Richard Magnone

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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Cook County Sheriff Suspends Eviction Enforcement

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Circuit Court General Order Halts Sheriff Evictions

On Friday, March 13, 2020, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans entered general order 2020-01 which suspended certain operations of the Circuit Court of Cook County.  We blogged about some of the suspended operations yesterday.  We’ve now obtained a copy of the general order.  In response to the general order, the Sheriff of Cook County has been ordered by the Circuit Court of Cook County to

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How does the Cook County Circuit Court shutdown affect evictions?

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Eviction Uncertainty?

Covid-19 affects us all.  You have probably seen that the Cook County Circuit Court has postponed most court business for 30 days.  Today marks the last day of “regular business” for the court.  During the period from March 17 through April 15, court business will be scaled back.  What does this mean for landlords and their tenant evictions in Cook County (and some of the surrounding counties)?

The press release from the Circuit Court indicate a few things that seem to impact evictions.

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Richard Magnone to speak on Just Housing Ordinance

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I’m excited to have the opportunity to speak at the joint meeting of the Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance, the Community Investment Corporation, and the Northwest Side Building Coalition at their “Lunch & Learn” event on the Just Housing Ordinance on Wednesday, March 11, 2020 from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM.  More information can be found here.

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HUD guidance on Assistance Animals – a Breakdown

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Assistance Animals are no Joke

Have you heard the one about the landlord who wanted to ban pets in her building?  Her tenant thought that one was hilarious!  You don’t think that’s funny?  You must be a landlord.  Because of massive abuse on the part of tenants, on January 28, 2020, HUD issued long-awaited new guidance on a tenant’s right to have an animal as a reasonable accommodation under the Fair Housing Act.  We had heard that new guidance was coming.  Unfortunately, this guidance tells us a lot that we already knew and doesn’t provide the kind of help to curb abuse that we were looking for.  Let’s take a closer look.

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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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County Releases Additional Information on Just Housing Amendment

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Better than Nothing

Well, we had heard rumors that the County was going to release some additional guidance on the application of the Just Housing Amendment in practice.  Earlier this week, they did just that.  The materials do not clear up many of the questions plaguing those of us “on the ground” and some of the information in the materials is contrary to the actual verbiage in the rules (so landlords need to carefully evaluate these materials).  We will try to discuss some of this in the coming days.  In the meantime, here is a link to the Cook County Human Rights Commission’s

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Seattle Bans Winter Evictions – Could it Happen in Chicago?

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Eviction to be Banned in Seattle

We all know about the annual winter moratorium on evictions in Chicagoland.  Every year, around Christmas and New Year’s Day, the courts stop the Sheriff from enforcing eviction orders.  The Cook County Sheriff is also ordered not to evict when it is too cold or weather conditions make an eviction dangerous for the tenants or Sheriff’s officers.  However, the moratorium is temporary, fairly short, and eventually, things get back on track.  The City of Seattle has thrown those concepts right out the window.  The Seattle City counsel yesterday voted 7-0 (that’s right, a unanimous vote) to BAN most evictions for a three month period.  Could it happen in Chicago?

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