The Great Recession after 2008 caused the number of foreclosures to skyrocket. Before the recession, relaxed lending criteria, inflated appraisals, unscrupulous brokering and mortgage bundling processes, and a strong inventory of properties had borrowers who should not have been buying property, becoming not only homeowners, but investors. The result was that by the end of 2010, Cook County alone had approximately 70,000 foreclosure cases pending. By contrast, the first half of 2022 saw only 7,265 foreclosures in Cook …