In Chicago, in Illinois and across the country, half of all renters pay more than 30% of their income on rent. One out of 4 spend over half their income on rent, and rents have been rising faster than inflation. KOCO responded by helping form the Lift the Ban Coalition, focused on keeping renters in their homes in Chicago and throughout Illinois.
In 1997, Illinois passed a law that stops municipalities from controlling how much landlords can charge. That ban on rent control is what KOCO and the Lift the Ban Coalition are fighting against. The coalition is made up of Black and Latinx community organizations, unions and mobile-home associations. This fight is important to all of us because communities know best what we need to thrive.
We successfully worked in Springfield to introduce lift-the-ban legislation in 2021. We are keeping up the pressure privately and publicly because affordable housing is in our DNA.
KOCO was born in 1967 during Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Chicago Freedom Movement to fight for fair housing and an end to segregation. Working for affordable housing is a big part of what we do.
