Geoff Smith

Foreclosures spiked in the last quarter of 2007 nearly every community in the Chicago region, based on forecosure filings analyzed by Woodstock Institute. This report also found that foreclosure filings have increased in suburban areas that have not traditionally been associated with high foreclosure levels.

Sarah Duda and Tom Feltner

Analysis of Circuit Court of Cook County filings by one large payday lending showing the shift from short-term loans, cover by Payday Loan Reform Act consumer protections, to longer-term installment loans not covered by the act. The report also looks at the debt collection process.

Geoff Smith

An analysis of 2007 foreclosure filings shows that 35 percent, or over 4,800 foreclosure filings, were on 2- to 6-units multifamily properties. Communities with the highest concentrations of foreclosures on 2- to 6-unit properties include West Garfield Park, East Garfield Park, Austin, Humboldt Park on the West Side and New City, Englewood, and West Englewood on the South Side.

Geoff Smith, Sarah Duda, and Katie Buitrago

This report found that high-cost refund anticipation loans (RALs), which allow borrowers to receive their expected tax refund in one to three days, cost Illinoisans more than $114 million in 2006, with tax filers in African-American communities 3.5 times more likely to use RALs than the state average. The report is based on an analysis of 2006 tax data and recommends policy changes, such as a RAL fee cap and better funding of free tax preparation, to reduce the negative impact of RALs on low-wealth communities.

Geoff Smith and Sarah Duda

This report summarizes key foreclosure trends in the Chicago region for 2009 and updates Woodstock Institute reports and fact sheets released previously that illustrated key aspects of the foreclosure crisis, such as the spread of the crisis to suburban communities, the growing number of condominium foreclosures in Chicago, and the accumulated impact of the crisis on lower-income communities. The report includes detailed appendices with data for City of Chicago community areas and municipalities in the Chicago Six County Area, as well as DeKalb, Winnebago, and Kendall County.

A joint report by:

California Reinvestment Coalition, Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina, Empire Justice Center, Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, Ohio Fair Lending Coalition, and Woodstock Institute

Tom Feltner

This report provides a method for estimating the loan terms and conditions, default conditions, automobile characteristics, and borrower demographics of title loans in Illinois based on Cook County court cases filed against borrowers in default during 2005. It identifies key information on the title loan industry necessary to inform the public debate on how to best apply nationally recognized small loan consumer protections to the Illinois title loan industry.