Cook County sheriff suspends evictions from foreclosed properties

CHICAGO (CNN) - Sheriff Thomas J. Dart said Wednesday he is suspending
foreclosure evictions in Cook County, which had been on track to reach a record
number of evictions, many due to mortgage foreclosures.

He said many of the evictions involve renters who are paying their rent
on time but are being thrown out because the landlord has fallen behind on
mortgage payments.

Mortgage companies are supposed to identify a building's occupants prior
to asking for an eviction, but sheriff's deputies routinely find that the
mortgage companies have not done so, he said.

"These mortgage companies only see pieces of paper, not people, and don't
care who's in the building," Dart said. "They simply want their money and don't
care who gets hurt along the way. On top of it all, they want taxpayers to fund
their investigative work for them. We're not going to do their jobs for them
anymore. We're just not going to evict innocent tenants. It stops today."