SB1727eng 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB1727 Engrossed LRB094 09893 LCB 40151 b

AN ACT concerning residential inspections.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Residential Inspection Ordinance Act.

Section 5. Purpose. The General Assembly has determined that basic limits and guarantees of rights need to be adopted by the State of Illinois regarding the enforcement of local inspection ordinances and to that end this Act is enacted.

Section 10. Consent. Any local ordinance, law, rule, or regulation calling or providing for the inspection of residential property, whether owned or leased, shall require the consent of the owner or the owner's agent or, if different than the owner, the occupant of the premises before the inspection occurs. If consent is denied or cannot be reasonably obtained, the ordinance shall provide a process or procedure for an administrative warrant to be obtained that, at a minimum, provides for those protections guaranteed by the constitutions of the United States of America and the State of Illinois. No action, sanction, or penalty may be taken or imposed against an owner or occupant for exercising his or her constitutional right to refuse to consent to a warrantless inspection. No local ordinance, law, rule, or regulation may require a prospective buyer or prospective tenant to consent to future inspections of real property as a condition of owning or occupying that real property.

Section 15. Real estate transfer stamps. No municipality, county, or other local governmental body, and no official or officer thereof, may refuse to issue real estate transfer stamps in connection with the sale or conveyance of real property on the basis that an inspection of the real property required by ordinance has not been completed or that the issues or problems identified by an inspection have not been corrected or completed.

Section 20. Escrow. A local or municipal inspection ordinance may provide that an escrow must be established prior to the sale or lease of real estate in an amount equal to the lower of a reasonable amount required by the municipality to effect the repairs or an amount indicated by a contractor in a proposal to complete the required repairs. The ordinance may further provide that if an inspection has been completed, the owner notified that certain repairs are required, and the amount estimated to be needed to complete the repairs, then the seller (or owner in the case of a lease of rental residential property) shall remain liable for the cost of the repairs after conveyance of the real estate unless the required escrow has been established prior to conveyance of the real estate. Escrowed funds may be placed with any person or entity acting as an independent escrowee, as provided for in the Title Insurance Act, or any person or entity exempt from the independent escrowee provisions of that Act. Escrowed moneys shall be available to pay contractors, subcontractors, vendors, material persons, and suppliers during the progress of and upon the completion of needed repairs.

Section 25. Exceptions. This Act shall not apply to inspections of residential property that is (i) under construction or that has been constructed but not yet occupied, or (ii) open and vacant.

Section 30. Home rule. A home rule unit may not regulate the inspection of residential real property in a manner more restrictive than the regulation by the State. This Section is a limitation under subsection (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution on the concurrent exercise by home rule powers and functions exercised by the State.