On July 22, 2020, Illinois Governor Pritzker announced an extension of his previous eviction moratorium until August 22. The extension both prohibits a landlord from commencing a residential eviction action and prevents the Sheriffs from enforcing an eviction order until the 22nd of August. There are three exceptions where a landlord may still file an eviction suit: 1) the tenant poses a direct threat to the health and safety of other tenants, 2) there is an “immediate and severe” risk to the property, or 3) the tenant is in violation of a building code, health ordinance, or other regulation of that nature. Further, the enforcement of commercial evictions is also prohibited until end of August. Chicago’s Eviction Protection Ordinance 2020-3501 extends the Governor’s eviction moratorium automatically by 60 days. The city may elect to shorten that duration but have not currently done so. Currently, the Sheriffs are not serving tenants with notices of current or previously filed eviction lawsuits.
Also on July 22, 2020, Chicago passed the Fair Notice Ordinance which applies to all housing, even dwellings not covered under the Chicago Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance. This Ordinance requires landlords to provide an extended notice in cases where they do not wish to renew their tenant’s lease. This also applies to increases in rental rates. Tenants who have lived in a unit for more than three years are entitled to 120 days’ notice for a nonrenewal of a lease, tenants who have lived in the unit between six months and three years will be entitled to at least 60 days’ notice, and tenants of less than six months will be owed a standard 30 day notice. The ordinance provides for a $2,500 relocation fee for noncompliance by landlords.
Chicago’s Eviction Protection Ordinance is still in effect and provides new notice requirements for tenants who have failed to pay their rent including a seven day “negotiation period” after the expiration of the five-day notice. You can read more about the Eviction Protection Ordinance in our previous article here: www.acunalawoffices.com/essentiallaw/covid-19-eviction-proceedings.
The Rules Committee Just Cause for Eviction ordinance is being decided on in the Housing and Real Estate committee. Should this pass, landlords will be required to provide a reason for an eviction. Reasons include nonpayment of rent, lease violation, or breaking a lease term. This would prevent a landlord with a month-to-month tenant from simply issuing a 30-day notice of termination without a cause. As of now, the only law that alters the 30-day and 60-day protocol is the Fair Notice Ordinance passed last Wednesday. This new legislation would also extend the typical notice periods for increases in rent. We will update this article after the committee has voted on the Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance.
