Chicago Families Deserve Safe & Healthy Homes.
The case for proactive rental inspections.
It's a matter of health and racial equity.
A little over half of all Chicagoans are renters and according to the National Center for Healthy Housing, Chicago has higher-than-average rates of water leaks, HVAC and plumbing equipment breakdown, sewage disposable issues, and problems with broken plaster and peeling paint.
16% of Chicago families have a child diagnosed with asthma. Lead paint and dust in the home is the largest source of lead poisoning in children. No Chicago renter should get sick or die because of preventable health hazards. Between 2014 and 2019, 140 fires killed 92 Chicagoans. Nearly half of those fires involved buildings without a working smoke detector
Unlike other major cities, Chicago does not regularly inspect buildings for health and safety issues. Homes are only inspected when there is a complaint, and most of the complaints submitted through Chicago’s 311 non-emergency hotline, remain unanswered. In addition, Chicago’s system is complaint-based, an approach that places the burden on renters to report their landlords, which often results in strained landlord-tenant relationships and an increased risk of retaliatory rent increases and evictions.
Proactive inspection programs encourage the participation of owners, tenants, and local municipalities resulting in improved housing conditions and better care and protection of local rental housing stock.
Cities creating proactive solutions.
Proactive rental inspection programs involve preventative and regular checks of homes rather than waiting for tenants to complain about health and safety issues. The following cities have implemented proactive inspection programs and we hope to see Chicago on this list soon!
In 2019 renters made more than 30,000 complaints for occupied blight and other habitability issues, with most complaints coming from the South and West Side. In Chicago, Black children have twice the prevalence of asthma when compared to White and Hispanic children. In community areas like Chicago’s Austin, West Garfield Park, and Englewood, the childhood lead poisoning rates are more than double or quadruple the city-wide rate.
The lack of a rental property registration system exacerbates Chicago’s housing crisis and puts families at risk.
Los Angeles, CA • Sacramento, CA • Boulder, CO • Cedar Falls, IA • Des Moines, IA • Iowa City, IA • Bloomington, IL • Mount Prospect, IL • Peoria, IL • Waukegan, IL • West Chicago, IL • Ann Arbor, MI • Grand Rapids, MI • Lansing, MI • Port Huron, MI • Minneapolis, MN • Easton, PA • Philadelphia, PA • Portsmouth, VA • Seattle, WA • La Crosse, WI • Milwaukee, WI
Chicago Healthy Homes Coalition (CHHC)
Take Action!
Renters and advocates have come together under the Chicago Healthy Homes Coalition (CHHC), to advocate for the creation of a citywide proactive rental housing inspections program that would:
- Improve the health of Chicago families
- Create a citywide building registry
- Initiate a 3-year pilot phase in 3 wards
- Institute fair and regular inspections every 5 years
CHHC believes that community support is vital to the success of this program and advocates for the involvement of community members at all stages of the development and implementation of this proactive rental housing inspections program. Show your support for the Chicago Healthy Homes Rental Inspection Program. Click here to endorse the Chicago Healthy Homes Pilot Program.
Go one step further! Call your Alderman today and urge them to support the Chicago Healthy Homes Inspection Program.
Interested in joining the Chicago Healthy Homes Coalition (CHHC)? Click here to fill out our support form.