Lender drops eviction suit vs. Cook County sheriff

A mortgage lender that tried to force the Cook County sheriff to evict a suburban Chicago woman from her home announced Friday that it has withdrawn its lawsuit.

Accredited Home Lenders said in a brief statement it would also suspend the eviction of Shirley McFarland, of Dolton, from her foreclosed bungalow.

The San Diego-based company said it reached its decision after "further consideration of the facts surrounding this matter." A spokesman for the company declined to comment further.

Sheriff Tom Dart said Wednesday he would stop sending his deputies on court-ordered mortgage foreclosure evictions because many of those forced from their homes paid their rent faithfully and had no idea their landlords were having financial problems.

Dart made headlines around the nation with his announcement. He and others said they believed he was the first sheriff in a major metropolitan area to take such action during the nation's mortgage foreclosure crisis.

Dart said that often lenders had not even done the most basic research to determine whether the people being evicted were the homeowners.

In about a third of the 400 to 500 monthly foreclosure evictions his deputies carry out per month, the residents were not those whose names were on the eviction papers, Dart said.

"We will no longer be a party to something that's so unjust," he said Wednesday.

Dart's office did not have immediate comment on Accredited's decision Friday. Office spokeswoman Penny Mateck said she did not know of any other lawsuits filed against the sheriff.

McFarland has an unlisted telephone number in Dolton, and nobody answered the door when an Associated Press reporter went to the house Friday.