I. Am. Shocked.
I have been writing recently about the efforts to impose rent control on landlords in Illinois. I think this is a topic of the utmost importance to landlords, real estate investors, real estate agents, and mortgage brokers. Rent control will undoubtedly shake all of the folks whose livelihood is related to the real estate world.
A few weeks ago, an acquaintance at a seminar I attended whispered to me that there was a “second version” of Illinois State Senator Mattie Hunter’s rent control bill “floating around”. I found this odd, because (at least as of December 13, 2018) when you make a visit to the Illinois General Assembly website for SB3512 and seek to read the full text of the proposed statute, you find the version of the law introduced as of February 16, 2018. That’s odd because the legislative system shows that a few sponsors were added on May 30, 2018, but no amendment was submitted.
Well, I have come into possession of a purported amendment to the proposed SB3512 and its contents are (or should be) horrifying to landlords. We are going to be discussing this proposed law quite a bit over the next few weeks. I had heard second-hand speculation that the second/amended version of the proposed law was being held back pending the results of the elections this past November. Well, based on those elections, I’m guessing we will see this amended version of SB3512 presented to the State House.
Without further ado, if you want a preview, you can find the text of the amendment by clicking here to download a pdf.
I believe there were two town hall meetings earlier this week with Chicago mayoral candidates featured. At the one I watched, the main topic of discussion was affordable housing. The push for rent control is strong. There will be a massive attempt to repeal the law prohibiting the imposition of rent control followed by a push to implement it. That’s expected, but the OTHER THINGS included in the revised version of SB3512, if passed, will massively change the way landlords do business in the State of Illinois. The new law includes changes to the way evictions for late rent will work, evictions for breach of lease provisions, and just cause for eviction requirements. This is what we will be exploring on this blog in the coming days.