Chicago magazine

Chicago’s Eviction Cliff

AS COVID-19 DESCENDED ON CHICAGO THIS SPRING, ROMAN VIERE, VICE PRESIDENT of Urban Alternatives rental properties, would lie awake trying to figure out how he could keep his business running if things really went south. The family company owns and operates about 900 rental units, mostly in Austin. “I was terrified,” Viere says. “All it would take is 10 percent of residents not to pay rent and we’d be in a tailspin.”

Many people who lost their jobs as unemployment spiked were unable to pay rent,

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