As Cook County Sheriff, I am responsible for running a 10,000-inmate jail, providing patrols to unincorporated areas and securing the courts.

But perhaps no part of our job is as difficult as the work done by our eviction units. On any given day, our deputies could be asked to throw a family out of their home, with all of their possessions left on a curb — sometimes pilfered through by those living nearby.

On October 8th, I imposed a moratorium on evictions until the banks and mortgage firms agreed to document the residents of a building and to give them proper notification in the incident of foreclosure. This was a drastic move, but I deemed this decision necessary after spending the last year, to no avail, working with the banking industry on other issues concerning foreclosures.  At the end of the day, banks see a piece of paper, not a person.

Last week, discussions began between Sheriff’s Office officials and members of the Cook County Circuit Court’s Chancery Division to develop a list of safeguards that would provide tenants with proper notification. I applaud the court’s chancery Division Supervisor, the Honorable Dorothy Kirie Kinnaird, for ordering that necessary steps be taken to safeguard renter’s rights. In Cook County, banks are now required to give the proper 120-day notice before an eviction order will be enforced. For more information of the agreement, please see www.cookcountysheriff.org.