Extra cash flow coming in from a federal government grant will benefit not only Chicago but other Illinois cities. U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced this week that the state of Illinois will receive around $26.5 million dollars in funding to "support community development and produce more affordable housing" for its residents. The official press release by HUD provides a breakdown of how much of the $26.5 million is going into different areas in Illinois, including which housing programs the money is set to benefit. more ›

The Chicago Housing Authority is causing some controversy over their new plan to require drug testing for its current and future residents. The proposed policy would require any CHA resident over the age of 18 to be tested for drugs, and would effect 16,000 families currently living in CHA establishments. But this is not the only new policy that is raising some eyebrows. The new CHA proposal also calls to eliminate "innocent tenant defense," which the Sun-Times refers to "evictions initiated when a drug-related or violent crime has been committed by a relative or guest of the leaseholding tenant - but the tenant was not involved nor had knowledge of the crime." more ›

A white Bridgeport couple is facing discrimination charges from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for allegedly pulling their home off the market rather than sell it to a black couple that submitted the highest offer. Local comedian George Willborn and his wife made the highest offer - reported to be $1.7 million - on the home owned by Daniel and Adrienne Sabbia in January of this year. But the Sabbias, who had listed the house for $1.799 million, then pulled the house, which they had been trying to sell for two years, off the market. The Sabbias claimed they decided to stay put, unable to find another home to move in to. Jeffrey Lowe, the Sabbias' real estate agent, denied to the Willborns' broker at the time that it was about the Willborns' race. more ›

The shoddy condition of the gates at Cabrini-Green came to public light last June when one of the heavy gates fell on a 3-year-old boy, killing him. At the time residents were insisting that the gates were an accident waiting to happen for a long time, and now they have the proof to back it up. The Tribune has obtained inspection records from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development dating back to 2006 stating that the gates were in serious disrepair, and that the Chicago Housing Authority was notified of their condition. But because the gates weren't listed as "life threatening", the CHA wasn't required to act immediately to repair them so instead did -- who knows? more ›