Keeping tabs on housing market through FOIAs

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Updated: November 24, 2011 3:34AM

Every month, without fail in at least six south suburban towns, a financial adviser files a Freedom of Information Act request for all new building permits over $20,000.

And developers want copies of the last 10 bids on various municipal projects.

It’s all part of doing business, and it’s all perfectly legal.

As part of the recent Sunshine Week — which highlights the importance of open government and freedom of information — the SouthtownStar examined FOIA request logs from a dozen south and southwest suburbs.

What we found is that across the Southland, a good chunk of requests came not from the media or the average citizen, but people in businesses who use FOIA in the course of their jobs.

Drew Munson makes the rounds among villages, filing FOIA requests for housing construction permits. He’s not a builder or contractor but a financial adviser. Munson keeps tabs on new-home construction in communities such as Frankfort, Mokena, Orland Park and Tinley Park.

“That’s one tool I use to see what the market is doing. The housing market plays a big role in that, and I use the information as a financial adviser,” Munson said from his home in Indian Head Park.

Seeing more permits issued “tells me more people are out there spending money,” he said.

From what he’s seen through FOIA requests, the housing market is slowly improving.

Munson is among those information seekers who “come in like clockwork” at the Tinley Park Village Hall, deputy clerk Laura Godette said.

“It’s kind of slowed down a bit, but most are in here once a month, asking for building permits,” Godette said.

Contractors and trade union representatives are looking for work, she said. The permits give them leads on possible jobs.

At the Oak Lawn Village Hall, two paralegals for law firms in Bolingbrook and Gurnee visit every Friday, filing requests for accident reports, village clerk Jane Quinlan said.

Personal information such as Social Security numbers and cell phone numbers are blacked out, but enough remains for attorneys to solicit potential clients.