Banking On Development, Cook County to Sell ‘Scavenger’ Properties
By Becky Vevea, WBEZ Chicago | May 1st, 2018 (Click here for the audio clip) More than 3,000 vacant, tax-delinquent properties across Cook County go up for sale Tuesday at below-market rates, as part of a government program to get blighted homes back on the tax rolls. It’s the latest move by the Cook County Land Bank Authority, which was formed in 2013 after the housing crash to deal with the tide of newly vacant and abandoned properties in Chicago and the suburbs. Officials there are hoping the addition of the 3,189 vacant lots to the land bank’s portfolio will further help break a [...]