Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard faces eviction, landlord speaks out: 'I have nowhere else to turn'

DOLTON, Ill. – Controversial Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard is facing a new battle. She gets kicked out for not paying her rent, and now Henyard's landlord is talking about her tenant problems.

Henyard and her boyfriend, Kamal Woods, collectively collect well over $300,000 from taxpayers, according to public payroll records.

But they haven't paid their rent since August and now their landlord says they've had enough.

“At first I didn’t want to go in front of the camera. I'm not the type of person who does this for clickbait. That’s not the type of person I am,” said Genetta Hull. “But at the moment I feel like I’m at my wits end. I don’t know anywhere else to turn.”

Hull said she once considered Henyard a friend and even did campaign work for the mayor of Dolton and the Thornton Township supervisor.

But things changed in 2021 when she wanted to rent her three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Dolton to a family — until she got a call late one night from the mayor.

“And then she says, 'I heard you're renting out your house.' I said, 'Yeah, I have someone moving in soon,'” Hull said. “And she says, 'No, they can't move in because I want them to.' And I'm like, 'Excuse me?'”

Feeling pressured, Hull said she agreed to rent the house to Henyard and Woods, who have a six-figure job in the community.

Henyard earns nearly $300,000 as mayor and community leader, but is at the center of an ongoing FBI investigation into extravagant spending, questionable contracts and the use of taxpayer money for personal gain.

Hull said things started to get out of hand this summer when she was forced to increase the rent by $200 to $2,400 a month because her property taxes went up again.

“So I had to factor that into the rent and Kamal said he couldn’t afford it,” Hull said.

Hull said Henyard and Woods refused to pay the additional rent in August, then stopped paying altogether and failed to provide rent checks for September and October.

Hull said that not only are the two behind thousands of dollars in rent, but they also changed the locks and garage door code so she couldn't get in.

“If I push and go there with a locksmith and try to replace it, she'll probably have me arrested,” Hull said.

So in late September, Hull went to court and filed an eviction notice against Henyard and Woods, but the Cook County sheriffs tried to serve the notice on both the town hall and the town hall, but failed.

Now Hull is paying a bailiff to track down one of them.

“It is a very difficult situation. I’m between a rock and a hard place,” Hull said. “I haven’t worked for several months and I’m worried I might lose the house.”

She said Henyard blocked her months ago but wanted to send a message to the embattled mayor.

“At some point you have to understand that karma will catch up with you. Just pay your rent,” Hull said.

Hull said even if Henyard and her boyfriend come up with the money, she still wants them out of her home, which is rented out on a month-to-month basis.

Fox 32 reached out to the couple and Henyard's defense attorney but has not heard back.