The Chicago Evictions data project was created by the Law Center for Better Housing (LCBH).

  • Mark Swartz, LCBH Executive Director.
  • Randall Leurquin, LCBH Special Projects, data collection and analysis, portal design and implementation.
  • Opening the Door on Chicago Evictions report consultants: Gordon Mayer Communications, Spencer Cowan, DataViz for Nonprofits.
  • Eviction Filings, Unemployment, and the Impact of COVID-19 report co-authored with Loyola University Chicago’s Center for Urban Research and Learning (CURL).

LCBH wishes to express its deepest gratitude and thanks to our data partners: Chicago Appleseed Fund For Justice, Loyola University Chicago’s Center for Urban Research and Learning (CURL), and Stout.

LCBH gratefully thanks the Polk Bros. Foundation for supporting the development of the Opening the Door on Chicago Evictions reports.

LCBH is very appreciative of the assistance provided by its staff and board, their many insights, suggestions, reviews and edits have been invaluable. Grace Rock, in particular, played an incredibly important role in code review and in the creation of the eviction tracking reports.

LCBH would particularly like to thank for providing comments and other kind assistance:

  • Jake Billhorn, Stout
  • Michael Chavarria, Oak Park Regional Housing Center
  • Honorable Alison C. Conlon, Circuit Court of Cook County
  • Patricia Fron, Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance
  • Anne Geraghty Helms, DLA Piper
  • Nick Jefferson, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
  • Samira Nazem, Chicago Bar Foundation
  • Dory Rand, Woodstock Institute
  • Malcolm C. Rich, Chicago Appleseed Fund For Justice
  • Peter Rosenblatt, Ph.D., Loyola University Chicago
  • Rick Ruffing, Stout
  • Gina Spitz, Ph.D., Loyola University Chicago's Center for Urban Research and Learning
  • Neil Steinkamp, Stout
  • David Van Zytveld, Loyola University Chicago's Center for Urban Research and Learning
  • Honorable E. Kenneth Wright Jr., Circuit Court of Cook County

LCBH would also like to thank several interns that have greatly assisted with this project.

  • Mia Ambroiggio, Eleanor Ermentrout, Summer Utzig, and Aisha Walker, from Loyola University Chicago, for countless hours looking up property data on eviction addresses.
  • Khaleah Griffin, University of Illinois at Chicago, for assistance with literature review, writing and editing.
  • Francesca Burlington, Joseph Matza, and Kathleen McGivney, from Loyola University Chicago, for countless hours at the courthouse looking up records and countless more hours reviewing cases on LexusNexus.
  • Bill Green, University of Notre Dame for assistance with FOIA's and our first attempts at verbalizing our initial findings.

About the Law Center for Better Housing

The Law Center for Better Housing (LCBH) is the only legal aid agency in the Chicago area that advocates solely for renters. LCBH represents low- and moderate-income renters living in the private, unassisted housing market facing housing instability. LCBH empowers truly disadvantaged renters, prevents wrongful eviction, and combats sub-standard living conditions so renters have a safe and decent place to live. LCBH provides free, comprehensive legal representation so that renters have a trusted advocate in court. LCBH programs holistically address both the short-term housing crisis and its underlying causes by combining legal services with education, outreach, supportive services and policy initiatives, so families can move from a path to homelessness to one of safe and stable housing.

The recommendations, and any errors, are the sole responsibility of the authors, the Law Center for Better Housing.

a Chicago neighborhood