Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was served with a lawsuit late last year over allegations she failed to settle a credit card debt exceeding $11,000, court documents have revealed.
Legal Action and Financial Details
The legal papers were delivered to the 63-year-old Democrat's $900,000 home in Chicago's affluent Wrightwood neighbourhood in October. The lawsuit, filed by JPMorgan Chase Bank in Cook County Circuit Court, claims Lightfoot did not challenge the bank when it declared the debt a charge-off in March 2025.
According to the Chicago Tribune, her last payment on the account was a sum of $5,000 made in August of that year. This financial dispute highlights a dramatic shift from her previous earnings. While a partner at the law firm Mayer Brown from 2014 to 2017, Lightfoot reported an average adjusted gross income of $971,626.
A Sharp Financial Decline
Her annual salary as Mayor of Chicago from 2019 to 2023 was $216,000. In 2021, the most recent year for which returns were requested by the Tribune, she reported an adjusted gross income of $402,414. That same year, she disclosed taking early distributions of $210,000 from her retirement accounts to supplement her mayoral salary.
Since becoming the first Chicago mayor in four decades to lose a re-election bid, Lightfoot has taken on academic roles at Harvard University, the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics, and the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy. She left office with historically low approval ratings, with a 2024 poll finding only 14% of residents viewed her as the city's best recent mayor.
Ongoing Public Engagements
Despite these personal financial challenges, Lightfoot has remained active in public life. Alongside her professorial work, she was hired as a special investigator into alleged corruption by former Dalton, Illinois Mayor Tiffany Henyard. In a 73-page report, Lightfoot found Henyard charged $779,638 to town credit cards in 2023.
More recently, Lightfoot launched the 'ICE Accountability Project', a tool to document alleged criminal behaviour by federal immigration agents. She argued that ICE agents do not have blanket immunity from investigation by state or local authorities. The initiative was launched amid controversy surrounding the fatal ICE shooting of Minneapolis protester Renee Nicole Good.
The Daily Mail contacted Lightfoot for comment; the Chicago Tribune reported she declined to comment through a spokesperson.
