Rent control comes to Chicago. Council passes Keep Chicago Renting

Well, what is done is done.  The City Council overwhelmingly passed the “Keep Chicago Renting” law.  WBEZ reported that the Aldermen voted 45-4 in favor of the measure (text can be found here).  Affected tenants will have rights to rent controlled leases or a bonanza of housing relocation funds.  Housing activists are celebrating their “victory” over the banks.  Was it really a win?  It will be interesting to see who is right on this one.  Will the banks stop lending in Chicago?  Will banks stop foreclosures on properties that are not worth foreclosing on when the new time, cost, and trouble of the KCR law is factored into the equation?  Will we have a bunch of “cash-grab” squatters breaking into units in foreclosure in an attempt to wet their beaks in the largesse of a $10,600 payout?  Will post-foreclosure investors shy away from purchasing City properties while the suburbs benefit from a mini-real estate boom going on right now?  Only time will tell.