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Advice regarding surveillance videos, commercial drones, state real estate licenses, medical marijuana and tenant foreclosure rights were among the topics addressed during the Feb. 19 Illinois Association of REALTORS® Legal Webinar.
Although IAR Members were able to get answers to a number of other questions from the IAR Legal Services team, anyone interested in real estate could benefit from these questions, answers and news updates.
1. Q. The federal ‘Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act’ expired on Dec. 31, 2014. Is there a similar Illinois law that protects tenants when their leased property is foreclosed?
A. Yes. In 2013, an Illinois law was enacted, giving tenants similar rights to the federal law. Generally, bona fide leases for residential property must be allowed to go to the end of term, or if the lease is month-to-month, it must give a 90-day notice before eviction. The Illinois law contains specific definitions and some exceptions.
2. Q. A company website/portal has Illinois real estate for sale and is soliciting bids for property it does not own. The company is licensed for real estate and auctioneering in California but not Illinois. Must this company be licensed in Illinois to auction the sale of real estate?
A. Based on these facts, the California company doing business with regard to Illinois real estate would need an Illinois real estate broker license to auction property owned by others for compensation. Complaints would need to be filed with the Enforcement Section of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) at http://wwwidfpr.com/Banks/CONSUMER/FORMS/RealEstateComplaints.pdf.
3. Q. How do we advise tenant clients that qualify for medical marijuana when their landlord prohibits smoking indoors?
A. Landlords may still prohibit smoking indoors. Properly certified patients wishing to use medical marijuana indoors may need to use a smokeless form of the drug. See www.iar.org/publications for articles and webinars on this subject.
4. News on eavesdropping. The only type of eavesdropping allowed in Illinois without consent is video in public areas (it is prohibited in private areas like a bathroom). Effective Dec. 30, 2014, when conversations are expected to be private, audio recording requires the consent of all parties. However, it is unclear whether a conversation in a listed home should be considered private, even if a sign about surveillance recording is posted. Practically speaking, IAR recommends REALTORS® representing sellers get consent or post a sign. REALTORS® representing buyers should not discuss anything with regard to the listed property until off the premises.
5. News on commercial drones. Although the commercial use of drones is presently prohibited by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) without an FAA-issued permit, it has proposed new rules that should provide for permitted commercial use of small drones if certain requirements are met. Those proposed rules are in the comment period, so they are not in effect, and it will still be quite some time before the rules become final.
