Full Text of HB1569 103rd General Assembly
HB1569ham001 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Rep. La Shawn K. Ford Filed: 3/3/2023
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1569
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1569 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 5. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by | 5 | | changing Section 9-121 and by adding Section 9-123 as follows: | 6 | | (735 ILCS 5/9-121) | 7 | | Sec. 9-121. Impounding Sealing of court file. | 8 | | (a) Definition. As used in this Section : , | 9 | | "Court "court file"
means the court file created when an | 10 | | eviction
action is filed with the court. | 11 | | "Impound" and "impoundment" have the same meaning as
| 12 | | "impounded" under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 8, as now or | 13 | | hereafter amended. | 14 | | "Seal" and "sealing", as previously used in this Act, have
| 15 | | the same meaning as "impounded" under Illinois Supreme Court
| 16 | | Rule 8, as now or hereafter amended. |
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| 1 | | (b) Discretionary sealing of court file. The court may
| 2 | | order that a court file in an eviction action
be placed under | 3 | | seal if the court finds that the plaintiff's
action is | 4 | | sufficiently without a basis in fact or law, which
may include | 5 | | a lack of jurisdiction, that placing the court file
under seal | 6 | | is clearly in the interests of justice, or and that the | 7 | | interests of justice
those interests are not outweighed by the | 8 | | public's interest in
knowing about the record. | 9 | | (c) Mandatory impoundment sealing of court file. The court | 10 | | file relating to an eviction action brought against a tenant | 11 | | under Section 9-207.5 of this Code or as set forth in | 12 | | subdivision (h)(6) of Section 15-1701 of this Code shall be | 13 | | impounded placed under seal . | 14 | | (d) In any residential eviction filed 7 or more years | 15 | | prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd | 16 | | General Assembly, the court shall order the court file | 17 | | impounded regardless of the disposition of the case. | 18 | | Thereafter, the court shall undertake a yearly review of all | 19 | | eviction court files and order the court file impounded if the | 20 | | case was filed 7 years prior to that review regardless of the | 21 | | disposition of the case. This Section is operative on and | 22 | | after August 1, 2022.
| 23 | | (e) Except as provided in subsection (g), any person who | 24 | | disseminates a sealed or impounded court file under
this | 25 | | Section, or the information contained therein, for
commercial | 26 | | purposes shall be liable for a civil penalty of
$2,000 or twice |
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| 1 | | the actual and consequential damages
sustained, whichever is | 2 | | greater, as well as the costs of the
action, including | 3 | | reasonable attorney's fees. A landlord providing or receiving | 4 | | an individual reference about a prospective tenant is not | 5 | | considered a commercial purpose and is not subject to the | 6 | | penalty identified in this subsection. | 7 | | (f) The Attorney General may enforce a violation of this | 8 | | Section as an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and | 9 | | Deceptive Business Practices Act. All remedies, penalties, and | 10 | | authority granted to the Attorney General by the Consumer | 11 | | Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act shall be available | 12 | | to the Attorney General for the enforcement of this Section. | 13 | | (g) Nothing in this Section prohibits a landlord from | 14 | | receiving a reference from a previous landlord of a | 15 | | prospective tenant. Nothing in this Section prohibits a | 16 | | landlord form providing a reference for a previous or current | 17 | | tenant to a prospective landlord of that tenant. | 18 | | (Source: P.A. 102-5, eff. 5-17-21.) | 19 | | (735 ILCS 5/9-123 new) | 20 | | Sec. 9-123. Notice and dismissal for failure to prosecute | 21 | | after 365 days. | 22 | | (a) If, at any time after the filing of an eviction action, | 23 | | the plaintiff has not further prosecuted the case for a period | 24 | | of 365 days, the court shall send to the parties written | 25 | | notice: |
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| 1 | | (1) informing the parties of the date of the most | 2 | | recent action taken by the plaintiff in the case; and | 3 | | (2) directing the plaintiff to take one of the | 4 | | following actions not later than 10 business days after | 5 | | the date of the notice: | 6 | | (A) further prosecute the case; or | 7 | | (B) dismiss the case. | 8 | | (b) If the plaintiff fails to take an action described in | 9 | | paragraph (2) of subsection (a) within the time prescribed by | 10 | | paragraph (2) of subsection (a): | 11 | | (1) the defendant in the eviction action may file a | 12 | | motion with the court to dismiss the case; or | 13 | | (2) the court, on the court's own motion, may dismiss | 14 | | the case. | 15 | | If the court dismisses the case under this subsection on | 16 | | or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd | 17 | | General Assembly, the court, in conjunction with its order of | 18 | | dismissal, shall issue an order impounding the court file in | 19 | | accordance with paragraph (2) of subsection (b) of Section | 20 | | 9-121 without further motion of the defendant. | 21 | | (c) The form of the notice described in subsection (a) may | 22 | | be developed by each judicial circuit in accordance with its | 23 | | practice or the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts | 24 | | may develop a standardized form. | 25 | | (d) A judicial circuit, in its discretionary control over | 26 | | its records, may adopt a rule to follow this procedure in a |
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| 1 | | shorter amount of time than 365 days.
| 2 | | Section 10. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business | 3 | | Practices Act is amended by adding Section 2z.6 as follows: | 4 | | (815 ILCS 505/2z.6 new) | 5 | | Sec. 2z.6. Dissemination of a sealed or impounded court | 6 | | file. A private entity or person that violates Section 9-121 | 7 | | of the Code of Civil Procedure commits an unlawful practice | 8 | | within the meaning of this Act. ".
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