The Illinois eviction moratorium remains in effect until at least Sept. 18. But Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker could extend it again, as a recent media report has indicated he might do.

The Illinois Supreme Court has extended its stay on eviction cases until the same date in a new order issued on Monday. The Court did make some changes to its previous order. While still requiring that most eviction cases filed against a covered person shall be stayed for the duration of the order, the Court listed certain instances where housing providers may argue that they are exempt and should be allowed to proceed with their eviction cases.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Chrysafis vs. Marks, which held that housing providers must be allowed to contest the truthfulness of tenant declarations, under this new order housing providers may argue that tenants are not in fact covered persons. In addition to this exemption, the Court will also now allow cases to proceed when housing providers can prove one of the following:

• (a) A rental assistance program has denied the tenant applications because of: (i) ineligibility; (ii) incompleteness resulting from the tenants’ failure to complete their portion of the applications; or (iii) exhaustion of available program funding.
• (b) Tenants have not applied for rental assistance and have expressed no intention to apply.
• (c) Tenants have applied for rental assistance but are clearly and demonstrably ineligible for rental assistance from the program.

If housing providers can obtain orders of eviction, it is important to remember that Gov. Pritzker’s eviction moratorium still prohibits the enforcement of any such orders against covered persons.

If housing providers obtain orders of eviction because they can prove that tenants are not covered persons, it’s likely that the provision of Pritzker’s moratorium that prohibits enforcement of orders would not apply. However, when housing providers are able to proceed with their cases and obtain orders of eviction by proving that the tenants are ineligible for assistance, refuse to apply for assistance or had their applications for assistance denied, housing providers would likely still be prohibited from enforcing orders of eviction if tenants are considered covered persons.

More information on the Illinois Supreme Court rules, as well as information regarding local rules and procedures for eviction cases, can be found here.

(News from Aug. 27, 2021) U.S. Supreme Court: Government cannot make housing providers continue to bear financial burden of pandemic

From The U.S. Supreme Court effectively ended the CDC’s national eviction moratorium on Thursday night, agreeing with the Alabama and Georgia Associations of REALTORS® that the CDC exceeded its statutory authority in issuing its latest eviction moratorium. The Court’s decision affirmed that non-legislative moratoriums such as the CDC’s are unconstitutional and casts even more legal doubt on Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s eviction moratorium.

Throughout the strongly worded eight-page opinion, the Court rejected the government’s arguments that potential hardships tenants might experience without the moratorium, outweighed the infringement on property rights and financial hardships that housing providers are experiencing because of the moratorium.

In addressing the hardships to each side, the Court recognized the fact that tens of billions of dollars have been allocated for relief, and, while such funds are slow to be delivered, the Court reasoned:

“The moratorium has put millions of landlords across the country at risk of irreparable harm by depriving them of rent payments with no guarantee of eventual recovery. Despite the CDC’s determination that landlords should bear a significant financial cost of the pandemic, many landlords have modest means. And preventing them from evicting tenants who breach their leases intrudes on one of the most fundamental elements of property ownership – the right to exclude.”

The Court went on to state, “It is indisputable that the public has a strong interest in combating the spread of COVID-19. But our system does not permit agencies to act unlawfully even in pursuit of desirable ends.”

Holding that the CDC did not have proper statutory authority to implement such a moratorium, the court noted the “unprecedented” and “breathtaking” power the CDC was attempting to assert with the eviction moratorium, and pointedly stated that, “It is hard to see what measures this interpretation would place outside of the CDC’s reach.” The Court even went so far as to suggest the government’s reasoning could justify mandates for free grocery delivery, requiring manufacturers to provide free computers to enable people to work from home, or ordering telecommunications companies to provide free high-speed Internet service to facilitate remote work.

The Court’s decision immediately stops the CDC from enforcing its moratorium nationwide. Because the decision was based strictly on the agency’s statutory authority, it does not directly affect any moratorium a state may separately have in place.

The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) said in a statement that the Court’s decision was the “correct one.” The CDC’s moratorium was an “unlawful policy that places financial hardship solely on the shoulders of mom-and-pop housing providers,” NAR said.

What does this mean for Illinois?

Despite Gov. Pritzker’s public statements that he was ending his eviction moratorium, Pritzker recently, quietly extended it once again to end now on Sept. 18.

When asked to explain his reasoning for extending his moratorium until mid-September, and not ending it at the end of August as he had promised since May, Pritzker’s office stated that the intent of the extension was to bring the state’s moratorium in line with the federal moratorium. “We’ll match whatever the federal government does…Pending any changes, we’ll adjust as we need to.”

“The Supreme Court characterized the CDC’s moratorium as based upon the ‘determination that landlords should bear a significant financial cost of the pandemic,’” said Illinois REALTORS® CEO Jeff Baker. “Gov. Pritzker’s moratorium is no different. Housing providers in Illinois have been forced to continue operating at full cost for the duration of the pandemic while waiting over 18 months for any real financial relief.”

Congress has allocated almost $50 billion nationwide to rental assistance programs administered by cities and states. In total, over $1 billion of that aid has been sent to Illinois for distribution by the state, cities and counties. Evictions are costly, time-consuming and a last resort for housing providers. With the rental assistance finally provided by Congress, tenants and housing providers have the means to ensure there are as few evictions as necessary.

Baker said “The governor quietly extended his eviction moratorium to match that of the CDC, despite the president’s own acknowledgment that the federal action was unconstitutional. It’s time for the governor’s moratorium to end. The priority now should be on the efficient distribution of rental assistance to Illinois housing providers.”

For help finding a rental assistance program, visit the Illinois Housing Development Authority’s website.