our Case

Mendez v. City of Chicago

Homeowners have a right to not have their constitutional rights infringed upon.

About Mendez v. City of Chicago

Chicago has enacted some of the nation’s most extreme restrictions on citizens’ right to share their homes through online platforms such as Airbnb and Homeaway.

Chicago’s anti-home-sharing ordinance allows officials to search home-sharers’ private residences “at any time and in any manner” without a warrant or probable cause, arbitrarily limits who can engage in home-sharing, imposes unintelligible noise restrictions on home-sharers, and imposes discriminatory taxes on home-sharing.

The Liberty Justice Center has teamed up with the Goldwater Institute to represent Chicago homeowners in a lawsuit, Mendez v. City of Chicago, challenging this ordinance for violating homeowners’ constitutional rights.

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Case Details

CASE NAME

Mendez v. City of Chicago

Filed

March 27, 2017

Court

Circuit Court of Cook County Illinois

Status

Closed

Liberty Justice Center Attorneys

Jacob Huebert

Jacob Huebert

Jacob Huebert serves as the president of the Liberty Justice Center. He previously served as the Liberty Justice Center’s Director of Litigation. In that role, he successfully litigated cases to protect economic liberty, free speech and other constitutional rights. Jacob and his work have appeared in numerous national media outlets, including the Wall Street JournalNew York Times and Fox News Channel.

Jeffrey Schwab

Jeffrey M. Schwab

Jeffrey M. Schwab is a Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, where he litigates cases to protect the rights to free speech, economic liberty, private property and other Constitutional rights in both federal and state courts across the country.

Mendez v. City of Chicago Details

The Chicago Tribune

Chicago’s Home-Sharing Ordinance is an Unwelcome Guest

May 11, 2019

(The Chicago Tribune)—When the Cubs won the World Series in early November, the city was euphoric. And in the days leading up to the win, Wrigleyville was buzzing with excited fans — from Chicago and around the world. During that time, Airbnb reported that people who rent out their homes...

The Chicago Tribune

Chicago’s Airbnb Home-Sharing Rules are ‘Draconian,’ Lawsuit Says

June 9, 2018

(The Chicago Tribune)—A group of homeowners is suing the city of Chicago, alleging the city’s new “draconian and unintelligible restrictions” on Airbnb and other home-sharing platforms are unconstitutional and punish responsible homeowners. This is the second lawsuit filed this month that takes aim at the city’s new home-sharing rules, which...

Fox News

Lawsuit Blasts New Airbnb Regulations

November 15, 2016

(Fox News)—A lawsuit has been filed to stop a new ordinance that would put stricter regulations on people who share their homes through sites like Airbnb. The ordinance is set to take effect in just a few weeks, but this lawsuit is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop that. The...

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