Housing as a Platform Proposal #1: Ensure all tenants are treated fairly by the legal system when facing eviction
Return to 2019 Chicago Housing Agenda
There is a far greater need for housing assistance than there are resources, so many in need are not served by traditional housing programs and the programs created to increase their individual outcomes. Out of more than 300,000 poor families in the Chicago metropolitan area in the 2017 US Census American Housing Survey, over 180,000 (45%) receive no type of government assistance for housing. In addition, over 200,000 (66%) are paying more than what constitutes an affordable rent (greater than 35% of their income). Tenants struggle to keep up with their rental payments and they interact with evictions and they remain locked in poverty, as has been spotlight by the best-selling book Evicted chronicling the lives of low-income families experience eviction in Milwaukee in 2008-2009. Protests have erupted just recently regarding the the predatory practices by one of Chicago’s largest landlords, Pangea, who often uses the site of eviction proceedings at the County Circuit Court to get tenants to agree to expensive payment plans.
Regardless of the neighborhood, housing burdens have a direct connection to perpetuating poverty. Even a moderate housing cost burdens lead to a reduction on child enrichment activities and can lead to negative impacts on children’s cognitive development (Newman and Holupka 2014).
As is the case in many communities across the country, the stability of low-income households and children in Chicago is jeopardized by the prevalence of eviction and lack of protections. The Chicago Reader analyzed Chicago eviction cases in 2016 and found that just 12% of more than 19,300 Chicago tenants facing evictions were represented by attorneys at any point in their process (Chicago Reader, September 14, 2017).
Proposal 1. In order to improve housing stability for the significant portion of low-income renters who do not benefit from subsidies, institute the requirement of legal counsel during eviction proceedings for indigent tenants and expands eviction legal services through the city funding.
Proposal 2. Create a new public database to track eviction proceedings initiated by landlords, along with other related city or court records. The prevalence of evictions have a such a destructive impact of low-income renters in Chicago and elsewhere, so better tracking will help identify it’s impact.
Proposal 3. Create a mandatory city inspection before any eviction can proceed, to be reported in the aforementioned database. This action would improve code enforcement through increased inspections, and better protect building residents. Minor code compliance issues need not drive the eviction, but they will serve as important considerations in the process.
