Alejandra Cancino

Chicago

Senior reporter @InjusticeWatch. Former deputy editor @City_Bureau. Earlier: BGA & @ChicagoTribune. @IRE_NICAR board member. Hablo español. ☕️🌎🪴

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Articles

Answers to Chicago renters’ common questions

Mar 13, 2025 | injusticewatch.org | Alejandra Cancino |Maya Dukmasova

Injustice Watch wrapped up its workshop series Know Your Building, Know Your Landlord last month, with nearly 100 people attending to learn how to find building code violations and research who owns their building. The training followed Injustice Watch’s five-part series “The Tenant Trap,” which identified thousands of Chicago residential buildings with a chronic history of code violations and documented tenants’ efforts to exercise their rights to safe rental housing.
Advocates push for at least $20M in city’s 2025 budget for housing measures

Nov 20, 2024 | injusticewatch.org | Alejandra Cancino |Maya Dukmasova

Chicago tenant advocates are asking for at least $20 million in the city’s 2025 budget to help tenants fight against what they say are unfair evictions, create a registry of landlords, and help to stabilize displacement of tenants and homeowners in areas surrounding the future Obama Presidential Center.
Chief judge issues new order aimed at helping tenants facing eviction in troubled buildings

Nov 14, 2024 | injusticewatch.org | Maya Dukmasova |Alejandra Cancino

Tenants who live in substandard housing and face evictions got a boost from Cook County Circuit Court Chief Judge Timothy Evans last week, when he issued a new order making it easier for them to gather evidence against their landlords.
Cook County retention judge under investigation over dispute with attorney

Sep 26, 2024 | injusticewatch.org | Alejandra Cancino

A Cook County judge running for retention next month is under investigation by the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board for her interactions with an attorney in eviction cases last year at the Markham Courthouse, Injustice Watch has learned.
Rising Rents, Unlivable Apartments Leave Tenants Desperate, Confused And Often Helpless

Aug 11, 2024 | blockclubchicago.org | Alejandra Cancino |Maya Dukmasova |Forest Gregg |Alex Richards

This is the first story in The Tenant Trap, a five-part investigative project by Injustice Watch, a Chicago-based nonprofit journalism organization that examines issues of equity and justice in the court system. Click here to read the whole series. CHICAGO — In January, 71-year-old Paul London was among two dozen tenants kicked out of the four-story South Side apartment building he called home for the past 25 years.
How we identified Chicago's chronic building code violators

Aug 7, 2024 | injusticewatch.org | Alex Richards |Forest Gregg |Maya Dukmasova |Alejandra Cancino

To examine the link between dangerous building disrepair and evictions in Chicago, Injustice Watch analyzed roughly 1.9 million code violations, 60,000 administrative court dockets, 300,000 eviction court dockets, and 43,000 housing court dockets dating back to the early 2000s. Because Chicago Property Index Numbers were absent from these records, Injustice Watch relied on street addresses to conduct its initial analyses.
Rising rents, unlivable apartments leave tenants desperate, confused, and often helpless

Aug 7, 2024 | injusticewatch.org | Alejandra Cancino |Maya Dukmasova |Forest Gregg |Alex Richards

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. Republish this articleThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. We welcome and encourage other news organizations to republish our reporting on the Cook County court system.
Tenants’ right to withhold rent becomes landlords’ weapon

Aug 7, 2024 | injusticewatch.org | Alejandra Cancino |Maya Dukmasova

It wasn’t always tense between Megan Franklin and her landlords. In 2014, when she moved in, most of the 35 units in the courtyard building with castle turrets were occupied by condo owners. It showed in the details. Her second-floor apartment had granite countertops, exposed brick walls, a gas fireplace, and central air conditioning. She liked Woodlawn, a historic Black community with a good neighborhood school. And she said the rent was fair — $1,215 for two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Few wins for tenants in class action lawsuits against landlords

Aug 7, 2024 | injusticewatch.org | Alejandra Cancino |Maya Dukmasova

In 2020, Tonnett Hammond was getting increasingly anxious about not being able to reach her new landlords. By then, the post office had stopped delivering mail because of broken mailboxes at the 11-story apartment building known as Ellis Lakeview Apartments and conditions were worsening. Trash began accumulating in the hallway, roaches were colonizing apartments, and sewage backups were damaging carpets and furniture. “Management completely abandoned the building,” Hammond said.
Tenants who call the city for help find lackluster enforcement

Aug 7, 2024 | injusticewatch.org | Alejandra Cancino |Maya Dukmasova

Thelia Stennis didn’t live in the worst of Gary Carlson’s 83 buildings. Sewage wasn’t backing up into her tub, and there was no black mold or lead paint in her home — as far as she knew. But a wall in the living room looked to be buckling, the building’s hallway carpets stank when it rained, and the back gate to the building was missing a handle. What really got to her were the roaches.