Sheriff Takes Stand Against Evictions AOL
posted: 1 DAY 1 HOUR AGO comments: 2097filed under: Financial Crisis, National NewsPrintShareText Size AAA(Oct. 9) - Saying innocent people have been thrown out on the street, the sheriff of Illinois' Cook County announced Wednesday that he would no longer evict people from foreclosed properties.

In an op-ed piece in the Chicago Sun-Times explaining his decision, Sheriff Tom Dart said that ''too many times,'' his deputies have arrived at foreclosed properties to find tenants who have indeed paid their rent. But the property owner had not paid the mortgage, leading banks to foreclose on the property.
That is what happened to families living in a building in Albany Park, Ill. ''l do not think this is fair because we do not know what happened,'' said one woman facing the prospect of eviction. ''We were paying rent every month.''
Dart faulted the banks for the ''mess,'' saying they have a legal responsibility to find out who is living in a building before taking any foreclosure action.
''We wo not be doing the banks' work for them anymore,'' Dart wrote. ''We wo not surprise tenants with an eviction order intended for their landlord.''
The New York Times reports that the department was on track to carry out 4,700 foreclosures this year, close to triple what it was just two years ago. The paper also reports that other sheriffs and judges around the country are trying to slow down such foreclosure proceedings.

The sheriff should be fired. It is his job to uphold and enforce the law. A judges job to determine if the eviction is valid. The sheriff is not qualified to act as a judge and has no right to violate a court order. He has no business being paid by the public.

In this economy, you'd hope your landlord would not be so heartless as to throw you out into the street if you truly have been trying to pay each month. BUT.the sheriff is in the wrong. He needs to uphold the laws and the laws say the landlord can have you evicted and get a paying tenant.