City Releases 'Problem Landlord' List
By Chuck Sudo in News on Jan 27, 2015 4:50PM
When the city puts its mind to something it gets things done fast. Here's the latest example: the list of problem landlords proposed by Mayor Emanuel a couple weeks ago is now online at the city's Open Data portal.
The list contains 45 properties, most of them located on the South and West sides, and the building owners on the list have three cases filed against them in Administrative Hearings court and been found liable in two or more administrative cases over the past two years. The Emanuel administration proposed the list after a hearing earlier this month where the owners of 20 properties were forced to restore heat to their buildings during a run of single digit weather.
Emanuel said the list is a sign he means business and wants them to fix their buildings or run the risk of losing their properties.
“Today we are sending a clear message to landlords who fail to provide their tenants with even the most basic safety standards and protections - if you don’t get your act together - you won’t do business anymore in the City of Chicago."
The list also shows the more things change, the more they stay the same. Forty-nine years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to Chicago to fight for fair housing for black Chicagoans. The preponderance of South and West Side properties indicates this city still has a long way to go and highlights the hyper-segregation that still persists in Chicago.
Here is the list:
And here is a map of where the properties are located throughout the city: