CHICAGO, IL - Chicago renters left in the lurch, and evicted without warning, when their landlords face foreclosures would have added protections under a mayoral plan unveiled Thursday. In 2007, more than 35 percent of Chicago foreclosures impacted small multi-family rental buildings that serve as the backbone of the city's dwindling stock of affordable housing. This year, 2,500 families and 10,000 tenants are expected to face evictions tied to the mortgage foreclosure epidemic, according to the Lawyers Committee for Better Housing.
On Thursday, Mayor Daley joined a pair of displaced tenants outside a foreclosed building at 1115 N. Austin to announce new protections for renters. The plan calls for City Hall to expand an emergency rental assistance program to support up to three months of rent and moving expenses for eligible tenants evicted after a landlord's foreclosure.
Pro-bono legal services provided to evicted tenants by the Lawyer's Committee for Better Housing will be expanded. And the city is prepared to launch a tenant outreach program as soon as Gov. Blagojevich signs a bill on his desk that broadens the umbrella of protections for impacted renters.
Among other things, the bill guarantees renters a minimum of 90 days' notice before being thrown out of foreclosed buildings. Currently, some renters get as little as five days' notice. The bill also requires the sealing of court records so landlords are not unfairly punished when they seek new housing or credit.
The changes come too late for evicted tenant Mattie Rose. But, she's hopeful it will help those who find themselves in the same predicament through no fault of their own. "When we received these papers, we had no other notification. We paid our rent. And after that, we had to go to court. It's difficult for me because I have health problems,"she said. Tenant Bernice Baker said she was stunned and "hurt"when she got her eviction letter. She rejected the bank's offer of $700 to be split among all of the tenants. "I was saying to myself, 'Where are we gonna go?'"Baker said.
Daley said it's important to "put a face"on the devastating impact on renters and their neighborhoods. "What happens if they're all evicted and this building becomes abandoned? Then, it affects the value of everybody on the block. No one is taking care of it. No one is moving in. It has real repercussions all over this city. We're trying to convince lending institutions to allow people to stay there. Let 'em pay their rent. Otherwise, it becomes abandoned,"the mayor said.
Source: SunTimes.com