HOPE Fair Housing Center and Caroline Bermudez Sue Chicago Housing Authority After Two-Year Investigation Uncovers Neglect of Scattered Site Properties
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 18, 2026
CONTACT:
Zindy Marquez
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
zmarquez@clccrul.org
Josefina Navar
HOPE Fair Housing Center
josefina.navar@hopefair.org
HOPE Fair Housing Center and Caroline Bermudez Sue Chicago Housing Authority After Two-Year Investigation Uncovers Neglect of Scattered Site Properties
Investigation found excessive number of vacant units over long periods of time resulting in negative impacts for neighbors, disproportionately impacting communities of color
CHICAGO, IL: HOPE Fair Housing Center and Caroline Bermudez have filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA), Hispanic Housing Development Corporation, and Manage Chicago after a two-year investigation exposed CHA’s failure to maintain and lease vacant scattered site properties, most of which are concentrated in Black and Latine neighborhoods. The investigation uncovered that a high concentration of vacant units, extended vacancy periods, poor vacant unit conditions, and maintenance failures were significantly more likely in communities of color, in contrast properties in white communities were consistently maintained and leased. HOPE Fair Housing Center and Ms. Bermudez are represented in this lawsuit by Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and McDermott Will & Schulte.
CHA’s scattered site properties are nearly 2,800 affordable housing units, often single-family homes or small apartment buildings, scattered throughout the city to help families access new neighborhoods or opportunities. As of 2025, it is estimated that over 450 units—16 percent of the scattered site portfolio—are vacant, and many have been for years despite 69,000 families sitting on waiting lists for a scattered site unit. CHA property management agreements state that scattered sites should be 98 percent occupied. This neglect persists even as our city struggles with an affordable housing crisis.
Ms. Bermudez, a homeowner in Humboldt Park, lives next door to a scattered site property that has remained vacant for at least seven years at the beginning of the investigation and has been a significant safety concern for her and her surrounding neighbors. The vacant property next door hosted an illegal drug sale operation, attracted violence and trespassers engaging in drug use, and the home was covered in graffiti and other signs of neglect. Ms. Bermudez was forced to leave her home and move in with family out of concern for her safety due to the conditions of the vacant unit next door.
“As a homeowner, you expect stability but living next door to a vacant and neglected CHA property has brought nothing but stress and made it unsafe for my family to live in our own home,” said Ms. Bermudez. “This isn’t just about the empty buildings but about the harm that it creates for surrounding residents and neighbors. We reported the problem so many times and nothing changed. Our communities deserve better – if we take care of our own homes, shouldn’t we expect the same from our housing authority?”
HOPE Fair Housing Center’s investigation also found that CHA’s management companies have failed to maintain and secure vacant scattered site units, allowing units to fall into disrepair and contribute to neighborhood destabilization in communities of color.
In Ms. Bermudez’ case, the house next door to her home was managed previously by Hispanic Housing Development Corporation and now Manage Chicago. The lack of oversight of these management companies, the unlawful activity, and unsafe conditions taking place inside vacant units have had significant harmful effects on surrounding neighbors.
“Chicago Housing Authority has to be held accountable for their lack of oversight or action related to the scattered site program – especially as thousands of families are on waiting lists and in need of affordable housing,” said Emily Coffey, Director of the Equitable Community Development and Housing at Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. “The priority needs to be bringing these units back to habitable condition, leasing them, and beginning to repair the harm the vacant units have caused their surrounding neighborhood.”
“Having personally inspected many of these properties, I am appalled at their deplorable conditions. These properties should be maintained at a standard worthy of the communities they exist in – and that standard still applies when those communities are Black and Latine,” said Josefina Navar, Deputy Director at HOPE Fair Housing Center. “Every day that a unit sits abandoned or in disrepair is a major disservice to both these communities and the thousands of families lingering on the waiting lists for housing.”
The lawsuit is filed in the Cook County Circuit Court and alleges violations of the Illinois Human Rights Act, the Illinois Civil Rights Act, and public and private nuisance violations.
HOPE Fair Housing Center and Ms. Bermudez aim for the lawsuit to finally open the doors of these vacant homes to those who have been waiting years for an affordable housing unit, while also moving CHA to apply maintenance and leasing practices equitably across all neighborhoods.
Read the full complaint here.
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Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights is a non-partisan, non-profit group of civil rights lawyers and advocates working to secure racial equity and economic opportunity for all. We provide legal representation through partnerships with the private bar, and we collaborate with grassroots organizations and other advocacy groups to implement community-based solutions that advance civil rights. For more information, visit www.clccrul.org
HOPE Fair Housing Center
HOPE Fair Housing Center works to create greater housing opportunities for all. We want to ensure everyone has the chance to live where they choose, free from discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, familial status, or any other characteristics protected under law. HOPE accomplishes this through education, outreach, enforcement, training, and advocacy. For more information, visit hopefair.org or call (630) 690-6500.