Eddie Foss' $10 a month Living Space (6) & Still no payment from Fox Management Group (#26 & #27)

At the May 2007 Board meeting (after my discovery of the Secret Apartment), I asked Mara Fox about who was using the '58 basement common area. I was told Edward Vincent Foss rented it.
I requested copies of the rent receipts and lease.
Then-Treasurer Carol Krengelis was extremely hesitant to provide the info, demanding to know why it was wanted. Once she was told, she refused to provide the info at all. (Fox, surprisingly, provided the material in record time when asked)
The "rent" listed is only $10 per month, and hasn't changed from 2002 to 2008! Todd Stroger doesn't have that good a deal!

Interestingly, the invoice says the space is leased for "storage"!
Storage? Storage of what?
It's obviously being used as a living/work space, a violation of the stated purpose according to Fox Management Group's own records, and, I believe, a violation of Chicago's Condo & Building Codes!
Plus, Mara Feldman-Fox is well aware of the useage, having been shown the pix you've seen on this blog at several meetings! So much for "plausible deniability", eh?

In the Fox Management records the only "lease" on file is a document which states..."I Edward V. Foss agree to rent the front room with the glass block window in the '58 building basement for a fee of $10 per month, made payable to Claremont Condominium Association. I have the approval of the other Board members and will lease the space so long as it does not interfere with the interests of the Claremont Condominium Association."
The document is undated and unsigned by Eddie Foss (as the leasee) or any of the Board members.
Why didn't the Board members (one of whom was a lawyer) sign it? Could it be they knew it was not valid?

We interrupt this narrative again for more mundane matters; Monday's total for Fox Management Group's unpaid bill...$100.07. (they broke the $100 barrier only one day later than I predicted!) Tuesday's (today's) total is $101.07!

Tomorrow: Fox Management Group to me: "You have the right to remain silent! We suggest you exercise it!" (it's a paraphrase, but not far off from the actual letter...)

Eddie Foss' $10 a month Living Space (5) & Still no payment from Fox Management Group (#25)

Now, you may be wondering, how large is this $10 per month living space...
Would you believe over 400 square feet (424.65'...19'x22.35")?
True!

Besides the main room, Eddie has sole access to the kitchen area and the adjacent empty room, which make up the total area in red on the diagram. That's almost 2/3rds the size of the condo units on the line above him!

And the electricity for his space heater, stereo system, antique non-energy-efficent dehumidifier, lights and other assorted goodies is FREE! (Actually, since it's leeched off the basement's common-area line, the other owners & residents, including myself, end up paying for it to the tune of $30 per condo unit per year!)

We interrupt this narrative again for more mundane matters; Friday's total for Fox Management Group's unpaid bill...$99.08.

Monday; Like Indiana Jones, we uncovered the Secret Apartment of Foss, now follow as we excavate the Paradoxical & Perplexing PaperWork of Fox Management!

Eddie Foss' $10 a month Living Space (4) & Still no payment from Fox Management Group (#24)

I then moved up to the stairs leading to the '58 lobby...


...turned, took this shot of more shelving with equipment and chemicals and the inside of the exit door to the 58 lobby, which you'll note has only ONE lock...


...and finally took a shot from the '58 lobby looking into the previously-secret apartment! I later learned that the room was once designated the "Party Room" and was used by ALL residents for various functions...until 2002, when Eddie Foss appropriated it for personal use.


On August 24th, 2007, Ed added new locks to the doors of his $10 per month living space. When he saw that I was photographing the process, he called the police. After I showed them the material you've just seen, they just laughed at him and left.

We interrupt this narrative again for more mundane matters; Thursday's total for Fox Management Group's unpaid bill...$98.10.
And we finally received the assessment bill for October, along with the notification of the next Board Meeting. Payment, of course, had already been sent. This leads us to suspect that it was deliberately sent late in order to incur late fees. The envelope was postmarked Sept. 23rd. (It should have been here on September 20th!)

Eddie Foss' $10 a month Living Space (3) & Still no payment from Fox Management Group (#23)

Light streamed thru another room's glass block window. I followed the light into the large front room filled with furniture, including an easel and a drawing table with an space heater and an antique dehumidifier under it! (explaining the noise I constantly heard from the 58 lobby. I had thought it was the boiler, since I thought this was part of the Boiler Room!)...


...other assorted furniture...


...a large couch...


...shelves containing paint, thinner, and other liquids (which beggars the question how were dangerous chemical fumes properly-ventilated with only two tiny windows in the glass-block front?)
The area was obviously being used as a living/work space, not as storage space, as I had been previously-told by Carol Krengelis!

We interrupt this narrative again for more mundane matters; Wednesday's total for Fox Management Group's unpaid bill...$97.13.
And we still have not received the assessment bill for October, along with the notification of the next Board Meeting. Considering the High Holy Days are upon us and Fox's office schedule is about to become irregular as a result, it behooves them to get the bill to us ASAP so we can pay it on time. We'll probably send payment tomorrow (Delivery Confirmation, of course) without the late invoice, so it'll arrive by the 30th. (We know the value of meeting deadlines. even if Fox Management Group doesn't.)

Tomorrow: Out the Secret Exit and Back to Reality!

Eddie Foss' $10 a month Living Space (2) & Still no payment from Fox Management Group (#22)

When last we left our hero, he had discovered a hitherto-unknown living space in the basement common area of '58, where almost all Claremont unit owners and residents (those who moved in after 2002) believed only community storage space and the building's boiler room existed!
Having passed thru the tiny boiler room into the kitchen area, his eye is drawn to light coming from a glass block window in an adjacent room...


To my right, light streamed thru yet another room's glass block window. I followed the light into the large front room filled with furniture, including an easel...


