The Chicago Housing Authority is cracking down on lax landlords. The public housing agency has joined the city initiative that takes on troubled buildings.

Close to 40,000 low-income families in Chicago have vouchers to subsidize their rents in the private market.

Sometimes crime and drug dealing take place on those properties along with a lack of upkeep.

CHA is now working with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and Chicago Police Department.

“It’s incredibly important to us that we support the community standards for the safety of our residents and for the safety of the community,” said Jessica Porter, who runs the voucher program for CHA.

Every two weeks CHA and its partners meet to address reported properties.  There are 16,000 property owners in the voucher program.

Enforcement can include kicking landlords out of the voucher program. In some cases, families may be relocated to safer areas - or evicted.