Chicago Tribune: The hidden housing crisis

It is hard to tell whether Traci Hargrove is moving on or staying put. On one day she tends the garden at her Rogers Park three-flat, preparing to plant impatiens. But the next day she removes the drapes in her den and takes down her ceiling fans, because she fears losing her home.

Hargrove is caught in the middle. Below her is a foreclosed property and above her is a unit whose owner has stopped paying assessments. Like a lot of condo owners in Rogers Park, she has paid her mortgage and assessments on time, but has been forced to foot the heat, water and other maintenance bills for the building.
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"I would say in general, condo foreclosures are a little more secret and out of the public view," said Nicholas Bianchi, a research analyst with National People's Action who wrote the report. "Occupancy in a multi-unit condo building could be taking a hit and you wouldn't necessarily know it from the outside."

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