In an investigation of the “criminal housing laws” in Illinois

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I met Catherine Lang in a Starbucks in Tinley Park, Illinois, one day last summer.

We exchanged subtleties and admitted that it was actually a bit strange to tell the story of a total stranger. Then she informed me in detail with me how the policy of criminal housing had changed.

In 2021, when Ms. Lang was 31 years old, she was arrested and charged with drunk. The police informed their landlord that they would have to be driven out of their apartment in Tinley Park within a few weeks due to their arrest.

Months later a jury found her not guilty. Until then, Ms. Lang had moved a city to her parents' house and saves to buy her own place. She was finished with the rent – it didn't feel safe anymore, she said.

For Ms. Lang it was an opportunity to share her side of history. For me it was the highlight of the months of reporting. It was the first time that I could personally sit down with someone who was on the wrong side of the so -called laws of freedom of crime, local laws that can punish tenants for contact with the law enforcement authorities.

In a study published today, the New York Times and Illinois project showed answers that there were more than 2,000 cases in 25 cities of Illinois from 2019 to 2024 in which the city officials have informed the landlords that their tenants violated criminal living regulations.

These regulations should protect the neighborhoods by evacuing dangerous criminal. However, as we found, more than 1,300 cases were based on offenses or not criminal offenses.