Good News for Tenants Living in Foreclosed Houses in Cook County

September 4th, 2008 | Tags: Foreclosed Homes

The foreclosure crisis has been unkind to one group who has had nothing to do with the housing crisis. They are the renters. Despite paying regular rents they have suddenly been asked to move out because the landlord is being foreclosed upon. So far the law has failed to give them any protection. The lease agreement has been with the ex-house owners and the new incumbents are not bound to abide by them. But with an increase in tenants falling victim to foreclosures the matter has been taken up and goods news has trickled in for tenants living in foreclosed houses in Cook County.

The deputies of the sheriff of Cook County have run into bizarre and often dangerous situations while carrying out forcibly eviction orders. They have come up against drug peddlers, rotting animals, barricades and gangs running around in bicycles. This has left many deputies mentally disturbed. Of late they have come across another kind of poignant scene. They are meeting the renters who are learning from them the first time that the house is foreclosed and they will have to move out. But with a change in rules the sheriff’s team will be given new training about stopping the eviction of tenants from foreclosed homes. The chief deputy sheriff of Cook County is keen to see that “people are not taken advantage of”.

On an average the sheriff tackles one hundred evictions daily. Not all of these are connected with foreclosures but a large bulk of them is. From now on when the deputies call on a house where no one is available they will leave a bold sign saying that the occupant will be given seven days grace to come up with proof of tenancy occupation. If it is proved to be so then the eviction will be stalled. Previously if there were no one in the house at the time of calling, the staff would continue with the eviction process. In most cases the tenants are ignorant about the house being in foreclosure. They are enlightened only when the deputies come knocking with the dreaded orders.

Shannon Weiss of Center for Renter’s Rights, Chicago commented that his office receives many calls each day about how tenants are taken by surprise with a foreclosure notice they knew nothing about. He says, “It is worse for the tenants than it is for the owners. The owners made their own mess. The tenants were just helpless victims.”