Chicago Reporter (https://www.chicagoreporter.com/category/key-issue/housing/page/2/)
Advocates want to see Mark Diamond face criminal charges and be put out of business permanently, while other black homeowners he targeted hope to obtain restitution soon.
Experts and residents are divided on the benefits and fairness of a national smoking ban in public housing units.
The Affordable Requirements Ordinance, ARO, forces developers to create more affordable housing and pay more into a city fund for the housing.
HUD asked the owner of a Section 8 housing development on the city’s Far South Side to cancel the security contract after a Reporter investigation. But the private security company can still work at other federally subsidized properties.
A recent settlement agreement with the Chicago Housing Authority would end a 2013 lawsuit filed by the Cabrini-Green Local Advisory Council, but not all of the redevelopment issues are settled.
Some housing experts say the federal agency’s action won’t address oversight issues at Section 8 properties.
Tenants at a federally subsidized complex on Chicago’s Far South Side allege discrimination, harassment and excessive force by armed guards, raising concerns about HUD oversight.
Elderly homeowners on the South and West Sides have been victimized by schemes that put them at risk of losing their homes.
The housing agency has kept low-income and homeless families waiting while sitting on a $440 million surplus.
About 4,500 vacant properties are currently registered with the City of Chicago. The number of vacant properties in the city could be seven times higher than that figure, according to some estimates.