Rent

State Rep. Ramirez Sneakily Files Covid-19 Bill

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Anti-landlord property rights grab finally filed

I blogged two weeks ago about the COVID-19 Emergency and Economic Recovery Renter and Homeowner Protection Act, a law that, much to the chagrin of Mayor Lightfoot I am sure, gives very little grace to landlords.  The law, allegedly drafted by folks from the Lawyer’s Committee for Better Housing, a tenant advocacy group, was filed by Representative Delia Ramirez not as a standalone bill, but instead, as an amendment to House Bill 5574.  Before the amendment, House Bill 5574 was an amendment introduced by Rep. Ramirez to the Illinois Housing Authorities Act regarding a tenant’s criminal background history.  I’m not a state legislator, so I wonder, why in the world would a totally unrelated bill for sweeping changes to the landlord-tenant law of Illinois be filed as an amendment to a totally unrelated law? 

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Illinois Emergency and Economic Recovery Renter and Homeowner Protection Act

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Here we go again

Round up the usual suspects.  Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago) and Delia Ramirez (D-Chicago), backed by national progressive think tanks and policy institutes like the Shriver Center (which has been a major force in pushing anti-landlord housing policy changes nationwide), are coming out hot.  They’re ready to take advantage of this pandemic to re-shape the world in their progressive image in the form of the Illinois Emergency and Economic Recovery Renter and Homeowner Protection Act.  This is the thanks that landlords get for “giving grace” to tenants at a time of crisis. 

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Did Chicago miss an opportunity with the Housing Solidarity Pledge?

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Anything New Here?

I watched the whole press conference.  Mayor Lightfoot announced the City’s Housing Solidarity Pledge.  There were lots of heavy hitters making that pledge.  There were big banks.  Bank of America, BMO Harris, Fifth Third, PNC Bank, First Midwest Bank, US Bank, Wintrust and more (although I did note that ubiquitous Chase was not mentioned).  There were well respected landlord and property advocates like the Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance, Chicagoland Apartment Association, and the Chicago Association of Realtors.  There was even a tenant’s rights group in the form of the Lawyer’s Committee for Better Housing.  But did anything really get done?  And was a big opportunity for change missed?

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Gov. Pritzker’s Executive Order Squashes Evictions

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UPDATE: Order 30 has been extended to June 27, 2020.  In addition to locking all of Illinois down for another month, yesterday, Governor Pritzker signed another executive order (number 2020-30) that affects all Illinois landlords and puts a stop to evictions for the time being. The order basically rips the guts out of any reasonable ability to enforce a lease and paves the way for tenants to stop paying rent.  The original stay at home order issued by the governor had put a state-wide stop to the enforcement of residential evictions for the duration of the order.  This order goes further.

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Alderman Martin’s Rent Ordinance to be Introduced Tomorrow

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What should Chicago landlords do? As a result of the premature adjournment of the City Council meeting earlier this week, Alderman Matt Martin’s rent deferral ordinance was not introduced.  We have received word that the ordinance will be introduced tomorrow (Friday, April 24, 2020) at the 1:00pm City Council meeting.  It is further my understanding … Read more

Here’s what’s CRAZY about Alderman Martin’s Rent Ordinance

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Ordinance Fails to Account for Reality

As promised, here’s a deeper dive into 47th Ward Alderman Matt Martin’s Rent Deferment Ordinance.  I have always believed that you learn a great deal about someone’s character by observing how they act when under duress.  It’s easy to “do the right thing” when things are good.  But what do you do when things get tough?  As a practicing attorney, I’ve been heartened to see landlords

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Ordinance Would Postpone Rent Payments

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Covid-19 Rent Relief at Landlord’s Expense Proposed

We have come into possession of an ordinance purported to be introduced to the Chicago City Council this week [UPDATE:that now appears to be introduced by Alderman Matt Martin] allowing Chicago tenants “affected by Covid-19” to stop paying rent for the duration of the Governor’s Stay at Home Order.  The proposed ordinance, which can be found

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Chicago Landlording in the time of Covid-19

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Ways to react to Tenants during the Coronavirus Pandemic

We are living in trying times.  People are sick.  People are out of work.  Tenants are scared.  Landlords are scared.  There is rent to pay.  There are mortgages to pay.  Everything seems uncertain.  We even read reports in the news from radical tenant’s rights activists about “rent strikes” (way to take advantage of an emergency for your own political agenda) or other “anarchist” concepts.   So, what is a Chicago landlord to do?

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Invisible Evictions are Now a “Thing”

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Your Alderman Has A Plan and You’re Not Going to Like It

A new phrase has entered the landlord-tenant vernacular.  “Invisible Evictions”.  A few days ago, Chicago’s local neighborhood news portal, blockclubchicago.org posted a story about “Invisible Evictions” allegedly perpetrated by developers in Logan Square and Pilsen.  The thrust of the story is that developers are quietly forcing renters out of those neighborhoods.  The author is quick to point out the injustice of this situation pointing out that the tenants have not “missed a payment” nor “broken any rules”.  This sounds TERRIBLE, right?!?  How can those nasty developers do this???  I’ll tell you.  The sentiment expressed in the article is representative of the war tenants’ rights advocates are waging against developers and, quite frankly, Western culture (yes, you read that right).  It is a battle between property rights and the in vogue claim that housing is a “human right”.  Let’s look closer.

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