April 19, 2024 State Capitol Report

The House and the Senate were in session this week. The Senate primarily spent its time working on amendments in committee hearings, while the House had a week of long and grueling session days. As of this morning and prior to today’s House session, more than 250 bills passed on either the House or Senate floor just this week. Your Illinois REALTORS® State Legislative Team worked very long hours this week and is still actively engaged in several pieces of legislation that could see action after the release of this report. It was still a very successful week for REALTOR® advocacy. Both chambers will take a much needed break next week, as the Capitol will be empty until legislators return to Springfield on April 30.

Still Going …

As of the drafting of this report, the Illinois House of Representatives is still in session and currently without an end in sight. The long floor hours are due to the April 19 (today) deadline for House bills to be passed in order be sent over and considered in the Senate.

**If any legislation is acted upon after the release of this report, an update State Capitol Report will be released on Monday, April 22. **

Bills of Interest

Our legislative measure to prohibit municipalities and counties from enforcing or implementing any ordinance, rule, policy, program or regulation effecting a tenancy by imposing or threatening to impose a penalty against a resident, property owner, tenant, landlord, or other person solely as a consequence of contact with a law enforcement agency. House Amendment 1 passed out of the Housing Committee on Wednesday and will be favorably sent to the House floor. (Read more below about HB5432).

We are pleased to announce this important bill passed out of the Housing Committee on a vote of 11-3 Wednesday.  Conflicting state laws put landlords (especially those who have a Real Estate Brokers License) in the position of losing “landlord licensing” with a municipality or potentially face a human rights violation and lose their broker’s license.

The bill prohibits municipalities from enforcing an ordinance that imposes a penalty or threat against a resident, property owner, tenant, landlord or other person solely because of contact with a law enforcement agency.

HB 5432 would not allow municipalities and counties to impose a penalty on a property owner or landlord for the failure to do any of the following:

  • Evict or penalize a tenant because of the tenant’s association with another tenant or household member who has had contact with a law enforcement agency or has a criminal conviction.
  • Evict, refuse to lease or renew a lease, or otherwise penalize a tenant because of the tenant’s criminal history or alleged unlawful conduct or arrest.
  • Include a provision in a lease or rental agreement that provides as grounds for eviction, any cause that conflicts with state or federal law.

Also, the bill would not allow municipalities to:

  • Define a nuisance as, any contact by a tenant with a law enforcement agency, any request by a tenant, landlord, resident, or property owner for emergency assistance.
  • Requires a tenant to obtain a certificate of occupancy as a condition of tenancy.
  • Establish, maintain, or promote a registry of tenants for the purposes of discouraging a landlord from renting to a tenant on the registry or excluding a tenant on the registry from rental housing within the local government’s jurisdiction.

HB 5432, focuses on preserving housing stability and bans outright any so-called local crime-free housing ordinance and would render any existing version of a local crimefree housing ordinance invalid and unenforceable and would prohibit any municipality from creating a new, similar regulation.  In addition, it is important to note that Illinois REALTORS® are a part of a large coalition to address this issue. Other organizations include Housing Action Illinois, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence. There is also an identical bill in the Senate (SB 3680) sponsored by Sen. Villa. HB 5432 moved to Second Reading in the House.

Through a collaborative relationship with IDFPR, Illinois REALTORS® has had a big hand in this agreed bill to amend the Real Estate License Act to make several changes:

  • Written brokerage agreements will now be required when a licensee acts as an agent for buyers and/or sellers.
  • Brokers seeking to upgrade their licenses will only be required to take an Illinois state-specific exam to obtain a managing broker license.
  • Fair Housing CE—Mandatory Core CE Hours will increase from four to six where two of the six will be mandatory Fair Housing-related courses.
  • Added language to highlight and support the independent contractor relationship for a licensee conducting brokerage business when that is the nature of the agreement between the sponsoring broker and the licensee.
  • Making it a violation not to have a written brokerage agreement.
  • And added IDFPR’s initiatives:
    • Going away from broker reciprocity in favor of an endorsement program for nonresident licenses to obtain an Illinois license upon completion of certain requirements.
    • Several cleanups for departmental consistency

As reported last week, SB 3740 passed the Senate unanimously on Friday.  This week the bill was referred to the Rules Committee for consideration before being assigned to the Committee.  Rep. Jenn Ladisch Douglas is the House sponsor.  Illinois REALTORS® wholeheartedly SUPPORTS this important legislation.

