Chicago sheriff refuses to evict in foreclosures

[Jenna]

The sheriff here said Wednesday that he's ordering his deputies to stop evicting people from foreclosed properties because many people his office has helped throw out on the street are renters who did nothing wrong.

"We will no longer be a party to something that's so unjust," a visibly angry Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said at a news conference.

"We have to be sure that when we are doing this — and we are destroying some people's lives — we better be darned sure we're talking about the right people," Dart said.

Dart said he believes he's the first sheriff in a major metropolitan area to stop participating in foreclosure evictions, and the publisher of a national foreclosure database said he's probably right.

"I haven't heard of any other sheriff unilaterally deciding to stop foreclosures," said Rick Sharga, senior vice president of the Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac, Inc. He said the sheriff in Philadelphia helped push a moratorium on foreclosure sales, but that involved owner-occupied homes and not renters.

Dart said that from now on, banks will have to present his office with a court affidavit that proves the home's occupant is either the owner or has been properly notified of the foreclosure proceedings.

Illinois law requires that renters be notified that their residence is in foreclosure and they will be evicted in 120 days, but Dart indicated that the law has been routinely ignored.

He talked about tenants who dutifully pay their rent, then leave one morning for work only to have authorities evict them and put their belongings on the curb while they are gone.

By the time they get home, "The meager possessions they have are gone," he said. "This is happening too often."

In many cases, he said, tenants aren't even aware that their homes have fallen into foreclosure.

This week, an attorney asked that Dart be held in contempt when his deputies did not evict tenants after determining they were not the owners and did not know about their landlord's financial problems.

A judge denied the attorney's request, Dart's office said, and Dart said that after talking to the Cook County state's attorney's office, he is confident he is on solid legal ground.

"My job as sheriff is to follow court orders, absolutely," he said. "But I'm also in charge of making sure justice is being done here and it is clear that justice is not being done here."

The state's attorney's office said it would not comment on conversations with Dart because his office is a client.

Foreclosures have skyrocketed around the country in recent months and Dart said the number of foreclosure evictions in Cook County could more than double from the 2006 tally of 1,771. This year the county is on pace to see 4,500 such evictions, he said.

Dart warned that because the eviction process on foreclosures can take more than a year, the number is sure to climb even higher.

"From all the numbers we have seen, we know (they) are going to be exploding," he said.

Sharga said there are more than 1 million U.S. homes in foreclosure — with about a third of that number occupied by someone other than the owner.

"That number will continue to get bigger," he said.

Dart said he believes banks are not doing basic research to determine that the people being evicted are, in fact, the homeowners.

He said that in a third of the 400 to 500 foreclosure evictions his deputies had been carrying out every month, the residents are not those whose names are on the eviction papers.

Nor, he said, are banks notifying tenants that the homes they're renting are in foreclosure. He added that when banks do learn the correct names of those living on foreclosed-upon property, their names often are simply added to eviction papers.

"They just go out and get an order the next day and throw these people's names on there," Dart said. "Whether they (tenants) have been notified, God only knows."

Evictions for nonpayment of rent will continue, Dart said, explaining that those cases already have gone to court, his office is confident the people being evicted are who the landlord says they are, and there is no question the tenants are aware of what is going on.

Dart said it's only fair for banks to give occupants of a foreclosed property adequate notice before forcing them out.

"You are talking about a lot of people in rental situations living paycheck to paycheck," he said. "To think they are sitting on a pool of money for an up-front deposit, security deposit, is foolishness."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g...24H5gD93MJAO00

Chicago's Cook County won't evict in foreclosures

By DON BABWIN – 21 hours ago

[Xiphos]

That's terrific. Now people can wreck their apartments, keep the neighbors up all night with parties, allow relatives and God only knows who else to live there, and landlords have no rights to their property.

Dart said he believes banks are not doing basic research to determine that the people being evicted are, in fact, the homeowners.

Who cares who is living there? The bank owns the house and if the mortgage isn't being paid they should be allowed rights to their property. Just because some dead beat lets a bunch of dead beat family move in now the bank has to just apologize and let them?

The sheriff is an idiot and needs to follow the law he's supposed to be upholding. That includes civil evictions. I don't like my job sometimes but I don't get to decide I'm not answering burglar alarm calls anymore because they tend to be false.

