Citywide complaint maps

Citywide complaints by problem type

A complaint that names several problems is counted under each one, so each list adds up to more than its total.

How to read these maps

• One dot is one complaint record. Several complaints from one address sit on top of each other; click a dot to see the others at that address.
• Left map: housing conditions. Right map: paperwork and landlord-tenant law. A complaint that names both appears on both maps. The two maps move together.
• The light shapes are the seven council districts (outlines from the City’s council district file); blue-gray is water or outside the city. The map has no street tiles, so industrial areas with few homes, such as the Duwamish valley, show no gray dots but are still land.
• Every council district is in full color. Use the tabs at the top of the page to open one district’s page.
• The color is the problem named in the description. A complaint that names several problems in one map takes the first matching color in that map’s list, and the card lists all of them.
• 3-day notices are found by wording. The description or the City’s staff note says “3-day notice” or “three day notice” (or a 3-day pay, comply or vacate). It can be an eviction notice or another kind, such as a notice of entry or repairs. The card shows the phrase and which field it came from.
• Just cause eviction (JCEO) comes from the City’s JCEO label or from “just cause” wording. The JCEO label is a staff code, usually in the City staff note (some are typed in the description). The card says which one a dot is based on. Many of these complaints also name an eviction, a rent increase or a lease problem. They show the JCEO color (only a 3-day notice is listed ahead of it); untick JCEO to see their other color.
• Unassigned (black) means no problem could be assigned from the description. It does not mean there was no problem.
• The other problem types come from STLCA’s word rules, listed on the How we counted page. Borderline wording is left out, so a missing color is not a finding either way.
• The City label (POTA, HOUSING and others) is staff-entered, in the City staff note. The filter lets you compare it with the map. Apart from JCEO it never colors a dot.
• “Inspection date in the record” is a data flag. It shows whether the City’s export has an inspection date for the complaint. It is not proof that an inspection did or did not happen.