Everything on this page comes from filings in First Bank of Highland Park v. The Fulton Building, LLC; Michael P. Federow; Unknown Owners, Cook County Chancery No. 2025 CH 10558. Anyone can pull the docket from the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County.
A $2,450,000 loan taken on the building in September 2020 matured in September 2025 and was not paid. The lender filed to foreclose in October 2025. The owner's own answer acknowledges the loan and the default. After a hearing on August 28, 2026, the court entered an order on August 31, 2026 appointing a receiver, Daniel J. Hyman, over the owner's objection.
The tenants welcomed a receiver. The court record since then shows that the receiver has not posted the notice the law requires before he may collect rent, has served five-day notices built on the former owner's disputed back-rent figures, and has not answered the tenants' written repair requests except by demanding proof of their right to live in their homes. The tenants of Unit 3N have asked the court to instruct him. Those requests and the receiver's own motions are set before Judge James A. Wright on October 26, 2026 at 1:00 p.m.
$2,450,000 loan, note, mortgage, assignment of rents, and personal guaranty executed.
The lender gives written notice of default.
It is not paid.
First Bank of Highland Park files No. 2025 CH 10558.
Notice of the foreclosure is filed against the property.
Motion for judgment of foreclosure and sale, with the prove-up affidavit of amounts due.
The bank asks the court to appoint a receiver. Exhibit D is Mr. Hyman's own receivership proposal.
The Fulton Building, LLC answers (June 29); Michael Federow answers (Aug 7); the LLC objects to a receiver (Aug 12).
After an Aug 28 hearing, the order appointing Daniel J. Hyman (Millennium Properties R/E, Inc.) is entered Aug 31, with a $100,000 bond.
The receiver's only written notice to the occupants. See "The notice that was never posted," below.
Six units send the receiver a letter asking for the records the order requires and reporting conditions. The same day the receiver is recorded at Unit 3N's mailbox (below).
The order's deadline for the statutory notice to occupants. No notice is posted on any unit door.
Pre-filled five-day notices are handed to Units 3N, 9PH and 6S (below).
Unit 3N gives written no-heat notice. By afternoon the receiver asks the occupant to "either vacate the premises or provide us with documentation."
Petition for leave to intervene, and an emergency motion for instructions to the receiver.
The court declines to hear the motion on an emergency basis, without prejudice.
Motion to retain counsel at $400/hour, and a petition for turnover of the owner's records.
1:00 p.m., Courtroom 2810, Daley Center, before Judge James A. Wright.
Full docket, every entry: → /docket
The receiver is an officer of the court, not the owner's agent and not the bank's. The August 31, 2026 order says:
Illinois law requires a receiver to give every occupant of a dwelling unit a specific written notice. It must name the case and the court, say that the property is in foreclosure, and say "This is NOT a notice to vacate the premises." It must also be posted on the primary entrance of each dwelling unit. Until that notice is given, the statute says he "may not collect any rent due and owing from a known occupant, or terminate a known occupant's tenancy for non-payment of such rent." (735 ILCS 5/15-1704(f))
The deadline under the order was September 21, 2026. As of the October 19 filing, no such notice had been posted on the door of Unit 3N or any other unit.
What the occupants received instead:
1. The August 31 "Valued Tenant" letter. It names no occupant, does not say the building is in foreclosure, does not include the "NOT a notice to vacate" statement, and gives a case number but not the case name or the court. Unit 3N received its copy when the receiver's staff handed it out on September 4. On September 5, a second copy was put in Unit 3N's mailbox by the former owner, whom the same letter tells tenants to stop dealing with.
2. A letter for four other buildings. On September 17 the receiver emailed every unit a "turnover letter." It is addressed to "Tenant in the following buildings: 237 W 23rd St, 255 W 22nd Pl, 2916 S Archer Ave, 3224 S. Aberdeen St," and it carries two other case numbers, 2025 CH 11265 and 2025 CH 11440. The next morning he wrote that it "was a defective notice."
The receiver's own October 9 petition tells the court that he "was required and did provide notice to any and all occupants." It gives no date and attaches no copy or proof of posting.
On September 17 the receiver wrote to the tenants that "we have not received the necessary information or documentation from the owner." Five days later, on September 22, he handed out pre-filled five-day notices:
| Unit | Demanded | What the record shows |
|---|---|---|
| 3N | $23,950.88 | Addressed to "Christine Black." No one by that name lives here. It is about seven months of the unit's $3,385 rent: the former owner's disputed pre-receivership balance, not rent owed to the receiver since August 31. |
| 9PH | $10,389.15 | The "FINAL BILL" version of the former owner's August 20 invoice. The occupant's own copy of the same invoice shows $6,549.15. |
| 6S | $5,581.83 | The "Total Due" on the former owner's August 20 invoice, late fees included. Its line items add to $5,357.00. |
On October 9 the receiver told the court that he still needs the owner's ledger "so he can determine if any back rent owed is owed."
On September 16 the receiver came to the building unannounced. The building's front-door camera recorded him opening Unit 3N's exterior U.S. Postal Service mailbox, taking the mail out, setting it on the package locker below, photographing it, putting it back, and leaving the mailbox door open.
The same day:
On September 17 Unit 3N asked him in writing to enter only by appointment and to stop handling its mail. He never answered.
On October 9 the receiver asked the court to let him hire a lawyer at $400 an hour, paid from the rents. His motion says he "may subsequently seek leave to reject the tenant leases due to the violations of the City of Chicago zoning code and a violation of public policy." On August 31 he had written to the same tenants: "Your lease and its terms are valid and will be honored."
Unit 3N's October 19 response points out that his affidavit is undated, names no unit, tenant, lease or amount, and contradicts his own petition. It also shows that his papers quote words that do not appear in the order and cite "735 ILCS 5/16-1704(f)(6)," a statute that does not exist. Unit 3N supports turning over the owner's records, including every tenant's security deposit, and asks that any approval of counsel be limited. The response says that if the receivership continues as it began, Unit 3N will seek or support his removal.
Daniel J. Hyman, president of Millennium Properties R/E, Inc., appointed by the court on August 31, 2026. Under the order his own company, Millennium, is also the property manager. In his June 2026 proposal to the court he undertook to "[a]ssume possession of the asset, including rent and security deposits," to "[m]aintain [a] separate bank account," and to "[e]nsure tenants are not in communication with or paying rents to owner."
From the receiver's Aug 31, 2026 tenant letter:
Daniel J. Hyman, as Receiver — Case No. 2025 CH 10558
c/o Millennium Properties R/E, Inc., 40 East Huron, Suite 700D, Chicago, IL 60611
Pay by check or money order, on or before the 1st, and write your address and unit on it.
Receiver / management contact: bldgsupport@mpirealestate.com · 312-338-3015
These are the receiver's instructions from his August 31 letter. Under 735 ILCS 5/15-1704(f), a receiver may not collect rent from a known occupant, or end a tenancy for non-payment, until the statutory notice described above has been given. Keep proof of every payment and every notice you receive.
Published by Phillip Bleicher, the occupant of Unit 3N, in his personal capacity. Statements are drawn from filings in No. 2025 CH 10558, which anyone can verify on the docket, and from recordings and letters cited above. Other occupants are identified by unit number only. Corrections: press@fultonbuilding.com.