ABSTRACT
The post-2006 foreclosure crisis has been a signal moment in US urban history, and in many cities the long-term effects are only now becoming apparent. This chapter argues that the jurisdictional practice has been evident in three different areas: first, in attempts to produce a force of law sufficient to displace costs and burdens back onto lenders; second, in attempts to know property through the complexities of the foreclosure process; and third, within the complexes of legal and administrative means used to extend foreclosure governance. Chicago's Troubled Buildings Initiative draws on Illinois statutes that allow a court-appointed receiver to temporarily abrogate an owner's rights, suspending any claims on rent or the proceeds from sale of a property held by either owners or mortgage note holders. Mass nuisance litigation territorializes property by causally connecting lenders, harm of their subprime mortgage products, and the broader effects of concentrated foreclosures and real-estate owned properties.
