Landlord news as Illinois enters Phase 4

A few quick notes before the weekend

It was an interesting week on the landlord-tenant law front.  Most notably, a group of landlords have filed a complaint against Governor Pritzker and his Executive Orders prohibiting evictions.  The folks bringing the complaint appear to have done some homework.  Not only are they challenging the Governor’s authority to deny housing providers with access to the court system, they are also arguing that this amounts to a governmental taking and are seeking damages from the State.  The lawsuit has the support of a number of groups, including the Illinois Rental Property Owners Association and the Chicago Creative Investors Association.  Both organizations have indicated that landlords who believe in this cause should feel free to support the effort by contacting the plaintiff’s attorney to contribute to the financial expenses related to this fight.

Also, we hear that the Supreme Court passed the rule requiring notices and leases to be attached to eviction complaints.  We are waiting to see something official on their website about when the new rule (assuming it was passed) will go into effect.  UPDATE: As of July 16, there is NO indication that this has yet passed from the Supreme Court.  FURTHER UPDATE: the rule has passed.

The rest of the noteworthy news is what has not happened:

State: As we enter phase 4, neither the Illinois Department of Commerce nor the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional regulation have issued any FAQs to the real estate industry with respect to access to occupied rental properties.  Remember, in Phase 3, showings of tenant occupied rentals were only allowed if the landlord obtained the tenant’s consent.  Presumably, tenant consent should not be required under Phase 4, but until I see something from the government, I’m suggesting that my landlords continue to make access only with the consent of the tenant. (UPDATE: IDFPR has released Phase 4 guidance that basically keeps Phase 3 rules)

State: The eviction moratorium expires on June 27, 2020.  Governor Pritzker has publicly indicated he will extend the eviction moratorium established by Executive Order 2020-30 to July 31, 2020.  He hasn’t done that yet.  Being that it is 11am on the day before the expiration, I expect that we might see something from him today.

City: We are still waiting for the “Chicago Rents Right” Covid-19 page on the City of Chicago’s Building Department website to be updated with the City’s proposed notice language for the 7 day negotiation period that must be delivered with any 5 day notice under the Mayor’s recently passed Eviction Protection Ordinance.

Stay tuned for more updates.