Cook County Residential Tenant Landlord Ordinance Now Effective.

For years, the Chicago Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance (“CRLTO”) has been the bane of landlords and the joy of tenants within the municipal boundaries of the City of Chicago. The CRLTO provides a host of extremely strong protections for Chicago tenants including, most importantly, a general fee-shifting provision for the prevailing party. This means that tenants who have had their rights violated are normally able to find an attorney willing to take their case when, generally, they may not be able to.

However, despite what proud Chicagoans (including myself) might tell you, Chicago is NOT the only city within Cook County. There are a LOT of people (~2.3 million) and a LOT large municipalities in Cook County (e.g. Elgin, Cicero, Arlington Heights) which have no meaningful tenants rights ordinances.

Well, that has now changed!

A new Cook County Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance (Cook County Code Sec. 42-801 et seq.) has officially been adopted and become effective county-wide. This new ordinance vests a host of rights for residential tenants and imposes a litany of duties on residential landlords. While the ordinance largely tracks the CRLTO, there are several important differences from the CRLTO including, inter alia, a limitation to what actions are fee-shifting and less onerous security deposit requirements. A competent public summary of the ordinance’s contents can be found here. To be clear, this new law applies to ALL residential properties within Cook County, except those explicitly excluded and those located in municipalities with their own already adopted landlord-tenant ordinance.

It is hard to overstate the importance and impact of the Cook County Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance on landlord-tenant law in Cook County. For trusted, cost effective, and well-informed legal counsel on this and other landlord-tenant issues, call Cameron & Kane LLC today! (872) 588-0727.

Regards,

SK

Illinois Supreme Court adopts new rule for eviction cases

The Illinois Supreme Court recently adopted an important new rule applicable to eviction cases filed in the state. The rule requires all eviction plaintiffs to attach certain several important documents to their complaint at its initial filing. The rule is designed, in part, to help pro se tenant-defendants “have access to the relevant information at the outset, rather than having to wait for discovery or trial to understand the nature of the allegations against them, can better understand the basis for the eviction action and be better prepared to assert timely defenses.“

The documents this new rule requires to be attached to evictions complaint are ultimately presented to the court at trial in the vast majority of eviction case. Further, read literally, the current rules of civil procedure could be read to require the attachment of these documents even without the new rule. 735 ILCS 5/2-606. Thus, there is little downside to the Supreme Court’s new rule and a fair number of upsides, including, inter alia, ensuring eviction defendants are aware of what documents will be presented as evidence well in advance of trial, eviction defendants do not waste their time if they lack the proof they will need to prevail at trial, and assisting judges in resolving their eviction cases in a more streamlined and efficient matter. Thus, we view this rule as a pragmatic win for all parties.

For trusted, cost effective, and well-informed legal counsel on this and other landlord-tenant issues, call Cameron & Kane LLC today! (872) 588-0727.

Regards,

Scott Kane