This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet

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Ten years ago, living in the luxury condo she owned in Los Angeles, Barbara never pictured herself on the verge of homelessness. 

Today, the threat of eviction looms over her daily life.

“I loved my place,” Barbara said. “But it just got too expensive, and I had to sell it back to the bank. … Now, I’m just trying to prevent living in a tent.”

A growing number of Americans like Barbara — once upwardly mobile, now paycheck-dependent — struggle to pay their rent.

Read the full story here.

Pennsylvania has been an electoral battleground state for years, but this November's midterm fight sets up a new front that could have costly economic development repercussions.

Abortion rights are on the ballot in the Keystone State — and in about a dozen others where legislative and gubernatorial races will be key to transforming the nation's reproductive rights landscape following the U.S. Supreme Court's controversial reversal of Roe v. Wade late last month.

The uncertainty is forcing companies to integrate personal politics into business decisions more than ever before, especially when it comes to their locations.

Read the full story here.

Lucas Rotter has a plea for commercial real estate: Please stop taking for granted — or worse, villainizing — appraisers.

Rotter began his CRE career in appraisals in 2007 and began working on the technology side of appraisals in 2010, when he helped build Colliers’ International Valuation and Advisory Services team from the ground up. He co-founded Valcre, an appraisal software platform for commercial real estate, in 2016.

He said appraisers are often treated as roadblocks, but he said they are there to help improve fairness and accuracy in the real estate industry.

“The appraisal process shouldn’t be viewed as a hurdle to get over, but rather a critical step that involves an objective third party upholding public trust and advocating for the health of the market,” Rotter said.

Read the full story here.