Oak Park has stopped giving Heritage House Apartments a heads-up before penalizing code violations. The village is now issuing direct citations at the 200-unit senior housing complex at 201 Lake Street in Oak Park, according to the Wednesday Journal, a policy shift that follows months of resident complaints about drug activity, pests, and trespassers in the building.

The Wednesday Journal reported the change on Wednesday, June 11. Village Board members discussed taking the matter to court at a June meeting, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Heritage House is a 14-story building constructed in the late 1970s that houses Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) recipients aged 62 and older. Pacific Management Inc., led by president and CEO Jeff Richards, manages the property under a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development contract running through 2029.

The enforcement escalation follows a June 3 tenant meeting where residents confronted Richards directly. Irma Baker, 84, president of the Heritage House tenants association and a resident since 2007, has been pressing Village Board member James Taglia for help.

"It's all about money, everything goes back to money, goes back to investment, how much money they want to spend to maintain and keep up," Taglia told the Chicago Tribune. "To haul garbage, they charge per container for the pickup, so if you have fewer containers, you pay less."

The inspection history is uneven. Code compliance inspector Tina Brown told the Village Board that a 2023 inspection found 533 property maintenance violations. All were resolved by January 2024. A 2025 inspection of one-third of units turned up only 22 violations. But residents say conditions have deteriorated again since early 2025, citing mice on the first floor, mold in units, overflowing garbage containers, heating problems, and people sleeping in the lobby.

Richards pushed back, telling the Tribune: "We're not slumlords. We've spent a lot of time, effort and money in that property over the years."

Assistant Village Manager Jonathan Burch has recommended a "nuisance property" framework that would require property managers to submit a remediation plan once a building hits a certain complaint threshold. Village Attorney Gregory Smith said the village can seek a court order forcing compliance, with contempt of court as a potential consequence.

Village President Vicki Scaman said she wants the building restored to better condition, "ideally with a new management company" and "with no harm to the families." No vote on the nuisance property plan has been scheduled.