This bill amends the Illinois Human Rights Act to change the definition of “real estate transition” to include any act that “otherwise makes unavailable” such a transaction or alters a person’s right to real property.  The bill is attempting to “codify” federal court rulings regarding discriminatory effect.  The bill is an initiative of the Illinois Attorney General’s office and the Illinois Department of Human Rights.  At this moment, Illinois REALTORS® continue to oppose this bill.  After months of discussion our amendment was accepted to remove “otherwise make unavailable.”  The bill is expected to pass the House by the end of this week (as of the deadline for this report, the bill had not yet been called for a vote in the House but is expected to be called).  Illinois REALTORS® thanks the Office of the Attorney General and the Illinois Department of Human Rights for their diligence and understanding in this important matter.

At the suggestion of Illinois REALTORS®, HB 5502 has been introduced to highlight that in a sale of a condominium unit by a unit owner, no condo association may exercise any right of refusal, option to purchase, or right to disapprove the sale not only on the basis that the purchaser’s financing is guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration or for a discriminatory or otherwise unlawful purpose. Illinois REALTOR® SUPPORTS this important legislation that passed the House this week unanimously and is now in the Senate sponsored by Sen. Ram Villivalam.

This bill requires the Illinois Department of Human Rights to create a domestic violence victim’s summary of rights on the first page of residential leases.  At our suggestion, the bill was amended to change the effective date to Jan 1, 2026, giving landlords time to prepare new leases.  As reported last week, the bill passed the Senate unanimously and has arrived in the Senate. Rep. Theresa Mah is the House sponsor. This week the bill was sent to the House Rules Committee. With the amendment, Illinois REALTORS® is neutral.

In provisions concerning the Historic Residence Assessment Freeze Law, this bill provides that the fair cash value of the property shall be based on the final determination by the assessment officer, board of review, Property Tax Appeal Board, or court. Provides that, after the expiration of the eight year valuation period, if the current fair cash value is less than the adjusted base year valuation, then the assessment shall be based on the current fair cash value. Provides that these changes are declarative of existing law.  Illinois REALTORS® is neutral. After passing the Senate unanimously, the bill arrived in the House. Rep. Kelly Burke (D, Evergreen Park) is the House sponsor.

This bill amends the Property Tax Code to provide that no interest or penalties shall be imposed with respect to property that is included in a decedent’s probate estate at the time of a delinquency if the representative of the decedent’s estate applies with the county treasurer for a waiver of those amounts and is granted that waiver. Provides that the waiver shall apply beginning on the date of the decedent’s death until the earlier of either: (i) the date on which the property is sold, transferred, or conveyed or (ii) the date on which the estate is closed.  As reported last week Illinois REALTORS® supports this bill that passed the Senate unanimously and now sponsored in the House by Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer. This week the bill was assigned to the House Revenue and Finance Committee.

This bill amends the Landlord and Tenant Act to prohibit a landlord from charging a prospective tenant an application screening fee if the prospective tenant provides a reusable tenant screening report that meets the following criteria: (i) the report was prepared within the previous 30 days by a consumer credit reporting agency at the request and expense of a prospective tenant; (ii) the report is made directly available to a landlord for use in the rental application process or is provided through a third-party website that regularly engages in the business of providing a reusable tenant screening report and complies with all state and federal laws pertaining to use and disclosure of information contained in a consumer report by a consumer credit reporting agency; and (iii) the report is available to the landlord at no cost to access or use.  The bill passed in the House and has been sent to the Senate for further consideration. Illinois REALTORS® is neutral.

This bill provides that the abatement for property located in an area of urban decay also applies to newly remodeled single-family or duplex residential dwelling units (currently, only newly constructed single-family or duplex dwelling units). Provides that provisions requiring the abatement to be reduced in 20% increments annually during the last four years of the abatement period apply only to abatements granted prior to the effective date.  The bill passed the Senate unanimously and has been assigned to the House Revenue & Finance Committee.  Illinois REALTORS® is currently engage with the sponsors and monitoring this bill.

This bill creates the Pesticide Application on Rights-of-Way Notification Act.  The bill passed the Senate and has been assigned to the House Energy & Environment Committee.  Illinois REALTORS® are neutral. 

At-A-Glance

When legislators return on April 30, there will only be four weeks left of the 2024 spring session. Your Illinois REALTORS® State Legislative Team have been engaged in over 350 bills since January and are confident in being able to continue favorable resolutions to all legislative matters effecting the real estate industry and private property rights, as always … Stay Tuned.

Thank you for reading the April 19, 2024 State Capitol Report. Click here to read previous reports.