More than 200 renters under a Rogers Park landlord are withholding payment and won’t agree to major rent hikes amid what they say are unsafe living conditions. So they’ve called a rent strike.

Many of the tenants have lived in one of the four multi-family buildings along Damen Avenue for decades, and have multiple generations living in one unit. After the buildings came under new ownership, some tenants were told their rent would almost double. Now they’re hoping to avoid being priced out of their homes.

Jose Renteria has lived in one of four multi-family buildings along Damen Avenue for almost 20 years. He said his heat doesn’t work well and his windows won’t stay shut but his rent is going up.

The tenants in these buildings say their landlord has raise rent by as much as $500 a month and ignored serious maintenance issues. Now they’ve unionized.

Virginia Ortiz has lived there for 27 years and raised three daughters. She shared photos of mold growing in one unit; she said another one has a gaping hole in the wall. She has found mice and cockroaches in another.

She said problems continued this year when building ownership changed.

“The janitors stopped coming, and then in April he started sending the 120 day notices about the rent increase,” Oritz said through union leader Maya Azul.

CBS News Chicago reached out the landlord with ARK Management to get his response to the rent strike, but did not get a response to calls and emails.

Then, this week, union members got a “No Trespass Warning” on their doors, telling them not to gather in the common spaces of the property. They say it’s part of intimidation tactics they’ve seen, including the landlord sending security guards to their meeting and threatening evictions.

“I don’t think either side wants a rent strike to happen, because then it will just be more problems,” Azul said. “It’s like the last resort.”

Many of the residents are long-term Mexican American families who fear losing their homes could make them vulnerable to ongoing immigration enforcement in Chicago.

The tenants said they’ve tried negotiating for two months and are asking for a reasonable $100 rent increase and basic repairs. Their official rent strike starts Nov. 1.