Public court records are used to create tenant blacklists, making it difficult for tenants with eviction court records to find new housing. Because the impact of an eviction filing is so detrimental, having a court record sealed can often be more important than the actual outcome of the case. Current law allows for the sealing of foreclosure-related eviction cases, and presumably a large portion of cases were sealed for that reason. The law also allows cases to be sealed if they are sufficiently without a basis in fact or law. The 2014 uptick in sealed cases is due in large part to a general order outlining procedures to ensure that all new post-foreclosure eviction filings in the First Municipal District of Cook County be identified as foreclosure-related and sealed at the beginning of the case.
Sealed Cases (%) presented with eviction filing rate. Select "2010" to display 2010 values, "2019" for 2019 values, or "Avg" to display 10-year averages (this is the default display).
| Community Area | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | Community Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rogers Park | 1.1% | 0.7% | 2.3% | 2.8% | 10.7% | 9.9% | 10.7% | 8.7% | 7.7% | 8% | Rogers Park |
| Norwood Park | 4.7% | 1.6% | 7.1% | 15.9% | 14.8% | 12.5% | 17.7% | 4.3% | 11.1% | 13.8% | Norwood Park |
| Jefferson Park | 8.8% | 7.7% | 5.3% | 9.9% | 12.8% | 23.2% | 18.2% | 25.5% | 17% | 8.1% | Jefferson Park |
| Forest Glen | 3.7% | 8.6% | 6.5% | 8.3% | 33.3% | 25% | 14.3% | 11.1% | 30% | 27.8% | Forest Glen |
| North Park | 12.7% | 7.1% | 10.3% | 12.1% | 18% | 17.5% | 28.2% | 12% | 24.2% | 16.7% | North Park |
| Albany Park | 7.1% | 4.3% | 7% | 5.5% | 16.7% | 23% | 19.1% | 12.1% | 13.4% | 11.2% | Albany Park |
| Portage Park | 12.1% | 7.7% | 9.4% | 12.5% | 19.7% | 18.7% | 18% | 20.1% | 17% | 11.1% | Portage Park |
| Irving Park | 4% | 6.3% | 9.7% | 11.7% | 15% | 17.4% | 20.5% | 15.2% | 12.6% | 11% | Irving Park |
| Dunning | 10.1% | 10% | 14.3% | 12.5% | 15.6% | 25.7% | 34% | 16% | 15.9% | 17.8% | Dunning |
| Montclare | 10.6% | 17.5% | 18.2% | 16.3% | 21.6% | 21.4% | 23.1% | 12.5% | 20.9% | 9.8% | Montclare |
| Belmont Cragin | 13.5% | 12.1% | 14.4% | 19.5% | 21.1% | 23.9% | 24.6% | 17.1% | 24.5% | 9.6% | Belmont Cragin |
| West Ridge | 7.7% | 6% | 7.3% | 5.2% | 14.3% | 16.2% | 19.6% | 13% | 11.7% | 16.9% | West Ridge |
| Hermosa | 7.3% | 6.7% | 10.8% | 8.9% | 17.3% | 27.7% | 25.9% | 16% | 11.1% | 13.8% | Hermosa |
| Avondale | 4% | 7.6% | 10% | 11.5% | 15.5% | 21.7% | 17.4% | 15.8% | 13.2% | 27.7% | Avondale |
| Logan Square | 3% | 3.7% | 7.2% | 8.8% | 16.4% | 21% | 15.3% | 14.5% | 20.7% | 13.8% | Logan Square |
| Humboldt Park | 6.7% | 5.3% | 7.1% | 8.9% | 15.4% | 21.2% | 23.2% | 17.6% | 13.5% | 13.1% | Humboldt Park |
| West Town | 6% | 5.6% | 9.9% | 7.8% | 11.5% | 17.3% | 14.3% | 15% | 10% | 9.7% | West Town |
| Austin | 4.8% | 3.4% | 4.1% | 6.2% | 12.2% | 14.6% | 16.7% | 15.4% | 14% | 12.7% | Austin |
| West Garfield Park | 7.6% | 5.9% | 6.2% | 3.2% | 9.5% | 18.4% | 16.2% | 17.2% | 14.2% | 13.1% | West Garfield Park |
