Updated Aug. 16, 2021 – In the past week, there have been a few important court rulings in cases involving eviction moratoriums issued by both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the State of New York. Illinois REALTORS® will continue to monitor the status of the Illinois and national moratoriums, as well as court rulings, and provide important updates if and when the situation changes. The state’s moratorium requirements and restrictions are in place and applicable through the end of this month.

The U.S. Supreme Court sided with landlord groups in the State of New York and threw out a key provision of New York’s eviction moratorium on Thurs., Aug. 12, 2021. The Court held that the provision, which allowed tenants to automatically stop evictions by merely self-certifying they were suffering financial hardships due to COVID-19 with generally no rights or avenues for landlords to challenge those certifications, was a violation of a landlord’s due process rights.

The following day, a District of Columbia (DC) District Court once again found the CDC lacked authority to issue its moratorium, but it once again left the moratorium in place pending appeal of the case, stating it felt its “hands were tied” from previous Appellate Court decisions. The decision from the DC District Court was immediately appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, seeking an emergency order to vacate the stay.

The Appellate Court has set a deadline of Wed., Aug. 18, 2021, for all pleadings and replies to be filed, possibly indicating this appeals process will move faster than it did to address the previous case in May and June.

In May, the same DC Circuit Court judge ruled the CDC exceeded its authority to impose its eviction moratorium but stayed its ruling pending the appeal of the case. In late June, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that stay, leaving the CDC moratorium in place, pending appeal of the substantive issues in the case. However, in what the District Court determined to be a non-binding concurrence, the fifth and deciding Supreme Court Justice in that case stated, although he believed the CDC lacked authority to impose its moratorium, he would allow the stay to remain in place through the end of July. Beyond that, he reasoned, the CDC would need additional authority from Congress for the moratorium to remain in effect past July 31.

Such authority was never granted by Congress, leading many to believe that if this issue reaches the U.S. Supreme Court again, it might rule in favor of the REALTOR® groups seeking to have the CDC moratorium lifted. Illinois REALTORS® will continue to monitor this case and these issues as they develop.

What does all of this currently mean for Illinois?

Illinois currently has a similar provision as New York, in terms of requiring a declaration from tenants to trigger the protections of its moratorium. A key takeaway from the Supreme Court decision is that a landlord must be allowed, if they so choose, to contest the legitimacy of the declaration made by the tenant. In other words, a tenant cannot automatically stop all eviction proceedings by simply submitting a declaration to a landlord without an avenue for the landlord to challenge the validity and truthfulness of the tenant’s declaration.

Illinois Courts may already have such protections and procedures in place, but if landlords believe they are being denied opportunities to challenge the validity of tenant declarations, it is important they check with their attorneys to see if their local court rules and procedures are in line with this recent Supreme Court ruling.

In terms of the status of the CDC moratorium, it is important to remember the state moratorium in Illinois is separate from the CDC moratorium, and the state’s requirements and restrictions are in place and applicable in the State of Illinois through the end August. If the U.S. Supreme Court were to rule the CDC lacks authority to implement its moratorium, in effect ending that moratorium nationally, it is not likely the State of Illinois’ moratorium would be directly affected by such a ruling. Illinois REALTORS® will continue to monitor the status of both the state and national moratoriums and will continue to provide important updates if and when the situation changes.

Aug. 6, 2021 – Recent efforts at the national level to extend a federal eviction moratorium through October are raising questions about how such a moratorium impacts Illinois residents.

The CDC issued a new moratorium against evictions this week. While that is currently in effect in some parts of the country, the order was immediately challenged in federal district court. That case appears to be moving in an expedited manner, and Illinois REALTORS® will continue to monitor and provide any updates as the situations evolve.

As with previous CDC orders, the one issued this week does not apply to any state with a moratorium on residential evictions that provides the same or greater level of public health protection than the requirements as the CDC order. The CDC’s stated purpose of their order is to prevent tenants being forced to move or be placed in shared housing, which they argue will mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Since the current Illinois moratorium prohibits law enforcement from enforcing orders of evictions against “covered persons,” and applies to all counties within the state, Illinois REALTORS® believes this provides the same or greater level of public health protection as the CDC order. However, we advise affected parties to check with their attorneys for specific legal advice regarding individual cases. 

REMINDER: The deadline for Illinois landlords to complete their portion of the applications for the 2021 Illinois Rental Payment Program (ILRPP) is 11:59 p.m. Aug. 15. Landlords and tenants can check the status of applications by visiting the IHDA website.


Housing providers may begin filing evictions against “covered persons,” or those negatively impacted by COVID-19, on Aug. 1 as long as the landlord includes the required documentation.

But the governor’s latest Executive Order (EO), issued late Friday, only begins to remove the restrictions on the eviction process that have been in place for over a year. It still prohibits law enforcement from enforcing eviction against those tenants deemed “Covered Persons.” The remaining provisions of the moratorium, including those that prohibit law enforcement from enforcing eviction Orders, will continue through the month of August.  The Governor has indicated the moratorium will be lifted completely by the end of August.

In addition to the changes and timeline contained in Governor J.B. Pritzker’s latest EO, the Illinois Supreme Court recently set procedural rules and guidelines to assist the Courts in processing eviction cases that may result when the moratorium ends.

In its July 15th Order, the Court states, beginning August 1, the filing of a complaint in any eviction case must be accompanied by a certification form (included in the Order as Appendix A), entitled Plaintiff’s Certification for Exemption from 30-Day Stay. In other words, if the housing provider believes that their case qualifies to be exempted from the Court’s 30-day stay, the housing provider checks the appropriate boxes clarifying to a Court why the eviction proceeding should move towards enforcement because the tenant is NOT a Covered Person subject to “protection” from enforcement for an additional 30 days (during the month of August).

There also are other procedural provisions within the Illinois Supreme Court Order that housing providers and/or tenants should discuss with their attorneys. Finally, the Illinois Supreme Court Order contains a September 1, 2021 end date.

Reading the most recent EO together with the Supreme Court’s Order, Illinois REALTORS® interprets these directives to mean that, when filing an eviction case, a housing provider must file the form (Appendix A), and if they believe their case meets one of the requirements on the form to be exempted from the 30-day stay, allowing their case to proceed immediately, they should check the appropriate box. If they do not believe they meet such requirements, the boxes should be left unchecked.  While this is Illinois REALTORS® interpretation, it is important for housing providers to check with their attorneys prior to filing for specific legal advice regarding individual cases.

In short, the latest EO combined with the upcoming Illinois Supreme Court requirements, will allow evictions to be filed against Covered Persons beginning August 1st, so long as the housing provider includes the required documentation (Appendix A) with its filing. Also, housing providers should check specific filing requirements where they intend to file, as County and Circuit Court requirements may vary.