Rent and vacancy data for the entire county are updated quarterly and enable policy makers, community groups, and other stakeholders to better understand the rental housing stock in suburban Cook County and five Chicago submarkets.
The report found:
There are signs that the national economy is recovering, albeit slowly. For example, reports from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago...
Tenant Issues
Renters are often absent from the debate about how to help those affected by foreclosures. However, just like in the single family market, foreclosures on multifamily buildings are rising at record rates and concentrating in low- to moderate-income communities.
While a federal law passed in 2009 gave protections to renters in foreclosure, such as the survival of the lease beyond foreclosure and at least 90 days of notice before month-to-month tenants have to move, many tenants are not aware of these rights. Some tenants are not notified that their buildings are in foreclosure, and even if they are, it can be unclear to whom tenants should pay rent. Some tenants receive inaccurate information from the new owners stating that tenants have less time to move than they actually have. During and after the foreclosure process, new owners can be reluctant to maintain the property and tenants may not know who to contact for repairs. Tenants may accept offers of money in exchange for moving, without fully realizing what rights they are waiving or what are their other options. While there are federal programs in place to return single-family or small owner-occupied multifamily properties to productive use, there are few resources available for large or investor-owned multifamily properties, risking the loss of a great number of affordable housing units.
There must be stronger provisions in place to require lenders and servicers who take over ownership of multifamily rental properties to maintain these properties, collect rent, pay utilities, and notify tenants of a contact person who handles those services. Programs need to be developed to maintain and redevelop multifamily housing after foreclosure and preserve the affordable housing stock.
This page details the efforts of Regional HOPI partners to directly assist tenants in foreclosure, document the effects of the foreclosure crisis on multifamily properties in the Chicago region, and advocate for stronger policy solutions.
New foreclosure filings on condominiums are a rising share of foreclosure activity in the Chicago region, new data from Woodstock Institute show. New filings on condominiums in the...
The foreclosure crisis has received close attention; however, there is insufficient examination of how this crisis has negatively affected tenants who rent units from landlords facing foreclosure. Particularly in urban areas with large rental populations, the impact of foreclosure on...
A housing counseling agency that’s so swamped with demand for foreclosure prevention counseling that its executive director personally handles clients. Stalled real estate markets where buyers are waiting for prices to drop even further, and buyers who do want to buy now are struggling to obtain financing. Scam artists who take off with troubled homeowners’ last...
By DePaul University Institute for Housing Studies
The weakened local economy has significantly affected the rental apartment market. Since the second half of 2007, overall vacancy rates in the city of Chicago have increased from 5% to 5.7% in 2008, and to 6.2% in the second quarter of 2009.
Low-income rental markets...
The Lawyers' Committee for Better Housing sends out weekly reports on the locations of foreclosed rental buildings in Chicago neighborhoods. The data is of interest to community groups who want to keep track of foreclosed rental buildings in their neighborhoods, as well as researchers and policymakers who wish to study foreclosure and tenants' issues. To be added...
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The Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University has released a working paper, The Multifamily Housing Market and Value-at-Risk Implications for Multifamily Lending. This new research reveals significant price...
The Suburban Cook County Multifamily Preservation Initiative (SCCMPI) is a new financing program created to encourage the rehabilitation and preservation of quality rental housing throughout suburban Cook County for municipalities and jurisdictions participating (currently or potentially) in the Cook County HOME Collaborative.
For properties that support the...
A Woodstock Institute analysis of 2007 foreclosure filings shows that 35 percent, or over 4,800 foreclosure filings, were on 2- to 6-units multifamily properties. Communities with the highest concentrations of foreclosures on 2- to 6-unit properties include West Garfield Park, East Garfield Park, Austin, Humboldt Park on the West Side and New City,...
On May 20, 2009, the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009, P.L. 111-22, was signed into law. Title VII of the law includes protections for renters who are facing eviction because their buildings are in foreclosure. The law requires that the lender who takes over the building must provide at least 90 days notice to...