| East Garfield Park | 6.1% | 6% | 6.1% | 7.9% | 9.4% | 13.9% | 23.9% | 15.5% | 11.4% | 13.1% | East Garfield Park |
| Near West Side | 1.8% | 1.6% | 3.5% | 4.8% | 8.3% | 11.9% | 8.9% | 8.5% | 11.5% | 8.2% | Near West Side |
| North Lawndale | 6.6% | 2% | 6.5% | 9.8% | 10.8% | 21.1% | 15.9% | 15.6% | 8.1% | 14.4% | North Lawndale |
| Uptown | 0.6% | 0.5% | 1% | 2% | 5.2% | 7% | 8.5% | 7.4% | 7.1% | 5.3% | Uptown |
| South Lawndale | 5% | 6.8% | 10.2% | 15.3% | 11.8% | 20% | 23.8% | 18.6% | 18.9% | 13.3% | South Lawndale |
| Lower West Side | 6.3% | 2.6% | 3% | 16.2% | 11.7% | 11.9% | 22.2% | 8.4% | 15.2% | 12.9% | Lower West Side |
| Loop | 0.9% | 1.7% | 2.8% | 1.3% | 3.8% | 4.5% | 9.8% | 6.6% | 2.6% | 7.2% | Loop |
| Near South Side | 0.3% | 1.5% | 2.3% | 5.2% | 8.3% | 5.4% | 11.1% | 5.8% | 6.4% | 4.3% | Near South Side |
| Armour Square | 0% | 0% | 1.4% | 0% | 6.5% | 5.9% | 12.1% | 5.6% | 5.3% | 9.7% | Armour Square |
| Douglas | 1% | 1.1% | 1.2% | 1.3% | 4.4% | 8.7% | 14.7% | 6.8% | 12% | 13.2% | Douglas |
| Oakland | 1.2% | 0% | 2.1% | 2.9% | 7.6% | 7.4% | 14.9% | 10.4% | 16.1% | 9.5% | Oakland |
| Fuller Park | 7.5% | 5.9% | 5.6% | 0% | 4.6% | 12.5% | 12% | 18.9% | 21.4% | 25% | Fuller Park |
| Grand Boulevard | 4.7% | 3.6% | 5.6% | 3.8% | 10.8% | 14.8% | 14.4% | 7.3% | 8.4% | 10.3% | Grand Boulevard |
| Kenwood | 2.6% | 1.3% | 2.8% | 2.3% | 4.6% | 8.3% | 8.1% | 7.3% | 5% | 4.9% | Kenwood |
| Lincoln Square | 5.9% | 4.9% | 3.3% | 6.3% | 14.4% | 12.9% | 12% | 22% | 9.3% | 11.8% | Lincoln Square |
| Washington Park | 3% | 1.4% | 3.9% | 3.1% | 7.4% | 13.9% | 9.1% | 7.8% | 10.6% | 10.9% | Washington Park |
| Hyde Park | 1.2% | 0.8% | 1.3% | 1.2% | 4.2% | 7% | 8.7% | 5.1% | 4.3% | 4% | Hyde Park |
| Woodlawn | 6.3% | 3% | 6.3% | 5.6% | 9.5% | 9.8% | 10.2% | 8% | 9.9% | 12.9% | Woodlawn |
| South Shore | 2.6% | 1.3% | 1.7% | 3% | 5.8% | 9.6% | 9.6% | 7.2% | 8% | 9.4% | South Shore |
| Chatham | 3.4% | 2% | 3% | 4.3% | 6.4% | 12.7% | 10.5% | 9.3% | 10.7% | 11.6% | Chatham |
| Avalon Park | 10% | 2.1% | 4.9% | 8.8% | 20% | 18.3% | 23.2% | 9.6% | 13.4% | 21.8% | Avalon Park |
| South Chicago | 6.7% | 2.3% | 5.2% | 5.8% | 10% | 16.2% | 16.4% | 9.6% | 12.6% | 11% | South Chicago |
| Burnside | 0% | 5% | 6.1% | 0% | 20% | 27.6% | 33.3% | 26.3% | 35% | 15% | Burnside |
| Calumet Heights | 8.1% | 8.9% | 14.9% | 10.9% | 14.4% | 35.3% | 18.8% | 29.5% | 16.4% | 21.3% | Calumet Heights |
| Roseland | 4.7% | 3% | 4% | 6.2% | 13% | 19% | 16.9% | 20.1% | 17.5% | 15.4% | Roseland |
| North Center | 3.1% | 3.1% | 5.1% | 15.4% | 14.6% | 11.9% | 17% | 29.4% | 4.4% | 7.9% | North Center |
| Pullman | 2.3% | 6.5% | 3.6% | 5% | 16.7% | 5.9% | 19.1% | 5.8% | 11.8% | 8.8% | Pullman |
| South Deering | 4.4% | 3.8% | 6.6% | 4.7% | 8.7% | 22.7% | 18% | 21.7% | 14.5% | 26.7% | South Deering |
| East Side | 5.7% | 2.8% | 1.5% | 11.8% | 13.9% | 16.9% | 16.4% | 18.6% | 15.3% | 29% | East Side |
| West Pullman | 7.8% | 6% | 9.9% | 13.6% | 10.5% | 21.9% | 24.5% | 21% | 14.6% | 19.7% | West Pullman |
