Full Text of HB4758 94th General Assembly
HB4758 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006 HB4758
Introduced 01/17/06, by Rep. William Davis SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Creates the Residential Tenant Protection Act. Makes findings, states purposes, and provides definitions of terms. Prohibits residential lock-outs. Describes actions that do not constitute a residential lock-out. Makes a violation a petty offense punishable by a fine of not more than $500 nor less than $200. Also authorizes injunctive relief and damages. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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HB4758 |
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| AN ACT in relation to property.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 |
| Residential Tenant Protection Act.
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| Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds and | 7 |
| declares the following: | 8 |
| (1) The Forcible Entry and Detainer provisions of the | 9 |
| Code of Civil Procedure provide a legal method to remove | 10 |
| tenants from a dwelling unit, if the tenant has failed to | 11 |
| live up to the terms of the rental agreement. | 12 |
| (2) The Illinois State Constitution states in Article | 13 |
| I, Section 2, that "No person shall be deprived of life, | 14 |
| liberty or property without due process of law nor be | 15 |
| denied the equal protection of the laws." | 16 |
| (3) Residential lock-outs are a form of illegal | 17 |
| eviction that runs contrary to the legislative intent of | 18 |
| the Forcible Entry and Detainer provisions of the Code of | 19 |
| Civil Procedure and to the intent of the Illinois State | 20 |
| Constitution and forces families out of their homes with | 21 |
| virtually no advance notice or warning. | 22 |
| (4) Over 50% of the tenant-occupied housing in the | 23 |
| State is protected by municipal ordinances that restrict | 24 |
| lock-outs, however municipalities that are not home rule | 25 |
| units are unable to enact ordinances of that type. | 26 |
| (5) Despite current statutory and constitutional | 27 |
| prohibitions, residential lock-outs occur at an alarmingly | 28 |
| frequent rate, with one in 7 low-income tenants outside the | 29 |
| City of Chicago experiencing a residential lock-out at some | 30 |
| time in his or her life. | 31 |
| (6) Residential lock-outs are a major cause of | 32 |
| homelessness for Illinois families. |
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| (7) Current Illinois law fails to empower local police | 2 |
| to act to protect tenants when made aware of a residential | 3 |
| lock-out. | 4 |
| (8) Residential lock-outs take many forms that were not | 5 |
| fully anticipated in the Forcible Entry and Detainer | 6 |
| provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, including | 7 |
| utility shut-offs and threats of violence. | 8 |
| (9) A threat of a residential lock-out made to a tenant | 9 |
| makes the tenant's dwelling unit uninhabitable in a | 10 |
| practical sense, however these threats have not been | 11 |
| treated previously as a residential lock-out under | 12 |
| Illinois law. | 13 |
| (10) Residential lock-outs put an unnecessary strain | 14 |
| on the judicial system through the need to issue emergency | 15 |
| orders in appropriate circumstances. | 16 |
| (11) The State of Illinois has a housing plan that | 17 |
| states the need to put in place policies that prevent | 18 |
| homelessness. | 19 |
| Section 10. Purposes. | 20 |
| (a) This Act shall be liberally construed and applied to | 21 |
| promote its underlying purposes and policies. | 22 |
| (b) The underlying purposes and policies of this Act are: | 23 |
| (1) to ensure that the Forcible Entry and Detainer | 24 |
| provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure are the only | 25 |
| means by which a tenant can be evicted; and | 26 |
| (2) to provide a remedy for victims of unlawful | 27 |
| residential lock-outs. | 28 |
| Section 15. Definitions.
For the purposes of this Act: | 29 |
| "Landlord" and "tenant" shall be defined as those terms are | 30 |
| defined in the Rental Property Utility Service Act. | 31 |
| "Dwelling unit" shall have the meaning given to the term | 32 |
| "single dwelling unit" in the Dwelling Structure Contract Act. | 33 |
| "Dwelling structure" shall have the meaning given to that | 34 |
| term in the Dwelling Structure Contract Act. |
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| "Abandonment" means that circumstance when all tenants | 2 |
| have been absent from the dwelling unit for a period of 21 days | 3 |
| or for one rental period, whichever is greater, the tenants | 4 |
| have removed their personal property from the dwelling unit and | 5 |
| dwelling structure, and the rent for the period is unpaid. | 6 |
| "Lock-out" means the ouster or dispossession of a tenant by | 7 |
| a landlord without the lawful authority to do so. | 8 |
| "Residential lock-out" means the ouster or dispossession | 9 |
| of a tenant by a landlord from the residential premises | 10 |
| occupied by the tenant, without the lawful authority to perform | 11 |
| the ouster or dispossession. | 12 |
| Section 20. Residential lock-out.
