Chicago’s Department of Housing has logged 582 registrations of foreclosed rental property, at 556 distinct locations, under the Keep Chicago Renting ordinance since November 2021, 90 of them so far in 2026, and 276 of the 582, nearly half, sit in ten South and West Side community areas led by Auburn Gresham with 44. As the department describes the ordinance, a foreclosed rental’s new owner has 21 days to notify the tenants and must either offer each covered tenant a new lease negotiated in good faith or pay $10,600 in relocation assistance; the department’s page adds that a tenant may reject the lease and still receive the $10,600. The new owners on file are mostly banks, mortgage trusts and the federally chartered mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Foreclosed Rental Property registrations (yhcw-iu53), November 3, 2021 through October 6, 2026, read October 9, 2026; the Department of Housing’s Keep Chicago Renting page, read the same day · this page names no address, agent or person · the owner classes and area placement are oursWhat does the ordinance require of a new owner?
| Question | What the Department of Housing says |
|---|---|
| Who is covered | A tenant with a valid agreement in a foreclosed building, or one with a foreclosure pending, with one or more rental units, including a single-family home or a condominium unit |
| Since when | Foreclosure sales after September 24, 2013 |
| Notice | Within 21 days of becoming the owner, delivered or mailed to the tenant and posted at the building entrance, in English, Spanish, Polish and Chinese |
| The choice | A new lease from a good-faith negotiation, or $10,600 in relocation assistance; a tenant may reject the new lease and still receive the $10,600 |
| Who is left out | A tenant whose child, spouse or parent owned the building before the foreclosure |
| Complaints | Through 311; the city sends a form and investigates |
How many are registered each year?
About a hundred a year lately. The file holds 161 registrations from 2022, 130 from 2023, 95 from 2024 and 102 from 2025, and 90 through October 6, 2026. Its earliest registration is dated November 3, 2021. A registration is what an owner filed; the file cannot show how many foreclosed rentals went unregistered.
| Year registered | All | Banks and trusts | Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the VA | Companies | Other owners |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 161 | 67 | 59 | 31 | 4 |
| 2023 | 130 | 51 | 24 | 44 | 11 |
| 2024 | 95 | 32 | 23 | 31 | 9 |
| 2025 | 102 | 55 | 14 | 22 | 11 |
| 2026 | 90 | 61 | 4 | 22 | 3 |
Who becomes the owner?
Mostly lenders. Banks and trusts are the new owner on 270 of the 582 registrations, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and, once, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on 124, and companies such as mortgage servicers and investment firms on 150. U.S. Bank appears on 145, 68 of them as a trustee or trust company; Fannie Mae on 97 and Freddie Mac on 26. Our reading: by the wording of the filed names, 68 percent of these registrations list a bank, a trust, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or a federal agency as the owner the ordinance holds to the notice and to the lease-or-$10,600 choice.
Where are the registered rentals?
Mostly on the South Side. 71 of the 77 community areas have at least one registration, and the ten with the most hold 276, or 47 percent: Auburn Gresham, Roseland, West Englewood, West Pullman, South Shore, Englewood, Austin, Greater Grand Crossing, South Chicago and Chatham. Austin is the only one of the ten on the West Side.
| Community area | Foreclosed rentals registered |
|---|---|
| Auburn Gresham | 44 |
| Roseland | 32 |
| West Englewood | 31 |
| West Pullman | 29 |
| South Shore | 27 |
| Englewood | 26 |
| Austin | 25 |
| Greater Grand Crossing | 21 |
| South Chicago | 21 |
| Chatham | 20 |
| Chicago Lawn | 15 |
| Morgan Park | 15 |
| Washington Heights | 13 |
| Calumet Heights | 13 |
| Ashburn | 12 |
| West Lawn | 12 |
| Portage Park | 11 |
| Avalon Park | 11 |
How soon do owners register?
A median 43 days after the date the file gives for the new owner. 224 of the 578 registrations with a usable date came within 30 days, and 31 came more than six months later. The file does not record when tenants were notified, so the 21-day notice rule cannot be checked against it.
If a rental is foreclosed, where is the record?
Registrations are in the city’s Foreclosed Rental Property file, searchable by address, with the new owner and the agent who receives notices for it. The tenant rules, the required notice forms and the complaint route are on the Department of Housing’s page, which also lists the Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing among the groups that assist tenants; complaints go through 311.
What can’t the file tell you?
How many rental properties were foreclosed: an owner who never registered is not in it. Whether tenants got their notice, took a new lease or received the $10,600. How many units or tenants a property holds. Which foreclosures are still pending in court. The owner’s name is the name as filed, sorted into a class by its wording.
- Registrations the city’s Foreclosed Rental Property file (yhcw-iu53), updated October 6, 2026 and read October 9, 2026: the submission date, the owner-since date, the owner’s name and the point location only.
- Owners a name with a bank, trust or savings-society term is a bank or trust; Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and federal agencies are counted together; a name with a business term is a company; anything else is counted as another owner and never shown.
- Areas and timing each property placed in a community area by its coordinates and the city’s boundaries. Registration timing is the submission date minus the owner-since date, for the registrations whose owner date is usable.
- Rules the Department of Housing’s Keep Chicago Renting page, read October 9, 2026; each rule summarized was checked against its wording.
Computed by KCM Desk from the city’s registration file, read October 9, 2026. Nothing here is legal advice. Human-guided and edited — about this desk. If you spot an error, corrections come first.
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