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Abstract

This project will explore how COVID-19 has amplified the causes and ramifications of eviction and tenants’ inability to pay rent in Chicago. Secondly, it will address how Chicago and the state of Illinois can better prevent high eviction rates in the present and future. With COVID impacting nearly every household, there are additional consequences to being evicted, and this study hopes to advocate on behalf of the most impacted populations and propose remedies to the current housing and eviction crisis. Given that moratoriums at the federal and state level are in place, tenants cannot be evicted for nonpayment of rent, but they, and their landlords, still continue to suffer in this waiting period, as they will have to face the financial repercussions once the courts are again open. This study is distinguished from others in that it focuses on the impact of eviction on both tenants and landlords and addresses the various ways that eviction disproportionately impacts minorities and low-income households. This paper will rely on scholarly articles that previously examined eviction’s fall out, as well as more current data such as news reports, eviction databases, and interviews with stakeholders in the field. A comparison to past crises, such as the Great Recession and H1N1 pandemic, will prove why COVID has been significantly worse for the American population and how it is unique from these two events. This qualitative and quantitative data will be important in establishing how Chicago was already facing an eviction crisis, with COVID expediting the process and forcing tenants to simultaneously face a number of hardships. With policy recommendations such as implementing a right to counsel and extending the moratoriums, this study will aim to set precedent for future pandemics and crises in the hopes to be better prepared and better protect at-risk communities.

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