Foreclosed Homeowners, Tenants to Serve Notice on Sheriff Dart

Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign Press Release
October 14, 2010

At 11am on Thursday, October 14th, 2008, supporters of the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign will serve notice on Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, demanding a halt to all economically motivated evictions and foreclosures. After a rally and press conference outside the Daley Center, tenants, homeowners, and local activists will deliver a five-day notice to Dart, demanding a halt to the dozens of evictions processed by his office each day.  In the county, more than 9,000 properties, roughly one in every 242 homes, went into foreclosure in August.  This record number of foreclosures has marked Chicago as the nation’s leader in property loss, severely impacting the city’s African-American and Latino neighborhoods.

Today, Attorneys General from all fifty states launched an investigation into allegations of massive fraud by banks and their lawyers. In early October, banks GMAC and JP Morgan Chase imposed a halt to foreclosures in Illinois and other states while Bank of America, Chicago’s largest forecloser, extended a foreclosure moratorium across the entire country. Yet in spite of these positive developments, many homeowners and tenants continue to face the prospect of a fraudulent and immoral eviction by the Cook County Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff Dart made national headlines when he announced a halt to all foreclosure evictions in October 2008. This brief stay came only after members of the Albany Park Neighborhood Council fought back against evictions in their neighborhood and pressed Dart to address the impact of home foreclosure on tenants. Building on a call recently made by the community organization Action Now, supporters of the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign will demand that Dart instate a moratorium to all economically motivated evictions in Cook County.

Who: Homeowners, tenants, and local activists
What:  Delivery of Eviction Notice to Sheriff Tom Dart calling for a moratorium on all economically motivated evictions
When:  Thursday, October 14th, 11am
Where:  Cook County Sheriff’s Office, 50 W. Washington, Chicago, IL