Chicago City Council considers tenant foreclosure protection law

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It is expected that alderman will introduce the “Keep Chicago Renting Ordinance”, sponsored by 33rd Ward Alderman Dick Mel and others, this Wednesday July 25, 2012.  The law, if passed, will require lenders who foreclose on a property to allow most tenants to remain in a property until the building is resold to a new landlord.  … Read more

Meeting on Cook County fair housing amendments tomorrow

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See update Tomorrow, July 24, 2012, the Human Relations Committee of the Cook County Board will have a meeting  on the proposal to make it a violation of the Cook County human rights ordinance (fair housing) if a landlord denies a tenant based on participation in the Section 8 housing choice voucher program.  The meeting … Read more

Chicago Life Safety requirements in effect soon

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MAJOR LANDLORD ALERT: July 16, 2012 is fast approaching! On that date, the March 14, 2012 amendments (published on April 16, 2012 and effective 90 days thereafter) for the amendments to the Chicago Life Safety ordinance requirements for larger buildings go into effect.  Life Safety Evaluations are required for buildings taller than 80 feet tall built before 1975 without sprinkler systems which are not used for “transient” uses (such as a hotels).

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Look deeper when conducting tenant screening

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A few years ago, I penned an article about The Art of Finding the Right Tenant.  While that article remains useful today, America’s troubled economy further complicates the already difficult procedure of choosing a tenant.  Landlords still need to do the legwork ensuring that application information is complete, consistent, and truthful.  However, because today’s tenants may have a more “precarious” economic situation, Analysis of application data is important.  Landlords in 2012 need to think a few steps ahead and outside the box when making their tenant

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Cook County proposes adding “Section 8” participants to Fair Housing protected classes

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See update

The housing provisions of the Cook County Human Rights Ordinance (Ordinance No. 93-0-13) are the county equivalent to the federal Fair Housing law.  Currently, the Cook County law prohibits discrimination in housing transactions (for those landlords covered by the law) for sixteen protected classes.  These are the fourteen protected classes from the Illinois Human Rights Act (race, color, sex, age, religion, disability, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, military discharge status, source of income, housing status) plus two additional classes (housing status and source of income).  Although the Cook County ordinance includes source of income, it expressly excludes participation in a housing choice program (ie. Section 8).  Therefore, as of today, Cook County landlords may discriminate based upon a prospective tenant’s participation in Section 8.

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Illinois Security Deposit Return Act amendment awaits Gov’s signature

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UPDATE: The law was signed 8/17/12 and goes into effect on 1/1/13

The Illinois House of Representatives and Senate have voted to approve an amendment to the Illinois Security Deposit Return Act.  The law, currently awaiting the Governor’s signature to become law, will amend the state law governing the return of certain security deposits to allow a landlord to send the required itemized statement of damages and paid receipts to a tenant via “electronic mail to a verified electronic mail address provided by the lessee”. 

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Quick and simple tenant screening tip for Illinois landlords

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Illinois tenant screening tips

Many landlords don’t like to screen their tenants thoroughly.  In fact, some landlords seem to require only that the tenant have enough money to pay the deposit and the first month’s rent (some don’t even go that far).

However, prudent landlords are getting smarter about screening their tenants.  Picking a good tenant up front reduces headaches down the line.  In the wake of the country’s economic downturn, more and more tenants have bad credit, so landlords need to look deeper into rental application information.

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