...a drawing table with an old dehumidifier and space heater under it! (The antique dehumidifier explained the noise I constantly heard from the 58 lobby. I had thought it was the boiler, since I had thought this was part of the Boiler Room!)...


...other assorted furniture...

We interrupt this narrative for more mundane matters; Tuesday's total for Fox Management Group's unpaid bill...$96.17. And we still have not received the assessment bill for October, along with the notification of the next Board Meeting. Considering the High Holy Days are upon us and Fox's office schedule is about to become irregular as a result, it behooves them to get the bill to us ASAP so we can pay it on time.
(Or don't they want us to pay them on time?
They tried to impose a bogus late charge at least once! It's an old credit card company trick. If the consumer doesn't catch it, it's "free" money for the company.
Of course, we had USPS Delivery Confirmation proof they received our payment on time and Fox Management Group had to withdraw the late charge.)

Tomorrow: A Frightening Sight!

Eddie Foss' $10 a month Living Space & Still no payment from Fox Management Group (#21)

In early May, 2007, I passed by the normally-locked and inaccessible Boiler Room and noticed a plumber working on the Boiler. We chatted and he told me the total heating system for both buildings was in this small room! Wondering what took up the rest of the common area/basement space residents and owners had no access to, I saw, to the left, an unlocked door with no warning signage (above), so I went thru it.

Once I entered the room beyond the boiler room, I saw a kitchen area and yet another, empty, room with no windows. Foolishly, I didn't take a picture of the room at the time because it was empty. I did notice there was a big hole in the ceiling of the empty room. I did not know at the time it was water damage from a leak (which occurred in 2004) for which condo association money had been allocated, but the damage had obviously had not been fixed! So why was the money paid out? Note: this photo is from the kitchen area facing the boiler room door.

To my right, light streamed thru yet another room's glass block window. I followed the light...

On a more mundane matter; Monday's total for Fox Management Group's unpaid bill...$95.22.

Tomorrow...down the rabbit hole...

Still no payment from Fox Management Group (#20)

Friday's total for Fox Management Group's still-overdue bill: $94.28. It'll be $100 in a week or so!

Starting Monday: the multi-part Startling Saga of Eddie Foss' $10 a month living space. (It's NOT a typo! Ten Dollars a month!)
With pix aplenty! (and a few graphs & charts)

Still no payment from Fox Management Group (#19)

Having not heard back from Stuart Fox, I'm hoping he does the intelligent thing and sends a payment check with the condo assessment notice which should arrive on the 20th. (He does sound like the more rational of the Fox pair.)

Thursday's total for Fox Management Group's still-overdue bill: $93.35

Still no payment from Fox Management Group (#18)

Wednesday's total for Fox Management Group's overdue bill: $92.43

Still no payment from Fox Management Group (#17)

Tuesday's new total for Fox Management Group's overdue bill: $91.52

Still no payment from Fox Management Group (#16)

Heard from Mara Feldman-Fox's hubby/business partner Stuart Fox, whom I've never seen in person.
He claims to be "unaware" of the bill Fox Management owes. (Fox Management Group received the bill at the end of July, and had every opportunity to respond to it before it was due. They failed (A word synonymous with Fox recently). It came due, and is now racking up late charges.)
Personally, I think he's stalling for time, to, at the very least avoid the late charges.
I'd advise him to pay up, but that's just me...

Monday's new total $90.61

Still no payment from Fox Management Group (#13,14,15)

It's Saturday, and I haven't posted in a couple of days due to working for a living (with clients who, unlike Fox Management Group, actually pay their bills.)
Billing update of money due from Mara Feldman-Fox's company (late fee of 1% cumulative added daily):
Wednesday, Sept. 10: $87.94
Thursday, Sept. 11: $88.82
Friday, Sept. 12: $89.71

It'll be over $90 on Monday (From a $75 bill Mara failed to pay)

Still no payment from Fox Management Group (#12)

No payment received from Mara Fox's Fox Management Group.
New total owed: $87.07

Still no payment from Fox Management Group (#11)

No payment received from Fox Management Group.
New total: $86.21

A Stalker? 2

Normally I don't post on weekends, but I went down to do laundry this morning, and found the lock on our storage space flipped open, again, and the note to Eddie Foss missing, again.
I replaced the note in the cover and it hadn't been flipped as of last night...
Interpret as you will.

Still no payment from Fox Management Group (#9&10)

Update for both Thursday & Friday.
No payment received from Fox Management Group either day.
Thursday total: $84.51
Friday total: $85.36

A Stalker?/Still no payment from Fox Management Group (#8)

Over the past few weeks, I've noticed that the padlock on our storage space in the basement of '60 has been tampered with by "persons unknown"
It's an Ace padlock with a weather-proof flap. I leave the flap up.
Some idiot (or should I say "Ed-iot") has been flipping the flap open, usually very early in the morning.
Since Edward Vincent Foss (with whom I've been having a great deal of trouble due to my exposing what I believe is his misuse of a condo common area as personal living space, more about that in a couple of days) leaves very early in the morning, and has a habit of exiting the building down the back way, past the basement storage space, it seemed likely the culprit was him.
To test my theory, I placed a note saying "Ed-iot Foss opened this lock!" on both sides of the paper and placed it inside the lock's flap so that, when the flap was opened, the paper would fall to the floor and unfold.
When I looked in the storage space this evening, the lock's flap was open, and the paper was...missing!
If it wasn't Eddie, I believe whoever it was would've left the paper on the ground where it fell. Why would they have cared what it said, if they weren't the person named on the paper?

In other news: New total for Fox Management Group's unpaid bill: $83.67

Still no payment from Fox Management Group (#7)

No check in the mail today. so Fox Management Group owes me $82.84! (The original $75 bill plus 1% per business day cumulative late charges.)