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| (a) Residential lock-out. It is unlawful for any landlord | 14 |
| or any person acting at the direction of a landlord to | 15 |
| knowingly perform a residential lock-out, or to threaten or | 16 |
| attempt to perform a residential lock-out, of any residential | 17 |
| tenant from the tenant's dwelling unit. The following acts by a | 18 |
| landlord concerning a tenant constitute a residential | 19 |
| lock-out: | 20 |
| (1) incapacitating, changing, adding or removing any | 21 |
| lock or latching device to any entrance or exit to the | 22 |
| dwelling unit or dwelling structure to which the tenant is | 23 |
| entitled to have access; | 24 |
| (2) blocking or rendering useless any entrance or exit | 25 |
| into the dwelling unit or dwelling structure including, but | 26 |
| not limited to, removing any door or window from the | 27 |
| dwelling unit or dwelling structure; | 28 |
| (3) interfering with services to the dwelling unit or | 29 |
| dwelling structure including, but not limited to, the | 30 |
| failure of the landlord or the agent of the landlord to | 31 |
| pay, pursuant to a written or verbal agreement with that | 32 |
| tenant, for services to the dwelling unit or dwelling | 33 |
| structure including, but not limited to, the services of | 34 |
| electricity, gas, hot or cold water, and heat; | 35 |
| (4) removing personal property of a tenant from the |
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| tenant's dwelling unit or the dwelling structure; | 2 |
| (5) removing or incapacitating appliances or fixtures | 3 |
| that are (i) located in the dwelling unit pursuant to an | 4 |
| agreement between the landlord and the tenant and (ii) | 5 |
| necessary to make the unit habitable; | 6 |
| (6) using force, violence, or sexual harassment | 7 |
| against a tenant; | 8 |
| (7) acting or failing to act in a manner that renders | 9 |
| the dwelling unit, the dwelling structure, or any part of | 10 |
| the dwelling unit or dwelling structure inaccessible or | 11 |
| uninhabitable; or | 12 |
| (8) acting or failing to act in a manner that renders | 13 |
| inaccessible any personal property of the tenant in the | 14 |
| dwelling unit or the dwelling structure. | 15 |
| (b) Lawful actions. The following actions of a landlord or | 16 |
| a person acting at the direction of a landlord directed to a | 17 |
| tenant or a tenant's personal property do not constitute a | 18 |
| residential lock-out: | 19 |
| (1) eviction by a sheriff or other lawfully deputized | 20 |
| officer acting in his or her official capacity after a | 21 |
| judgment for possession has been obtained through the | 22 |
| Forcible Entry and Detainer provisions of the Code of Civil | 23 |
| Procedure; | 24 |
| (2) entry after a tenant has abandoned a dwelling unit, | 25 |
| as defined in Section 15 of this Act; | 26 |
| (3) temporary interference with possession: | 27 |
| (A) to make needed repairs or to conduct an | 28 |
| emergency inspection, as necessary and only as | 29 |
| provided by law and with proper written notice at least | 30 |
| 24 hours in advance of the interference; | 31 |
| (B) to make needed repairs or perform maintenance | 32 |
| elsewhere in the dwelling structure, for practical | 33 |
| necessity, because the nature of the work or a problem | 34 |
| that has arisen unexpectedly requires access, provided | 35 |
| that proper written notice of explanation is provided | 36 |
| to the tenant no later than 2 days after the entry; or |
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| (C) to address an emergency or for a practical | 2 |
| necessity, provided that proper written notice of | 3 |
| explanation is provided to the tenant no later than 2 | 4 |
| days after the entry. | 5 |
| (c) It is an affirmative defense to an alleged violation of | 6 |
| this Act if the circumstances concerning the alleged violation | 7 |
| are within one of the circumstances described in subparagraphs | 8 |
| (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (3) of subsection (b) of Section | 9 |
| 20 and the landlord gives the type of written notice required | 10 |
| by the applicable subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph | 11 |
| (3) of subsection (b) of Section 20. | 12 |
| (d) Whenever a complaint of a violation of this Act is | 13 |
| received by a law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction over | 14 |
| the location of the dwelling unit or dwelling structure in | 15 |
| question, the agency shall investigate and determine whether a | 16 |
| violation has occurred. If the law enforcement agency | 17 |
| determines that a violation has occurred, the agency shall | 18 |
| forward a report of its investigation to the State's Attorney | 19 |
| of the county in which the dwelling unit or dwelling structure | 20 |
| is located for prosecution. Every person who, by himself or | 21 |
| herself or by his or her agents or employees, violates any of | 22 |
| the provisions of this Section may for each offense be deemed | 23 |
| guilty of a petty offense and, upon conviction thereof, shall | 24 |
| be punished by a fine of not more than $500 nor less than $200. | 25 |
| Each day that a violation occurs or continues constitutes a | 26 |
| separate and distinct offense for which a fine shall be | 27 |
| imposed. | 28 |
| (e) In addition to any other remedy supplied in this Act or | 29 |
| under another law, if a landlord violates this Section, the | 30 |
| tenant may file suit in the circuit court and upon proof of a | 31 |
| violation shall be entitled to both injunctive relief and | 32 |
| damages. Injunctive relief includes, but is not limited to, | 33 |
| restoration of possession of the tenant to his or her dwelling | 34 |
| unit, personal property, utility service, and relief against | 35 |
| future interference. Damages shall be either in the amount of 2 | 36 |
| times the tenant's replacement costs, or 6 times the monthly |
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| rent for the unit, whichever is greater, plus the tenant's | 2 |
| reasonable attorney's fees and costs.
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| Section 25. Effect on other laws.
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| (a) More protective laws. Nothing in this Act shall be | 5 |
| construed to supersede any provision of any federal, State, or | 6 |
| local law that provides greater protections than the rights | 7 |
| established under this Act. | 8 |
| (b) Less protective laws. The rights established under this | 9 |
| Act shall not be diminished by any State law or local | 10 |
| ordinance.
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| Section 30. Prohibition on waiver or modification. The | 12 |
| provisions of this Act may not be waived or modified by an | 13 |
| agreement of the parties.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 15 |
| becoming law.
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