Public interest and enthusiasm for abolishing Illinois’s prohibition on rent control is growing. In Bronzeville last Thursday night, a crowd of around 200 people packed a church auditorium to hear presentations organized by the Lift the Ban Coalition. The group of 20 community groups has formed in recent months to push for a repeal of the state’s 1997 Rent Control Preemption Act and subsequently lobby for a rent regulation ordinance in Chicago. The coalition has been picking up steam since rolling out its campaign in Pilsen earlier this month; it plans to collect signatures to get a referendum to repeal the state prohibition on the March primary ballot.
Timothy Collins formerly served as the executive director of New York’s Rent Guidelines Board, which oversees a million rent stabilized apartments. He warned that proponents of rent regulation typically face a plethora of arguments from real estate interests that don’t hold much water. Take a look, Collins said, at seven decades of regulation in the country’s largest rental market.
This dynamic has been on full display in gentrifying neighborhoods around Chicago. Earlier this month, a group of tenants in Albany Park staged a protest in front of their building, on the corner of Sunnyside and Albany, which changed hands last February.
In the past, ATU, with the help of 33rd Ward alderman Deb Mell, successfully negotiated with Abrams to prevent sudden displacement of tenants elsewhere in Albany Park. But this time around, Abrams says he isn’t interested. And, of course, he’s not legally obligated to try to appease those tenants without leases.
Back in Bronzeville, the event organized by the Lift the Ban Coalition ended with a call to action. Organizers called for attendees to commit to contacting their state representatives about supporting Will Guzzardi’s bill to repeal the Rent Control Preemption Act, to support a rent control referendum at their local precinct, and to educate at least ten neighbors about rent control and the campaign to lift the statewide ban.
