Free Chicago apartment background check

5521 W Potomac Ave 1

Austin, Chicago IL 60651 16041250100000 2 units · 1918

Nothing on record for this building in the last seven years, and our model puts it at a low risk of maintenance problems over the next 12 months. No public enforcement record to go on. Walk the building, ask the current tenants how repairs get handled, and get any promises in writing.

Building Violations (7y) vs. neighborhood
Records already on file, against a typical building in Austin — not a forecast
At or below average
avg 1.6
0
FewerMore

This building has 0 building violations (7y), at or below the Austin average of 1.6.

Building characteristics
Units2
Year built1918
Stories
Building area2,288 sq ft
Property class211
PIN (Cook County parcel)16041250100000
Ownership

Registered owner per Cook County Assessor records.

Mailing address
5521 W Potomac Av

Landlord portfolio

Other Chicago properties this owner holds, with a risk rating for each.

Unlock complete report
Augrented Insights
Initial analysis

The two-unit residential building at 5521 W Potomac Ave in Chicago's Austin neighborhood, owned by Maggie E Morris, has been standing since 1918. Over the past seven years, the property has generated seven service requests through the 311 system, with the most recent cluster of incidents occurring in 2024-2025. Notably, there have been some infrastructure-related concerns, including a sewer cave-in inspection request in May 2025 and a water-on-street complaint in October 2024, which could indicate potential drainage or plumbing issues in the area. The building has also required attention to recycling facilities, with two separate blue recycling cart requests logged in September and October 2024. The most recent 311 service requests, recorded in July 2025, involved a dead animal pick-up request and an information-only call, neither of which appear to directly impact resident quality of life. While the total number of service requests is relatively low for a building of this age and size, the nature of the sewer and water-related incidents suggests monitoring of similar infrastructure issues might be warranted.

AI-generated · may contain errors · check the source data tables below

Free account unlocks the full analysis — plus 2× more records across all data categories and the complete landlord portfolio.
Risk rating

How 5521 W Potomac Ave 1's risk score is calculated

We trained a model on 7 years of Chicago code enforcement data — building violations, 311 complaint history, environmental enforcement, and owner track records. It estimates the probability that the City of Chicago will find a code violation at this address in the next 12 months. Lower % = safer.

What the score means for you

Lower risk — safer than most nearby

City inspectors rarely find violations here. Strong maintenance history and a clean complaint record.

Typical — about average for the neighborhood

Some past violations or complaints on record. Worth asking the landlord about any open issues before signing.

Higher risk — riskier than most nearby

Elevated violation and complaint history. City inspectors have found issues here before and are statistically likely to again.

Neighborhood percentile
72ndpercentile

Out of 7223 buildings in this neighborhood, 2022 are predicted to be safer. The band is relative to this neighborhood, so a share of every neighborhood falls in each colour.

RiskiestSafest
Predicted 12-month outcome
80%
No code
violation
20%
Code violation
likely
Model explanation

What's driving this score

The data points that most influenced this building's risk rating — ranked by the weight the model placed on each one.

Location

Precise location is a proxy for area-level risk — some Chicago zip codes have systematically higher code-enforcement activity.

Year built

The year a building was constructed is a proxy for its maintenance challenges.

Number of bedrooms

Total bedroom count is a proxy for property scale.

12-Month risk forecast
Low failure risk 20%
Estimated probability of a code violation in the next 12 months.
Apartment reviews

5521 W Potomac Ave 1 apartment reviews

Real experiences from people who have lived here. Share yours to help other renters decide.

Share your experience — Help other renters by leaving an honest apartment review

Loading reviews…

On the map

Compare nearby alternatives

This building and nearby alternatives in Austin, color-coded by risk level. Click any marker to explore.

The story over time

5521 W Potomac Ave 1 event timeline

Building violations, environmental complaints and enforcement, permits, scofflaw listings, and 311 calls — most recent records in order.

2024
311 Request Sep 07
No Building Permit and Construction Violation
311 City Services

See all 1 events

Full history back to 2024 — violations, complaints, permits, and 311 calls.

Unlock complete timeline
Every record we have

Full data for 5521 W Potomac Ave 1 apartments

Chicago public datasets for this parcel — building violations, permits, 311 calls, environmental complaints and enforcement, scofflaw listings, and vacant building registrations.

Side by side

How 5521 W Potomac Ave 1 compares to the neighborhood

This building against comparable properties in Austin. Toggle filters to narrow the peer group.

Loading comparables…
Still apartment hunting in Chicago?

Look up the next apartment before you sign

Search any Chicago address free — no account needed to see the risk rating.

Simple pricing

Get the complete picture

Every plan unlocks the complete report: all Chicago datasets, full history, landlord portfolio, and PDF & Excel exports.

Pay once

Report Bundle

For the buildings you're deciding on right now

$10one time

3premium reports

$3.33 per report · charged once, never renews

Each credit unlocks one building's premium report for 30 days.

  • 3 premium reports — AI executive summary included
  • Live data across all 27 public record types
  • 200 records per dataset
  • PDF & Excel exports included
  • Compare up to 10 buildings side-by-side
  • Credits never expire until you use them
Pay once

Apartment Hunter

For a wide search across many buildings

$39one time

30premium reports

$1.30 per report · charged once, never renews

Each credit unlocks one building's premium report for 30 days.

  • 30 premium reports — AI executive summary included
  • Live data across all 27 public record types
  • 200 records per dataset
  • PDF & Excel exports included
  • Compare up to 10 buildings side-by-side
  • Credits never expire until you use them

Cancel anytime · Data sourced from the City of Chicago Department of Buildings, Chicago 311, Cook County Assessor & the Chicago Data Portal

Watch 5521 W Potomac Ave 1
Get alerted the moment a new violation or complaint is filed.