Jackass.

[Caveman]

After reading his bio he seem, at least to me, to be more of a political grand stander and not much more.... It also appears that other than being elected Sheriff he never served a day in regular law enforcement. Although be it he has done a few things as sheriff that I would agree with..

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Sheriff Thomas J. Dart

Sworn in as Sheriff of Cook County in December of 2006, Tom Dart has a diverse and accomplished background in government and law enforcement. He has frequently been mentioned as a rising star in Illinois politics, and the Chicago Tribune recently referred to him as a “savvy and energetic political force with a reformist’s bent, (who has) led efforts to bring about long-needed criminal and juvenile justice reforms.” Dart began his career in public service as an Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney, where he prosecuted hundreds of felony crimes during his five years with the office. As part of his duties he was assigned to prosecute crimes in the South Suburbs, where he helped initiate a massive investigation of corruption in the town of Ford Height’s Police Department, leading to the indictment of the chief and several of the towns police officers. Coincidentally in 2008, Sheriff Dart’s took over police protection in Ford Heights because of ongoing problems with the town’s police department.
By 1991, Dart had moved to the Illinois General Assembly when he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the State Senate. The next year, he ran for elected office for the first time and won a seat in the Illinois House, representing a diverse district on Chicago’s South Side that included communities like Roseland, Pullman, Morgan Park, Mount Greenwood, Calumet Park, and portions of Blue Island.
In Springfield, Dart quickly developed a reputation as a reform minded legislator who was willing to take on the state bureaucracy. He served as chief sponsor of more than a dozen new child welfare laws that helped restructure the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. And, as an indication of things to come, Dart turned his attention to matters related to law enforcement. As Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, he sponsored Mayor Daley’s Safe Neighborhood Act and authored several state laws designed to crackdown on child sex offenders, including a statute that targeted child predators who use the Internet to lure young victims. He also wrote the Sexually Violent Predators Commitment Act, a groundbreaking law that enable judges to deny freedom to sexual predators and detain them in state mental health facilities if they were deemed likely to commit new sex crimes after being released from prison.
As Co-Chairman of the House Prison Oversight Committee, he held a series of bi-partisan, investigative hearings that revealed Chicago street gangs had established undo influence over the administration of several state prisons. The hearings inspired a number of policy changes at the Illinois Department of Corrections and helped develop new management accountability standards for state detention facilities.
Dart received dozens of honors for his work in the legislature, including the Illinois State Bar Association’s President’s Commendation and “Legislator of the Year Awards” from several groups, including the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, the Illinois State Crime Commission, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Chicago Sun Times columnist Steve Neal referred to Dart as an “impact player” during his decade of service in the Illinois House.
Dart left the legislature in 2003 after an unsuccessful campaign for Illinois State Treasurer and was appointed to serve as Chief of Staff Cook County Sheriff Michael Sheahan. In 2006 Dart was elected to a four-year term as the new Sheriff of Cook County after Sheahan retired.
As Sheriff, Dart has enacted a variety of new policy initiatives. Among the many changes are an institution of psychological testing for entry level recruits, installing new technology in the Cook County Jail and court facilities throughout Cook County, and the creation of a weapons free committee to target the widespread use of homemade knives and shanks in the jail.
Under Dart’s directive, the Sheriff’s Police have initiated a variety of stings, crackdowns, and investigations of criminal activity. He has been in the forefront in breaking up dog fighting rings and presided over the arrests of prostitution rings that use the internet as their advertising arm.
Dart holds a J.D. from Loyola University and a Bachelor’s Degree in History and General Social Studies from Providence College. He and his wife Patricia reside in Chicago and are the proud parents of four children.

[BigDawg]

Ill play devils advocate here for a moment.

Im thinking that what he is talking about is the renters are paying their rent to the homeowner, but the homeowner isnt paying the bank. SO the bank is taking action against the homeowner to recover its property, as it should. But all paperwork lists the homeowners name only, not the actual people living there. All the bank needs to do is once it recovers the property back from the homeowner is to find out whi the renters are and either properly evict them, or allow them to stay and pay the rent to the bank.

