CHICAGO (AP) – Chicago’s Inspector General has found the city’s building department had a backlog of more than 5,000 complaints that date back as far as 2013 including nearly 200 that describe such "serious health and safety hazards" as rat and bed bug infestations and complaints about senior citizens’ homes without water.
In a news release, the inspector general’s office says an audit found that the building department didn’t have an effective strategy for prioritizing complaints and during the first five months of last year had met its response deadline for fewer than 37 percent of the complaints.
The release says the building department has agreed with many of the audit recommendations, has proposed corrective actions and is trying to determine if it has enough inspectors and support staff to handle the complaints.
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