City Cracks Down on Abandoned Buildings

City Cracks Down on Abandoned Buildings
(WBEZ/file)
City Cracks Down on Abandoned Buildings
(WBEZ/file)

City Cracks Down on Abandoned Buildings

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The city of Chicago is cracking down on people who own abandoned buildings. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley announced the city will step up efforts to re-coup the costs of maintaining vacant properties.

Daley says those buildings drag down property values and are havens for crime.

DALEY: Parties’ll take place. You get into an abandoned building on a Friday night and have a party there. For hours. One o’clock in the morning - two, three o’clock in the morning. They take over the whole building. No one has - again, no one’s taking responsibility.

He says the city is working with the courts to shorten the legal process required to demolish dilapidated buildings. There are nearly 8,000 abandoned properties registered with the city of Chicago.

That number has been on the rise due to the foreclosure crisis.