A group of tenants have reached a settlement in their long-running class action suit against landlord Sargon Isaac, but only after a judge nearly sanctioned Isaac for alleged “unnecessary delays” in actually signing the agreement.
Initially filed by three former tenants of Isaac’s Evanston properties in December 2021, the case has since snowballed into a consolidated group of four lawsuits and a fifth pending suit with 15 named plaintiffs who rented from Isaac in Evanston and Chicago. Each one makes similar accusations that the landlord violated the two cities’ Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinances as well as state and federal law by failing to properly maintain the tenants’ apartment buildings and retaliating against those who complained.
Cook County Judge Patrick Stanton gave preliminary approval to the settlement agreement on May 8. Under the terms of the agreementanyone who rented from Isaac in Evanston or Chicago for at least 30 straight days between March 3, 2018, and May 8, 2025, is eligible to claim one of three options for a monetary settlement:
- A cash payment of $350.
- For current Isaac tenants, a rent credit of $700 toward a current or future balance.
- For former Isaac tenants who still owe rent or other fees, a credit of up to $700 toward their balance.
Additionally, all but one of the named plaintiffs will receive $16,333.33 each, and both the plaintiffs and claimants can request any eviction actions brought against them by Isaac be sealed. Finally, Isaac is required to contract a property manager for his Evanston and Chicago properties within 60 days of the court’s final approval, which is currently scheduled for Sept. 10.
In an email to the RoundTable, plaintiff attorney Sheryl Weikal wrote that she and her clients are “gratified” to reach a settlement that “improves the quality of housing” by requiring greater property management.
“Everyone deserves stable and decent housing, and this settlement goes a long way to realizing housing as a human right for everyone in Evanston,” Weikal wrote. “There is still a lot of work to be done, but this settlement is a major step towards true housing security for all Evanstonians.”
She also hopes “every eligible class member will take advantage” of the settlement’s benefits. Known eligible claimants will be sent notice of the settlement via mail and email by May 29, and must submit their claims by July 17.
Isaac and his attorney did not respond to emails requesting comment on this story.
Sanctions moved settlement forward
Though the settlement is moving forward now, court filings indicate it had been on the verge of approval for over two years while Isaac held out on signing it, only moving forward after the court set a short deadline under threat of financial penalties and other sanctions.
Weikal filed a motion requesting those sanctions on March 28, writing that over two years after mediation was held in fall 2022, the case was still hung up on Isaac’s request for more time to sign the agreement.
“Even after Defendants’ counsel agreed to terms on multiple occasions, Defendants have refused to actually sign the settlement agreement or agree to move for preliminary approval,” Weikal wrote. “Either Defendants will settle this case, or they will not, but there should and must be a cost imposed for the endless delays based on what can only be termed as bad faith promises Defendants never had any intention of honoring.”
She argued Isaac’s goal “is evidently to delay this case as much as possible in hopes the Plaintiffs will go away,” noting that one of the plaintiffs, Tracy Williams, passed away while the lawsuit was pending. Her estate is now listed as a plaintiff, represented by her children.
In all, Weikal asked Judge Stanton to order Isaac and his attorney to justify why their inaction didn’t rise to being in contempt of the court, rule in her clients’ favor by default or restrict Isaac from introducing evidence at trial, and charge Isaac for all attorney fees and costs incurred since May 2023, when she first sent discovery requests that remained unanswered.
Isaac objected to the requests, but Stanton sided with Weikal and the tenants and put the landlord on a two-day notice. The judge ordered on April 2 that unless Isaac delivered a signed copy of the settlement agreement to Weikal by 5 p.m. on April 4, he would have to pay the tenants for attorney fees and other costs.
The settlement agreement, jointly signed by all parties, was filed with the court on April 4.
