Can we evict?
I get the phonecalls from landlords every day. “I hear we can evict tenants again – is that true?” Hmm… that’s a simple question that requires a nuanced answer. It is true that on October 4, 2021, the eviction moratorium was lifted, but what replaced it is a system that pre-covid landlords (and their attorneys) might not recognize. A system that was flawed could arguably be said to be purposefully broken. We couldn’t evict (except in rare circumstances) before the moratorium ended. Now, with the moratorium lifted, we face a system that seems almost designed to slow the process and is already in need of significant reform. Here’s a “state of the union” for evictions in Cook County’s 1st district: Continue reading
UPDATE: Shortly after publication of this article, the Interest Rate Summary was made available by the City of Chicago and it 
Just today, January 3, 2022, the IDFPR has issued a press release indicating the new Security Deposit Interest Rate for 2022 for those tenancies governed by the Illinois Security Deposit Interest Act. The new rate for 2022 is 
Happy New Year to Chicago Landlords still holding security deposits! If you’ve been in this game long enough, you probably could have guessed this year’s interest rate, but, for the sake of form, here it is right from the City of Chicago: 
Ordinance Protection Expired?
Illinois Governor Pritzker’s 19 month moratorium on evictions expired this past weekend. Beginning today, October 4, 2021, evictions can be filed and processed as before the moratorium was put into place. A nightmare for landlords seems to be at an end. What will the playing field look like now that the ban on evictions has been lifted? 
Well, I for one never believed the moratorium would expire as promised at the end of August. Never. And, very quietly, after subtle signals at the Illinois State Fair, the Governor went ahead and extended. Why? Pick your reason. Delta variant (hmmmm…. there were less than 3000 cases yesterday and the pandemic seems to be more of an endemic and less of an emergency now that Illinois has been “restored”); emergency rental assistance money (why isn’t that making its way into the hands of landlords sooner? We’ve heard this excuse before); maybe it is to coincide with the likely improper but somehow in force Center for Disease Control eviction moratorium; or maybe “just because”… The reason really doesn’t matter. By way of 
Section 42-806 – Tenant Remedies
Are Suburban Landlords Ready?
The Swedish economist Gunnar Myrdal wrote “Rent control has in certain Western countries constituted, maybe, the worst example of poor planning by Governments lacking courage and vision.”