclosure or whether it would work out a modified payment plan with the family.

Lee said her ask is straightforward: she wants the missed payments added to the back of the loan rather than forgiven or demanded all at once, so the family can keep making current payments while catching up over time.

"I am asking them to put the payments on the back end, not relinquish the payments, just work with me," she said.

With the foreclosure moving forward, Lee said she now intends to file for bankruptcy, which she sees as her best remaining option to hold onto the house.

The Lees' fight over the property helped produce a change beyond their own case. Their experience, along with accounts from other Chicago homeowners dealing with similar situations, helped build support for a new Illinois law that took effect January 1. The law gives police new authority to remove someone illegally occupying a home once the owner can show proof of their right to the property, a process that previously often required homeowners to go through lengthy civil eviction proceedings even when no lease or rental agreement existed.

Lee said she is glad the law passed but doesn't see it as a resolution to what her family went through.

"We got this law passed, which we were grateful for that. But to go through the things that we went through to get the law passed, it's very stressful," she said.

Almost two years have passed since Powell-Gillard first occupied the house. Powell-Gillard's criminal case is now closed, and the new state law is on the books for other homeowners facing similar situations. The Lees' own house is still tied up in a foreclosure filing, with no resolution date set.

Lee said she has not given up on reaching an agreement with the lender before the bankruptcy filing moves forward. For now, the couple is waiting to hear back from Silver Hill Capital while preparing paperwork for bankruptcy court.