I rent a house and pay my rent to the homeowner every month. Is it fair if they dont payn the bank and the Sheriff shows up one morning and tell me to get out, and I have not received any other notice? Hell no, the Sheriff would have a hell of a problem making me leave.


I agree wth the Sheriff on this, but if the bank can show that they notified the renters of the eviction and did it legally. Then they would have to go.

[MacLean]

He's from Chicago, which means he was elected with the consent of Daley's political machine.

NOBODY from that State in political office isn't a nut or a crook. NOBODY.

[lewisipso]

Somethings just need some common sense. I hope I don't begin collecting weapons that belong to legal citizens when that comes to pass just because it will be a law. I would hope I have the common sense to know what's justice and what is not.

[jmur5074]

Ill play devils advocate here for a moment.

Im thinking that what he is talking about is the renters are paying their rent to the homeowner, but the homeowner isnt paying the bank. SO the bank is taking action against the homeowner to recover its property, as it should. But all paperwork lists the homeowners name only, not the actual people living there. All the bank needs to do is once it recovers the property back from the homeowner is to find out whi the renters are and either properly evict them, or allow them to stay and pay the rent to the bank.

I rent a house and pay my rent to the homeowner every month. Is it fair if they dont payn the bank and the Sheriff shows up one morning and tell me to get out, and I have not received any other notice? Hell no, the Sheriff would have a hell of a problem making me leave.


I agree wth the Sheriff on this, but if the bank can show that they notified the renters of the eviction and did it legally. Then they would have to go.

I gotta go with Big Dawg on this one. That's the way I understand it too.

[armsmaster270]

I gotta go with Big Dawg on this one. That's the way I understand it too.

Me too

[Odd]

Looks like the reporter got a little carried away with the headline. Sounds like he's just making sure the law is being followed during this flurry of foreclosures if I'm reading it right.

[k-9max]

Me too

Me Three!

[jcsdscott]

Me Three!

That makes four!

[121Traffic]

I'm in with the Sheriff here too. That is, only if the renters aren't deadbeats. If they're paying their rent, raising a family, living peacefully, whatever. That's what I took the article to mean.

[Xiphos]

I'm sorry but I'm going to stick with being an ogre. The property owner has a right to their property when the mortgage isn't being paid. Even if it's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs they have a right to recover their property. If the law agrees with that, and the property owner follows the law, the sheriff has to enforce the law whether or not he personally agrees with it.

[Ducky]

That's just it, the sheriff IS enforcing the law. The law says the tenants have to be notified 120 days in advance, and the scumbag owners aren't doing so.

Illinois law requires that renters be notified that their residence is in foreclosure and they will be evicted in 120 days, but Dart indicated that the law has been routinely ignored.

What he's saying is that Joe Random, who lives in the house owned by Jack Schitt, has no idea that Mr Schitt hasn't been paying the mortgage company and is about to loose the house. The deputies show up to evict Mr Random, and Mr Random is completely clueless about what's happening. His stuff gets tossed into the street, he's left with no place to go through no fault of his own, and the law that said he was supposed to have been notified four months prior had been glossed over.

The sheriff isn't talking about letting those people stay who'd been notified, or who just plain hadn't been paying their rent. He's talking about making the banks and landlords actually obey the existing law.

[Willowdared]

I'm in with the Sheriff here too. That is, only if the renters aren't deadbeats. If they're paying their rent, raising a family, living peacefully, whatever. That's what I took the article to mean.

Yup. The tenet has the right to be duly notified of an eviction.

We have had the same situation occurring here. Folks are current on their rent, but the owner walked away from their mortgage.

We've also had people renting out foreclosed properties to multiple tenets.

[HudsonHawk]

Methinks the sheriff is just up for reelection.

[TXCharlie]

That's just it, the sheriff IS enforcing the law. The law says the tenants have to be notified 120 days in advance, and the scumbag owners aren't doing so.

I agree - The bank gave the eviction notice to the wrong party, so the clock should restart after the true residents are notified.

[mack]

I have to agree, the renters have the right to be informed of eviction. The sheriff is just following the law. He says if they have been duly notified then he will evict them, but the notice is not being given prior to eviction. I think he is right in stopping the evictions of these tenants. Now if the tenant has been properly notified and refuses to leave the premises, then they should be evicted.