Sheriff in Chicago Ends Evictions in Foreclosures

Housing advocates said that they thought the measure was the first of its kind, but that in recent years, several sheriffs and judges around the country had taken other steps to slow foreclosure proceedings, like requiring lenders to produce titles proving they owned the properties in question. In Philadelphia this year, Sheriff John D. Green temporarily suspended sales of foreclosed properties.

Sheriff Dart said he took the measure because an increasing number of the residents being evicted were renters who might have been dutifully paying their rent, and might have had no knowledge that the owner was behind on the mortgage.

Under a new Chicago law, renters are entitled to a 90-day grace period, starting at the time a foreclosure sale is confirmed, before they can be evicted.

Read more in The New York Times