City Council leaders, including the housing committee chair, renewed calls for CHA officials to attend regular hearings after an Illinois Answers/Block Club investigation found the agency is sitting on hundreds of vacant homes.
Investigations
Posted inSolutions
As City Battles Housing Shortage, CHA Lets Hundreds Of Empty Homes Decay
The Chicago Housing Authority is supposed to provide affordable homes for those in need. But the agency has nearly 500 scattered-site units that are vacant — many causing problems for their neighbors.
Posted inFollow-Up
City Goes After Firms That Owe $15M in Rat-related Tickets After Illinois Answers/Block Club Investigation
The debtor is a real estate empire that’s looking for a big payday by selling land for the Red Line expansion. But the city says not so fast.
Posted inFollow-Up
City Plans to Spend $1.5 Million More to Fight Rats in 2024
The budget boost calls for three new rat-fighting crews as Chicago continues to be the “rattiest” in America.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Why Chicago is Losing the War on Rats
New York has a Rat Czar. Other cities are trying new trapping methods. But the “rattiest city in America” can’t keep up with skyrocketing rodent complaints, data shows.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
One Real Estate Empire, $15M in Unpaid Rat-Related Tickets
A group of real estate companies managed by a north suburban woman has racked up hundreds of rat-related tickets on properties — many on Chicago’s South and West sides.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Local Governments Get Slapped with Rat-Related Tickets
In the past four-and-a-half years, the City of Chicago has fined local agencies, including the CHA and the Cook County Land Bank Authority, more than $750,000.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Chicago Rat Problem Map: Search Rat Complaints Across the City
An Illinois Answers Project and Block Club Chicago joint investigation found that Chicagoans made more than 214,000 complaints for rat abatement from 2019 through the end of 2022. Search the […]
Posted inEducation
Records Raise Questions on CPS Transparency Over Near South Side High School Plan
Chicago Public Schools promised to listen to residents concerning the school location but did closed door planning for months. Appraisals for purchased land differ by millions of dollars, records show.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
City Has Spent Only 15% of $52M in Federal Money Dedicated for Homeless Programs
Two years after receiving the COVID-era funding, Chicago has been slow off the mark with some of its programs to help people experiencing homelessness.
