Bedbugs have made the leap from apartments and homes to some of Chicago’s downtown office buildings and government headquarters.

And late last month, a “government office in the Loop” brought in Meron Kahssai, resident bedbug expert with the Metropolitan Tenants Organization, to educate employees about dealing with bedbugs after the office had an infestation.

It doesn’t matter that offices don’t have beds.

The blood-sucking pests, which are making a comeback nationally, can easily hitch a ride on purses and coats from infested homes or hotels and burrow into furniture and files at work.

Read more at the Chicago Tribune

Her building, 7263 S. Coles, is quite literally falling apart. Bricks are falling off the front of the South Shore apartment building, not to mention the ceilings are falling in and the electricity is about to cause on fire any minute, she says. The bathtubs won’t drain, so they sit, daily, full of grey water, while families try to wash themselves in the kitchen sink. Mold, insects, pests – you name a problem, they got it.

It’s so bad that the city has deemed it uninhabitable, and Saturday, they will come out to vacate 10 families from the premises. Richards and her neighbors gathered downtown yesterday afternoon, asking for relocation assistance from the party they say is responsible for the building’s profound neglect – Chase Bank.

Read the entire story here at One Story Up

Watch the report from We The People Media here

There’s a very important piece of legislation coming before the Chicago city council, one that would do a lot for ordinary people waylaid by the foreclosure crisis.

But there’s a problem with that bill, or at least a version of it floating around the council chambers. One that could hurt vulnerable tenants around the city.

Megan Cottrell reports – Read it on True/Slant

Hyde Park tenant Melissa Michaels hopes a proposed ordinance will induce property owners to be better landlords.

The city of Chicago has a message for slumlords: You will not be rewarded with city loans or contracts.

CBS 2′s Jim Williams reports the city council is close to passing a law that would put pressure on bad landlords to fix their property.

Read the full story here: http://cbs2chicago.com/local/slum.ordinance.Alderman.2.1429795.html

Watch the video here: http://cbs2chicago.com/video/?id=66557@wbbm.dayport.com

photo credit: AleBonvini on flickr

Thousands of buildings went into foreclosure last year in Chicago. And they weren’t all bungalows and condos. Joining us to talk about how foreclosures are affecting renters is John Bartlett. He is executive director of the Metropolitan Tenants Organization in Chicago.

listen to broadcast on ChicagoPublicRadio.org