Illinois COVID-19 Rent / Mortgage Relief Bill Heavily Revised in Quick Succession

I received several calls to submit witness slips in support of the "COVID-19 Emergency and Economic Recovery Renter and Homeowner Protection Act" today.* Curious about the topic, I googled the bill’s title and found a fair number of articles on it. A lot of the reporting on this bill, like the Tribune and The Real Deal articles below, states that the bill would "cancel rent debt" and "suspend mortgage payments."

However, after a little digging, I found that the bill in its current state (SB 3066 House Amendment 003) definitely does NOT do those things, though the substance of the bill as presently proposed is still pretty wild. I'll give a walk through on the bill as proposed - and other proposed legislation - in the days to come. Spoiler warning: statewide total eviction moratorium may be incoming.

To be clear, I don't think that this reporting inaccuracy is "on purpose," as an earlier version of the bill (HB5574 House Amendment 001) DID set out to accomplish these things and most of these articles were published prior to the present amendments. However, this reporting has not been updated / corrected to my knowledge and, as our legislators debate on whether to enact this bill into law, think it's important that people understand, at least in broad strokes, what the bill does and does not do.

Regards,

Scott Kane

* To their credit, Chicago Housing Initiative and United Neighbors of the 35th Ward were both able to accurately describe the bill’s contents as of this morning.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-re-coronavirus-rent-relief-legislation-20200520-6cog3rewubhzjauxbtjzn5zgrm-story.html

https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2020/05/20/illinois-legislators-to-vote-on-massive-rent-mortgage-relief-package-this-week/

Cameron & Kane LLC Offering Small Business Coronavirus Loan Application Services

Federal, state, and local governments – including Chicago – have recently announced several loan programs available to small-businesses negatively impacted by the coronavirus. These loan programs are specifically intended to help small businesses cover (a) employee payroll; (b) fixed debts; and (c) accounts payable. Further, these loans are notable for their generous interest rates / repayment terms. Some pending legislation even raises the possibility for total forgiveness of loans taken through these programs.

Cameron & Kane LLC’s attorneys have been trained on how to apply for these loan programs and is ready to help your small business apply. Competition for these loans will undoubtedly be high, so contact us today to help maximize your business’ chances to receive this vital assistance. 872-588-0727 / info@cameronandkane.com

PLEASE NOTE, while we are able and willing to work to accommodate our clients’ financial situation, this service is NOT free and will require at least partial payment of fees in advance.

Circuit Court of Cook County "Pauses" Most Legal Proceedings, Eviction Enforcement, and Final Relief in Foreclosures

*** THE FOLLOWING IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE NOR SHOULD YOU RELY UPON IT AS THE SAME ***

On March 13, 2020, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans of the Circuit Court of Cook County issued General Administrative Order 2020-0001 (“Order”). The Order, seeking to help mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus / COVID-19, essentially “paused” the vast majority of legal matters before the Court and rescheduled them for continuation in thirty days.

The Order also ordered:

• The Sheriff of Cook County to “cease execution of eviction orders relating to residential real estate effective March 14, 2020 [… for …] 30 days.” This means that no residential tenant within Cook County will be forcibly removed from the property they occupy by the Sheriff for that time period.

• The Chancery Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County to effectuate a “moratorium on final judgments and executions of judgments in mortgage foreclosure proceedings. This means that there will be a temporary pause on the final stages of foreclosure lawsuits.

• A suspension on Grand Jury empanelings until May 1, 2020 and an extension of any currently empaneled Grand Juries to cover the gap.

Please note that the foregoing explicitly does not relieve parties of their general legal duties vis a vis rent, mortgage payment, or jury service.

We, at Cameron & Kane LLC, are sincerely pleased to hear of our primary court’s leadership taking proactive health and safety measures in these trying times. We have incorporated this “pause” into our practice and are working diligently to ensure our clients’ matters before the Circuit Court of Cook County continue to be zealously advocated for.

*** AGAIN, PLEASE NOTE THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE NOR IS THIS FIRM ADVISING YOU TO TAKE OR FOREBEAR FROM ANY COURSE OF ACTION ***

Cameron & Kane LLC's Guide to the March 17, 2020 Primary Judicial Elections

The 2020 Illinois primaries are tomorrow - March 17, 2020. As always, I’d like to remind everyone that (a) Illinois state judges are ELECTED; and (b) because Cook County votes so predominantly Democratic, the primary elections are de facto elections for office.

To that end, I’d like to provide a link to a handful of bar associations’ “ratings / qualifications” pamphlets. It’s important to remember that bar associations are private associations of legal practitioners. So, while these ratings carry the important weight of experience and investment in the legal field, they are emphatically NOT governmental or “official” rating.

Bar association ratings generally just state whether they think a judicial candidate is “qualified” or not - so you may see multiple “qualified” candidates for the same office. That is intentional. The bar associations are merely trying to state whether each particular candidate is fit for the office they seek, not to explicitly endorse a particular candidate over another.

You can briefly review three bar association guides below. Select one, print out the guide linked to it, and take to the polls with you to help you vote. If you needed my personal recommendation, I say go for the Chicago Bar Association (Click on the “March 17, 2020 Pocket Guide”) at the top of my list because it is the shortest and easiest to read.

• Chicago Bar Association (Click on the “March 17, 2020 Pocket Guide”) - https://www.chicagobar.org/chicagobar/CBA/Programs/Judicial_Evaluation/Judicial_Voters_Guide/CBA/JEC/Judicial_Voters_Guide.aspx

• Chicago Council of Lawyers - http://chicagocouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/CCL-sample-ballot2020-version1-with-correction.pdf

• Illinois State Bar Association - https://www.isba.org/sites/default/files/judicialevaluations/2020primary/ISBA%202020%20Cook%20Primary%20Election%20Ratings.pdf

However, please note there there are a multitude of bar associations which are generally organized on the basis of geography, ideology, or identity. If interested, you can google “bar association __________” with whatever criterion you think would “speak” to you. Or, alternative, go to VoteforJudge.com (ballot guide here: https://www.voteforjudges.org/#1582042744415-8fddcc23-8a11) for a multi-association summary of Illinois judicial recommendations.

Lastly, though it should go without saying, please exercise caution for yourself and others while voting. Your polling location should make voting a clean and quick process, but I would recommend you take additional precautions; e.g. hand sanitizer.