This story and tag shamelessly stolen from fark.com

It's taken a sheriff in Cook county IL to say this?? He is refusing to evict renters who have paid their rent and are not doing anything illegal. Renters who are victims of this "crisis"

The president doesn't give a rats ass about working class people but I guess he does.

Chicago's Cook County won't evict in foreclosures

By DON BABWIN – 4 hours ago

CHICAGO (AP) — 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."

excellent article

i agree

A small note...in Grand Rapids MI a local station looked at mortgage defaults at a local bank. The rate was .03%? I might be wrong on that number but it was well under 1%.

Now, ladies and gentlemen...this is Michigan. We are on the leading edge of the recession. We have the highest unemployment rate in the country 8.9% and that does not account for the people who have exhausted their benefits. The actual rate might be around 18%.

So, were the people in this state, who showed up to work, who paid their bills and one day found themselves out of a job responsiable for this disaster?

Nope...

Yes there are people who over extended themselves...small people and suddenly they are the bad guys? Yes they bear some responsibility.

It's not that small percentage of people who defaulted that brought on this crisis. It's the...never mind...we already talked about this...

edit here to say this...16% of Americans owe more on their houses than they are worth. Were some of them stupid, unqualified and greedy...sure maybe...but were they the cause of the collapse? No

You will rarely see me post here. I do not get into the argument thing.

I think this man should be a write in candidate for president. Maybe i'm old fashioned, but i believe that a man having intestinal fortitude for doing whats right, is almost extinct. I think a man should possess certain qualities. I believe a man should be honorable. I believe that is a rare find anymore.

why the mindset to so quickly support a sheriff who is breaking the law?

what happens when not even law enforcement supports laws? anarchy and total civil disobedience.

is the democratic mr. dart running for re-election, and wants a lock on some votes?

did he pal with his fellow dem obama during their years together in the legislature in springfield, and wants these democratic ward voters to be still in residence to vote for obama nov. 4?

This sheriff is a hero and I would eagerly vote for him for anything. Its about time someone stood up for what is right. May God bless this man.

MO has a similar law for evicting people. They deserve notice.

I can't imagine the nightmare of the renters that were evicted.

"did he pal with his fellow dem obama during their years together in the legislature in springfield, and wants these democratic ward voters to be still in residence to vote for obama nov. 4?"

That comment is pure speculation and very unfair and unfounded to say.

The sheriff has morals and empathy and you frown upon it?

Given two salient facts (1. that the laws of notice had been routinely unfulfilled, and 2. that the renters were paid up to date) the sherriff is acting wisely.

He is forcing the system to justify its action and to be used lawfully. That is his duty.
Motives are irrelevant to the issue of legal protocol, except as people abuse the system to their advantage. Judges can direct redress in the instance of abuse; a situation that the owners of property want to avoid.
The enforcers (sherriff, etc.) are wise to take action to remove their actions from being named as co-defendants in wrongful practices suits.