Chicago-Area Foreclosure Evictions To Resume Monday; Court System Implements Added Procedural Protections To Address Sheriff's Concerns

In Chicago, Illinois, the Daily Herald reports:

• Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said Thursday he will resume evictions at foreclosed homes and apartment buildings beginning Monday, confident that he and the court system have put adequate protections in place to protect renters' due process. "We've been given adequate assurance that we're not going to be asked to evict innocent tenants," said Dart in announcing the move.

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• Dart said that even though representations [by foreclosing lenders] were sometimes made that notice had been given [to tenants], it often wasn't. [...] To illustrate how untruthful some of the representations had been in the past, Dart displayed a picture of a piece of property from which he was court-ordered to evict tenants. When his deputies arrived, they discovered the property had burned down five years ago, unbeknown to bankers or the court.

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• Dart believes the problem has been addressed because Cook County Chancery Division Presiding Judge Dorothy Kinnaird worked with him to provide new forms that must be sworn to by bank representatives or their lawyer before an eviction can begin. The new form, says Dart, gives him what he wanted: "somebody who signed a piece of paper (who has) something to lose."

For the story, see Sheriff says he's changed the system, will restart evictions.

For a description of the new requirements imposed on lenders involved in foreclosure actions in Cook County, Illinois, see Cook County Sheriff's press release: Safeguards Added to Eviction Process (Cook County Judiciary introduces protections for tenants, taxpayers). BetaTenantRentSkimming