A Sheriff for the people

I don't follow Chicago politics much but I've liked Tom Dart ever since he ran for State Treasurer. Most of the time government is a tool used by big business and wealthy special interests to carry out their own agenda. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart decided that he's going to stand up for the average person. He writes in his editorial:

Too many times, our deputies arrive at a home to carry out a mortgage foreclosure eviction, only to find a tenant -- dutifully paying their rent each month -- who is unaware their landlord stopped using that rent money to pay the mortgage. They had no fair warning that they were about to be thrown out of their home.

That's because, in many cases, the banks have done nothing to determine, in advance, who's living in the building -- even though it's required by state law. Instead, those banks expect taxpayers to pay for that investigative work for them.

That stops today. We won't be doing the banks' work for them anymore.

We won't surprise tenants with an eviction order intended for their landlord.

Nice! Other sheriffs should follow his example.