The rash of complaints by homeowners like Feeney shows what was missing during the boom years: strong oversight by the City of Chicago. Until recently, the buildings department depended on developers to call during construction when they were ready for an inspection, sort of an honor system. Those who wanted to avoid scrutiny could just not call. Many of the developers in Janes’s cases, like Mary Feeney’s, never got a certificate of occupancy showing final inspections had been done.

Eight Forty-Eight, a local NPR show, has an excellent report on the shoddy construction and absent standards that marked Chicago’s big condo building boom. I know a number of friends who’ve had to sue developers for new or rehabbed buildings. Often the developers have skipped town or insulated the profits in shell companies, and condo owners end up with a lot of hassle and little recompense.

Definitely makes me glad to be a renter.