We Won't Evict Unless You Do Your Job, Illinois Sheriff Tells Lenders
In an unusual act of rebellion against an apparent defect in a number of foreclosure cases, the sheriff of Cook County has made national headlines this week by saying his officers wouldn’t enforce court orders and evict occupants of foreclosed homes in and around Chicago until lenders could prove that the residents have been properly notified.
The problem is, many rent-paying tenants have never received required notice that their landlord isn’t paying the mortgage, Sheriff Tom Dart tells the Chicago Tribune.
“The sheriff’s complaint stems from the extra work his office does on behalf of lenders,” the newspaper writes. “Dart says he is tired of his deputies showing up at homes for an eviction and finding tenants who are not on the mortgage. Taxpayers foot the bill for that work.”
Of the approximately 43,000 foreclosure actions expected in Cook County this year, about 4,500 involve evictions in occupied homes. In about one-third of those 4,500 homes, the residents are tenants.
At least one lender filed suit following Dart’s public announcement Wednesday, seeking to require the sheriff’s office to enforce an eviction order on a home in suburban Dolton, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.
“Sheriff Dart may have concerns about the orders that he is charged with enforcing, but he simply cannot refuse to carry them out. The orders of the court must be enforced,” said attorneys for Accredited Home Lenders in a written statement. “This lawsuit is necessary to ensure that.”
However, by the end of the week the company had reversed course. “Upon further consideration of the facts surrounding this matter, we have decided to withdraw our petition against the County and have suspended our eviction action against our former borrower Shirley McFarland,” it states in a cryptic PR Newswire press release today.
Meanwhile, Dart met with Cook County Circuit Judge Dorothy Kirie Kinnaird, who heads the Chancery Division, to try to resolve the situation, the Sun-Times reports. He suggests that mortgage lenders be required to file an affidavit saying that the homeowner and potential renters have been given notice of the upcoming eviction, as required by state law, before contacting his office.
Updated at 4:20 p.m. to include new press release information from Accredited Home Lenders.
