Chicago Drug and gang houses, houses of prostitution and other disorderly houses Ordinance (City of Chicago Department of Law)

Thank you for your FOIA request to the City of Chicago Department of Law. Your FOIA request has been received and is being processed. Your reference number for tracking purposes is: F061286-111623. Track and view responses at Public Records Center. (https://u8387778.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=6HtRfOYLt5fXvpttM-2FU1HXlc9Qr7-2FBrTp2A6OXN6gdggM9uOgMPUh1dY4lq6zlDGxTBufrAMTAraC6r7hhsQEcOCzjSQ9hzCyuMZxu71Wi4eotf5j1fYaupOkeooFN-2F8cPITMZT7TVyvVdexf85DtQ-3D-3D2WAC_W-2BfQhPMYi70pxh23KaHhWsuAMe7jZVoV4jgMuDDOgwOJOdXvbCaMxlkMrEQHgDMNaMEibcLEJM-2BMq5udaJYqSC2yYHW-2BWfNLLzbwOnjubRWjzN7-2BRR9PhyVcHFKmqJuRJ9QmOufr44XT01y51WNegBTTjYriI7TtE2Hwq38sur6Ovg4XgAziTvzM2eCwhyUNcF70GeaJQNVRzavP5Go4U-2F5aJyja7bXErgEy5EBWQ6M-3D)

You have requested the following records: To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act., I hereby request the following records:
Any and all records from the past five years (Nov. 2018–present) regarding your nuisance property ordinance that will be referred to as "ordinance" in this request but could be known (but not limited to) as "Drug and gang houses, houses of prostitution and other disorderly houses" as described in Sec. 8-4-090 in Chicago's city code.

Please provide any and all written records (including but not limited to hard-copy documents, memos, emails, word processor documents, PDF documents, PowerPoint files, images files, video files etc.) regarding the Ordinance including but not limited to:
• evictions filed by property owners and number of tenants evicted as a result of the ordinance
• written notices from the authorized representatives of the city to the owner or controller of the premises identifying nuisances and abatement measures
• police calls, reports, citations, or arrests, collected by the municipality police department for the purpose of enforcing the ordinance
•fines and penalties collected for the purpose of enforcing the ordinance
• information regarding any court actions related thereto, including motions for court orders to place a property into receivership or condemnation

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,
Jenny Wadhwa

The City of Chicago Department of Law responds to all public records requests in accordance with the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 ILCS 140/1 et seq. If further time is needed to assemble and copy all documents responsive to your FOIA request, we will contact you with a time estimate and a request to extend.

You have sent an email to an unresponsive email account.
Please visit the City of Chicago website to view a list of contact information by department. (https://u8387778.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=6HtRfOYLt5fXvpttM-2FU1HUG5FcvXp7qAzUD9wUlDOd7QeKQqocFTXIPU4lrQd53TCIJWWUy99TFU9Iw2dUhrIGCdrzDS7t-2Fqo4W9zOX9NjY-3DT4iA_W-2BfQhPMYi70pxh23KaHhWsuAMe7jZVoV4jgMuDDOgwOJOdXvbCaMxlkMrEQHgDMNI4ncuMUhxC0LEsY8PIZt9roZ9s1ahhH6kxP4SMafzJOyStzKs8sSJzWnxEUyKIcsIb3nNYsGeMRrz0Ze3s8b4z0w8qCvWZq9d7hmHkf-2FXJP1qkn529T86c0D6FI77ibN26YHXOcdR23-2FkNy7c8zBhUmCGApk0xdharPmz3JEWCM-3D)
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December 1, 2023 RE: PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST of November 16, 2023, Reference # F061286-111623. Dear Jenny Wadhwa, This correspondence is in response to the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") request received by the City of Chicago Department of Law on November 16, 2023. You requested: "To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act., I hereby request the following records:
Any and all records from the past five years (Nov. 2018–present) regarding your nuisance property ordinance that will be referred to as "ordinance" in this request but could be known (but not limited to) as "Drug and gang houses, houses of prostitution and other disorderly houses" as described in Sec. 8-4-090 in Chicago's city code.

Please provide any and all written records (including but not limited to hard-copy documents, memos, emails, word processor documents, PDF documents, PowerPoint files, images files, video files etc.) regarding the Ordinance including but not limited to:
• evictions filed by property owners and number of tenants evicted as a result of the ordinance
• written notices from the authorized representatives of the city to the owner or controller of the premises identifying nuisances and abatement measures
• police calls, reports, citations, or arrests, collected by the municipality police department for the purpose of enforcing the ordinance
•fines and penalties collected for the purpose of enforcing the ordinance
• information regarding any court actions related thereto, including motions for court orders to place a property into receivership or condemnation

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,
Jenny Wadhwa" Apologies for the delay in getting you a proper response; I am a new FOIA officer and had difficulties with the FOIA portal software.
Your request is unduly burdensome under Section 3(g) of FOIA.  Section 3(g) of FOIA provides that “requests for all records falling within a category shall be complied with unless compliance with the request would be unduly burdensome for the complying public body and there is no way to narrow the request and the burden on the public body outweighs the public interest in the information.” In order to produce the records you seek, the Department of Law would have to conduct a thorough review of a minimum of 1,478 cases. To complete this search, it is necessary that the Department of Law thoroughly investigates each individual filing to determine whether there are any responsive information or records related to your request. Furthermore, the Department of Law does not track these filings electronically and would need to order paper copies for attorneys to manually review and scan each file, therefore making this request unduly burdensome. It is necessary that your FOIA request be narrowed and clarified.  If you would like assistance in narrowing your request, please contact me, and I will assist you.  Otherwise, for the reasons provided above, the Department of Law is unable to respond to your FOIA request as currently drafted. If you agree to narrow your request, you must submit a revised written request to my attention. The Department of Law will take no further action or send you any further correspondence unless and until your current request is narrowed in writing.  If we do not receive your narrowed request within fourteen calendar days of the date of this letter, your current request will be denied. In the event that we do not receive a narrowed request and your current FOIA request is therefore denied, you have the right to have a denial reviewed by the Public Access Counselor (PAC) at the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, 500 S. 2nd Street, Springfield, Illinois 62706, (877) 299-3642. You also have the right to seek judicial review of your denial by filing a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court. You have the right to have a denial reviewed by the Public Access Counselor (PAC) at the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, 500 S. 2nd Street, Springfield, Illinois 62701, (877) 299-3642. You may also seek judicial review of a denial under 5 ILCS 140/11 of FOIA. If you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact my office at 312-744-6976. Sincerely, Lexie Heinemann
Public Relations Representative
Department of Law