The city of Chicago lost more than $3.1 billion in wealth, or about
$2,900 per household, in 2012 as a result of the foreclosure crisis,
according to a new report from the Alliance for a Just Society.
And more than $192 billion in homeowner wealth was lost nationally last year, the new analysis shows.
Communities of color in Chicago saw more foreclosures and lost wealth per household compared to other communities.
In
2012, the average Chicago household in zip codes with the highest
concentration of people of color lost $3,700 in wealth, the “Wasted Wealth” (PDF) report found.
In comparison, the average wealth lost in segregated white communities was about $1,300 per household.
“Seeing
this loss of wealth per household is profound," said the Rev. Marilyn Pagán-Banks, president of IIRON, which also worked on the release of the report. "People of color in
Chicago, whose majority equity holdings remain in real estate, have been
particularly affected by the crisis.”
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Bank of America (BOA) serves as a destabilizing force in Chicago’s blighted
communities, according to approximately 50 protesters who took their
message to a downtown branch on Tuesday.
Derived from a long history of discrimination, a staggering
opportunity gap has widened financial disparities between black and
white Americans, condemning African Americans to less home equity,
according to a new 
Chicago has not reached the other side of the foreclosure crisis, a new 
In an effort to reverse the problems that have cropped up in a number of communities over recent years as a result of the rise
in vacant and abandoned properties, the Cook County Board voted last
week to create a countywide land bank, a move 
Belmont-Cragin resident Mary Bonelli is 76-years-old, has cancer and
is about to be thrown out of the home that’s been in her family for
nearly 100 years.