Seven years ago, buying a home in Evanston was the last thing on Jesus Cordova’s mind. He could barely rent an apartment.

Luckily, he had a friend in town who owned a building. Cordova, 40, agreed to work for free, cutting the grass in the summer and clearing snow in the winter. In return, his friend gave him a $300 break on the $1,000-a-month apartment.

“It was the only way I could live over here because rents in Evanston are almost like a mortgage,” Cordova said.

For many of Evanston’s Latinos, finding affordable housing in an expensive real estate market is one of the greatest ordeals of moving here. Many resort to overcrowding or working two jobs — solutions further burdened by discrimination.

“(Latinos) do have more housing problems proportionately than the rest of the population,” said Donna Spicuzza, Evanston’s housing planner.

The average sale price of a home in Evanston was $496,874 in 2002-03, a 47.5 percent increase over four years, according to the Skokie Planning Division. The median family income of Evanston Latinos was only $55,729 in 2000, about $23,000 less than the city’s overall figure, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“Two to three years ago you still could get a house,” Cordova said. “Right now it’s really out of your hands.”

‘I will call INS’

While Evanston seeks to fight discrimination with its Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, instances of prejudiced housing practices continue to occur.

A study conducted by Winnetka-based Interfaith Housing Center of the Northern Suburbs between 2000 and 2002 found probable discrimination in 28.6 percent of tests. Nearly a quarter were in Evanston.

Discrimination across the region ranged from subtle to blatant, with one manager saying, “A little Hispanic man is interested but I like you better,” the report said.

Victor Alvarez, a former housing program manager with Chicago-based Latinos United, spent the last three years working in Evanston. He noticed cases in which a Latino resident called to inquire about an apartment and was told it already had been rented out. Three weeks later, the “For Rent” sign was still up.

Alvarez also heard reports of landlords telling Latino tenants, “You’re undocumented and I will call INS if you continue asking for your security deposit.”

The city holds workshops for first-time home buyers, informing them of how realtors might steer buyers toward certain neighborhoods, said Aracely Canchola, the outreach specialist in Evanston’s Latino Services Office. But homeownership has minimized the risk of discrimination, she said.

“A lot of our Hispanic families are becoming homeowners,” Canchola said. “And they rent to each other.”

When Cordova decided to buy a house three years ago, real estate agents tried to steer him to the area north of Evanston Township High School, which he saw as affordable but unsafe for family living.

“Most of the time the realtors see your ethnic group and they say you fit over there but I told them where I wanted,” Cordova said.

After searching for more than a year, he bought a three-bedroom home in southwest Evanston for $245,000. Housing prices have shot up so much since then that a nearly identical house across the street was sold for $290,000 last month, Cordova said.

‘It’s hard for my income’

Abelardo Mendoza, 37, has worked two jobs for the 12 years that he has lived in the United States to afford an Evanston home.

Sometimes, Mendoza works 12 to 13 hours a day at his construction and sales jobs, and often sacrifices his weekends for them.

“If I have a job, I can rent an apartment,” he said. “If I want to buy a house or take my kids to Disney World it’s hard for my income.”

Aurelia Canchola, 48, bought her Evanston home in 1989 and still finds it hard to pay the mortgage every month. Her children’s college bills have aggravated the situation.

“To find a home, it was easy, but it was hard comparing the rent we were paying when we bought a house,” Canchola said.

Latinos often do not enlist the help of affordable housing agencies because of language barriers, said Karen Chavers, a commissioner for the Housing Authority of Cook County.

But John Betancur, an urban planning professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said the Latino outlook on life in America rules out assistance as an option.

“They come here to work and all they want is the opportunity to get good jobs and take care of themselves,” Betancur said. “They have not been socialized into the welfare mentality as other groups have.”

Often two families share housing units meant for one. Large families present challenges as well, since the mean size of a Latino family in Evanston in 2000 was four people, one person higher than the city average, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The housing situation in Evanston has put such a strain on Latinos that many are relocating to more affordable areas in Chicago’s far northwest suburbs, Canchola said. After seeing the city’s Latino population grow steadily during the 1990s, it might now actually be decreasing, she said.

“I’ve seen many moving out of Evanston,” Aurelia Canchola said. “They come and live here a couple years and they want to move out because it’s very expensive and the houses north are very cheap.”

Reach Greg Hafkin at [email protected].