| Riverdale | 1.1% | 0.8% | 0.3% | 0.8% | 2% | 1.2% | 0.7% | 0.6% | 3.3% | 5% | Riverdale |
| Hegewisch | 3.9% | 12.1% | 6.7% | 7.1% | 23.7% | 12.5% | 21.1% | 4.9% | 9.3% | 3.2% | Hegewisch |
| Garfield Ridge | 6% | 7.6% | 28.2% | 12.4% | 16.7% | 26.7% | 33.8% | 10.4% | 29.8% | 20.3% | Garfield Ridge |
| Archer Heights | 4.4% | 9.3% | 15.2% | 9.6% | 19.2% | 18% | 19.4% | 11.9% | 22.6% | 22.7% | Archer Heights |
| Brighton Park | 6.5% | 4.7% | 13% | 10% | 20.7% | 17.2% | 26.9% | 20.5% | 17.2% | 16.5% | Brighton Park |
| McKinley Park | 4.9% | 2.4% | 4.6% | 1.5% | 13% | 24.4% | 31% | 12.5% | 13.2% | 9.5% | McKinley Park |
| Lake View | 1.1% | 1.7% | 3% | 3.4% | 4.5% | 7.9% | 8.5% | 6.5% | 4.3% | 6.2% | Lake View |
| Bridgeport | 3.6% | 2.7% | 3.1% | 6.6% | 9.5% | 16% | 15.7% | 12.9% | 18.1% | 9.7% | Bridgeport |
| New City | 11.1% | 6.7% | 8.7% | 13.6% | 20% | 22.7% | 21.5% | 16.1% | 16.5% | 15.4% | New City |
| West Elsdon | 2.3% | 2.1% | 15.8% | 15.5% | 26.8% | 43.1% | 27.1% | 28.6% | 17% | 20.7% | West Elsdon |
| Gage Park | 13.9% | 3.8% | 13.1% | 7.8% | 11% | 25% | 25.4% | 21.1% | 24.8% | 13.3% | Gage Park |
| Clearing | 8.1% | 3.7% | 7.5% | 7.1% | 19.1% | 28.4% | 28.2% | 12.7% | 9.8% | 13.6% | Clearing |
| West Lawn | 12% | 16.8% | 21.3% | 23.9% | 15.8% | 33.1% | 25.3% | 23.2% | 17.9% | 14.7% | West Lawn |
| Chicago Lawn | 6.3% | 4% | 7.8% | 7.8% | 10.7% | 19.2% | 20.1% | 11.1% | 11.5% | 11.4% | Chicago Lawn |
| West Englewood | 10.9% | 3.6% | 8.9% | 12.9% | 18% | 25.4% | 25.6% | 20.9% | 22.5% | 18% | West Englewood |
| Englewood | 6.5% | 3.4% | 3.3% | 7.3% | 15.6% | 18.4% | 19.7% | 13.3% | 17.3% | 19.4% | Englewood |
| Greater Grand Crossing | 6.6% | 3% | 3.9% | 9.2% | 11.1% | 18.5% | 13.8% | 12.9% | 12.2% | 13.9% | Greater Grand Crossing |
| Lincoln Park | 2.3% | 1% | 1.3% | 2.3% | 3.9% | 11% | 13.7% | 7.3% | 9.3% | 8.1% | Lincoln Park |
| Ashburn | 8.7% | 13.2% | 12.6% | 20.9% | 24.8% | 33.9% | 34.2% | 22.2% | 23.5% | 12.1% | Ashburn |
| Auburn Gresham | 3.6% | 3.7% | 3% | 6.8% | 9.6% | 15.6% | 17.1% | 12.6% | 15.1% | 12.8% | Auburn Gresham |
| Beverly | 6.3% | 10.4% | 3.9% | 19.1% | 17.2% | 26.2% | 16.2% | 7.7% | 15.8% | 14.1% | Beverly |
| Washington Heights | 5.8% | 5.7% | 9% | 7.9% | 10.4% | 32% | 23.9% | 24.1% | 18.2% | 24.1% | Washington Heights |
| Mount Greenwood | 1.2% | 1.1% | 2.3% | 5.4% | 12.5% | 4% | 16.7% | 12.9% | 4.7% | 7.7% | Mount Greenwood |
| Morgan Park | 7.7% | 5.6% | 7% | 13.9% | 16.4% | 25.8% | 23.8% | 21.8% | 17.8% | 11.4% | Morgan Park |
| O'Hare | 1.9% | 3.8% | 8.4% | 6.4% | 1.2% | 6.2% | 10.9% | 9.7% | 3.9% | 2.5% | O'Hare |
| Edgewater | 1.2% | 1.4% | 1.6% | 2.5% | 8.1% | 10.7% | 14.2% | 9.9% | 7.1% | 7.9% | Edgewater |
| Near North Side | 1.2% | 1.1% | 2.4% | 2.4% | 4.2% | 5.4% | 8.2% | 5.1% | 5.1% | 7.5% | Near North Side |
| Edison Park | 5.6% | 6.3% | 0% | 22.2% | 11.1% | 33.3% | 12.5% | 21.4% | 0% | 15.4% | Edison Park |
Results are based on all eviction case filings. For more information, read our methodology.
