2016-17 Cook County Sheriff Holiday Eviction Moratorium

Posted on December 7, 2016 by

Cook County Sheriff eviction holiday moratoriumCook County Eviction winter “stay” starts soon

It is that time of year where the Cook County Circuit Court extends some holiday cheer to tenants (certainly not to landlords) and prohibits the Sheriff from enforcing eviction orders.  By way of a general order, the court has ordered that the Sheriff not evict any tenants beginning on December 19, 2016 and extending to January 2, 2017.

The good news is that, based on my own personal experience (your experience may vary), the Sheriff does not have a major backlog at this time.  As such, the moratorium is just two weeks and it can be expected that the additional delay will not be as bad as in past years assuming that our mild weather keeps up.

Remember, the courts still work during the holidays, so the “legal” side of an eviction lawsuit will continue.  It is just the enforcement of the eviction order that is halted.

Posted in Eviction, Sheriff | Tagged , | 2 Comments

4 Mistakes Landlords Make with the 5 Day Notice

Posted on December 6, 2016 by

5 Day Eviction Notice TipsDon’t make these mistakes with the 5 Day Notice

The five day notice for non-payment of rent (by the way, it is 10 days in Evanston, thank you very much) – it’s that “simple” little notice that is the beginning of many eviction cases.  And boy can it mess up an Illinois eviction lawsuit if it is done wrong!  Section 9-209 of the Illinois Forcible Entry and Detainer Act governs the “demand for rent” that must be provided in an action for possession.  Most versions of the 5 day notice form that float around are pretty simple.  However, many landlords and even some of their agents (who should know better) mess up the form with regularity.  And, if the notice is wrong, the eviction case is unlikely to succeed.

Here at Reda | Ciprian | Magnone, LLC, Continue reading →

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Chicago Association of Realtors issues a Security Deposit Receipt

Posted on August 3, 2016 by

receiptNew Receipt Form issued by CAR for Deposits

As readers of my blog should be well aware, I do not advocate the use of security deposits in those rentals governed by the Chicago Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance.  While many landlords and landlord advocates agree with me, there are still some landlords who insist on taking a deposit.  The Chicago Association of Realtors (CAR) has just released a new form that hopes to ease the burden on landlords providing a security deposit receipt. Continue reading →

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City clarifies confusion about CRLTO summary

Posted on May 5, 2016 by

Chicago clarifies about CRLTO summaryChicago Landlords Catch A Break

Please Note: The summary now says “Approved by the Cirty of Chicago, June 2013; summary revised 2016” – always check to be sure you are using the latest summary!

In April, I reported being disturbed to find that the City of Chicago had updated their “Rents Right” website sometime recently to include a CRLTO summary purporting to have been approved in 2013.  My concern was that landlords using the July 2010 summary might be out of compliance with the ordinance despite the June, 2013 ordinance summary not being made widely available. Continue reading →

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HUD issues fair housing “guidance” on landlord use of criminal background checks

Posted on April 19, 2016 by

stupidNot good news for Chicago landlords

April is fair housing month and to celebrate, the Office of the General Counsel of HUD has released “Guidance on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records by Providers of Housing and Real Estate-Related Transactions“.  This little ditty is a wonderful little gift to landlords throughout Chicagoland!  If you think that the application of fair housing to landlord screening procedures was hard before, just wait until you get a load of this one.  Unfortunately, folks, it’s the law (or at least, it’s HUD’s position on how the law will be enforced) and you need only head over to their website to see gleeful press releases related to big dollar settlements with landlords for fair housing violations to see the logical result of noncompliance.  This law applies to private landlords as well as public housing entities.  This one is going to get a bit long, so buckle up. Continue reading →

Posted in Bad Tenant, crime, crime free addendum, Tenant Screening | Leave a comment

New CRLTO Summary Available

Posted on April 14, 2016 by

Chicago landlord alertPlease Note: The summary now says “Approved by the City of Chicago, June 2013; summary revised 2016” – always check to be sure you are using the latest summary!

The City of Chicago has placed a NEW version of the Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance Summary on its “Chicago Rents Right” website.  The summary is somewhat concerning in that it purports to have been approved in June, 2013.  Interestingly, to my knowledge, the July 2010 version was still available on the City’s website as recently as last month (maybe even last week!  I’m making efforts to find out).  I am wondering if the City of Chicago’s website team has been in a time warp for the last three years because if this was approved in 2013 (which would make sense as that’s when the bedbug law was passed and that’s the change to the summary), it was most certainly not made available generally on the website until 2016!  In any event, for any lease executed beginning today, landlords should use the June, 2013 version!  Landlords should no longer use the July, 2010 version.  Failure to use the new version of the ordinance summary (along with the entire security deposit interest rate disclosure for 2016 in both English and Spanish) will subject landlords with tenancies covered by the CRLTO to penalties under Section 5-12-170 of the ordinance.

Posted in CRLTO | Tagged | 1 Comment

Quick Tip for 1st District Filers

Posted on March 21, 2016 by

judgeJudicial conference results in small new eviction case delays

The Cook County First District (downtown) eviction judges will be participating in a judicial conference during the week of April 4-8, 2016, so landlords filing eviction actions this week at the Daley Center looking for a two week court date will find that they are not going to be able to get a two week date.  Court will still be on but with a short staff, so eviction cases already scheduled will continue during that week.  Things should get back to normal shortly after that.

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Had a fun morning teaching @properties agents

Posted on February 24, 2016 by

atsemIt is always great to get the opportunity to speak to a classroom full of @properties agents.  Thanks for taking the time to listen to my information about the Chicago Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance.  Hopefully the folks in attendance enjoyed it and learned something as well.  Remember – watch out for those security deposits!

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Rich Magnone quoted in Cook County Record Article on CRLTO

Posted on February 16, 2016 by

interviewIntricacies of the Chicago Landlord Tenant Ordinance Subject of Interview

I was recently interviewed in the Cook County Record regarding the Chicago Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance and the difficulties faced by landlords trying to comply with its requirements.  Readers of this blog will not find all that much new from me.  I think the ordinance is harsh.  I think the ordinance is full of language that should be more specific.  I think that “part time”, “forced into this by the market”, or “reluctant” landlords should not be playing the game and would be better off selling their property.   The current state of the law in Chicago is that only the most serious landlords should be in the game in this city.

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Amendment to Chicago Fair Housing approved by Committee on Human Relations and new tenant right to claim retaliation

Posted on February 3, 2016 by

veteran status and fair housing ChicagoLaw expands protected class to veterans and adds right to retaliation claim for any fair housing proceeding

Yesterday, the Chicago City Council’s Committee on Human Relations approved an amendment to the Chicago Fair Housing and Human Rights Ordinance proposed by Mayor Emanuel making military status a protected class.  The intent of the amendment is to prohibit discrimination against members of the military in housing and employment.  The text of the original amendment as proposed can be found on the website of the City Clerk.  Based upon reports from the Chicago Sun Times, there were changes made to the original amendment before it was approved but those are not yet available online. Continue reading →

Posted in Chicago Fair Housing and Human Rights Ordinance, Fair Housing | Leave a comment