Illegal evictions of tenants from rental buildings are most common in a “foreclosure belt” stretching across Chicago’s South and West Sides, according to a new report (pdf).

The Lawyers Committee for Better Housing reports that banks routinely violate state and federal laws protecting tenants in buildings in foreclosure.  The “most egregious cases” are concentrated in 20 low-income black and Latino communities where more than 10 perecent of the rental stock is impacted by foreclosure, the group reports.

Stretching from South Chicago to  Chicago Lawn, from Englewood to Brighton Park, up to North Lawndale, Austin, Garfield Park and Humboldt Park, and out to Belmont Cragin and Avondale, these communities constitute Chicago’s “foreclosure belt,” according to the report.

In these communities, the “mass destruction of rental units” has created a downward spiral of blight and disinvestment.

“Illegal constructive evictions that lead to building vacancies and boardups have a clear solution: enforce the already existing laws that protect tenants living in foreclosed buildings,” according to the report.  More at Newstips.