Legislation

Proposed law seeks to impose penalties on landlords for tenant crimes

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crimesceneIRPOA urges landlords to contact their representatives

Senate Bill 1547 has passed the Illinois Senate and is being debated in committee tomorrow at 10am in the Illinois House Judiciary Committee.  The Illinois Rental Property Owners Association is asking landlords to contact their representatives to oppose this legislation.  The proposed legislation seeks to allow municipalities to penalize landlords for the “underlying criminal conduct” of their tenants.  Penalties can include fees or fines, revocation, suspension or nonrenewal of a rental permit or license, termination or denial of subsidized housing contracts, and termination or nonrenewal of leases.

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Landlords beware: assessor can now crack down on wrongful property tax exemptions

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exemptThe Illinois Legislature has passed an amendment, effective immediately, to the Illinois Property Tax Code adding a new section to the law at 35 ILCS 200/9-275.  The law, which has been long opposed by Illinois landlords, allows the county assessor to go back as many as six assessment years (depending on the number of exemptions claimed) prior to the current assessment year, to record a tax lien against a parcel that was granted an improper property tax exemption.  Exemptions that the assessor can challenge are the disabled veteran exemption, returning veteran exemption, disabled person exemption, disabled veteran standard homestead, senior citizen exemption, senior citizens assessment freeze, general homestead exemption, alternative general homestead exemption, and long-time occupant exemption.

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Penalties are harsh for violation of Chicago’s bedbug law

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chibb5In Chicago, its not just the bedbugs that come with a bite.  The newly passed ordinance has some pretty staggering penalties.  Based on my initial read of the bed bug legislation, there are two enforcement arms.  Cases may be brought and the law may be enforced by both the City of Chicago Building Department for building code violations or by the Chicago Department of Public Health.  (There is actually also a provision allowing the department of business affairs and consumer protection to enforce the section related to the sale of “second-hand bedding”).

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How long will it be until Chicago landlords mimic San Francisco’s landlords?

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quitIn addition to handling landlord-tenant legal issues for our clients, our firm also handles real estate closings.  One interesting trend I have taken notice of recently is the number of my landlord clients who have decided to quit.  That’s right, they are quitting the landlording game.  During the last week of May, I closed a real estate sale for a client I had helped just a few months before remove an unruly tenant from her condominium unit.  Just last week, a client hired me to “handle my eviction and then help me with the sale of this place”.  The scenario is getting more and more common.  A landlord comes to me to get the tenant out and then to help with the sale of the real estate.  It is a trend that I think will continue.

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Buffalo Grove enacts new landlord licensing law

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Buffalo Grove Rental OrdinanceAs I discussed just a few days back, we will take a closer look at rental regulations in the suburbs of Chicago.  The newest addition to the mix is the Village of Buffalo Grove’s Residential Rental Housing Program which was passed near the end of 2012 and is now in effect starting as of January 1, 2013.  Established under the auspices of protecting the community’s health, safety, and welfare (that’s the justification given by most “home rule communities” [as defined by Article 7 Section 6 of the Illinois Constitution] that enact these kind of laws), the new program seeks to set minimum housing standards, stabilize residential areas, keep up housing conditions, and maintain property values.

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Renting in the ‘Burbs

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renting in the Illinois suburbsI devote quite a bit of time on this blog to looking at Chicago and state (Illinois) landlord-tenant issues.  However, landlords in the northwest suburbs and Chicagoland in general should not think that they are left out in the cold.  Yes, you suburban landlords have it much easier (at least most of you do) than the City of Chicago landlords.  But, your care-free days may be coming to a close in this new regulation-heavy era.

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2012 Landlord-Tenant Year In Review

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Chicago Illinois landlord tenant year in review 20122012 It was generally a good year for Chicago landlords.  Rents increased and vacancy rates were low.  Compared to 2010 and 2011 when there was a high amount of landlord-tenant legislative activity, 2012 was a pretty tame year for landlords.  Although a number of bills were presented to the Illinois legislature, not many new laws were passed,  Similarly, at the County and the municipal level, there was lots of smoke related to Cook County’s attempt to require landlords to accept Section 8 tenants.  In Chicago, the city counsel proposed protections for tenants affected by foreclosure and municipalities like Skokie and Evanston worked on toughening their landlord registration and inspection requirements, but none of the measures passed.

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Cook County Illinois landlords must change locks at end of lease term

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keys and locks for tenantsThe State of Illinois, by way of Public Act 097-0470, just amended the Illinois Landlord and Tenant Act, adding new section 765 ILCS 705/15, effective January 1, 2012, requiring landlords in counties with a population in excess of 3 million people (ie. Cook County) to change or re-key the locks on a dwelling unit after a tenancy ends.  Exempt from the law are (1) owner occupied buildings containing four or fewer units or (2) rentals of a room in a private home.

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