Did you NOTICE this?
We’ve discussed the Mayor’s Fair Notice law for a few weeks here. However, when the Building Committee met last week, they pushed through a materially changed version of the law. They gave next to no notice to anyone before passing the new, anti-landlord, language out of committee so that it can go in front of the full City Council. Many groups, including the Chicago Association of Realtors are issuing a CALL TO ACTION to oppose these amendments to the CRLTO which are likely to be heard at the next City Council meeting.
What’s not to like? Take a look at the revised text of the proposed ordinance. You already knew about the changes suggested for the Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance in the event that a tenant was in possession of a property for 6 or more months extending the time for notice of intent not to renew or change of a lease provision from 30 days to 90 days. You already knew about the payment to tenants in the event that a property is being cleared in order to do substantial renovations.
What’s new? There’s a new provision related to the failure to pay rent (what does this have to do with fair notice?) that would amend 5-12-130(a) allowing a tenant a “one-time right” at any time prior to the issuance of an order for possession, to come current with the rent.
What would this look like? The tenant would pay the unpaid rent, plus costs of filing and service but NOT ATTORNEY’S FEES. If the tenant makes that payment, the tenant gets to stay and they cannot be evicted. So the landlord has to hire an attorney, get service, file a case, and pay an attorney and after all of that time and expense, the tenant “cures” but does not make the landlord whole and the landlord can’t do anything about it. Keep in mind, a landlord can’t make a rental decision based on a tenant exercising a lawful right, so the tenant doing this to the landlord would not be a good reason for the landlord to deny a renewal to the tenant.
Another new provision is the one that provides that in cases of tenants who have a tenancy longer than three years, the tenant shall get 120 days notice of a landlord’s notice of intent not to renew. So a tenant gets 400% longer than current law just because they have lived in a property for three years.
The Chicago Association of Realtors suggests that you TAKE ACTION by contacting your Alderman and that you point out certain concerns with the proposed ordinance:
- To provide the public less than two hours’ notice to read the proposal is egregious.
- Increases tenant notification of lease termination to 120 days (instead of 30-day notice) for tenants who reside in a unit for three years of more; and
- Expands the timeframe tenants have to delay late rental payments.