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Public Act 098-1160
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| SB1680 Enrolled | LRB098 08832 OMW 38959 b |
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AN ACT concerning local government.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Home Equity Assurance Act is amended by |
changing Section 11 as follows:
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(65 ILCS 95/11) (from Ch. 24, par. 1611)
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Sec. 11. Guarantee Fund.
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(a) Each governing commission and program
created by |
referendum under the provisions of this Act shall maintain a
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guarantee fund for the purposes of paying the costs of |
administering the
program and extending protection to members |
pursuant to the limitations and
procedures set forth in this |
Act.
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(b) The guarantee fund shall be raised by means of an |
annual tax levied
on all residential property within the |
territory of the program having at
least one, but not more than |
6 dwelling units and classified by county
ordinance as |
residential. The rate of this tax may be changed from year to
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year by majority vote of the governing commission but in no |
case shall it
exceed a rate of .12% of the equalized assessed |
valuation of all property
in the territory of the program |
having at least one, but not
more than 6 dwelling units and |
classified by county ordinance as
residential, or the maximum |
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tax rate approved by the voters of the
territory at the |
referendum which created the program
or, in the case of a |
merged program, the maximum tax rate approved by
the voters at |
the referendum authorizing the merger, whichever rate is
lower. |
The commissioners shall cause the amount to be
raised by |
taxation in each year to be certified to the county clerk in |
the
manner provided by law, and any tax so levied and certified |
shall be
collected and enforced in the same manner and by the |
same officers as those
taxes for the purposes of the county and |
city within which the territory of
the commission is located. |
Any such tax, when collected, shall be paid
over to the proper |
officer of the commission who is authorized to receive
and |
receipt for such tax. The governing commission may issue tax
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anticipation warrants against the taxes to be assessed for the |
calendar
year in which the program is created and for the first |
full calendar year
after the creation of the program.
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(c) The moneys deposited in the guarantee fund shall, as |
nearly as
practicable, be fully and continuously invested or |
reinvested by the
governing commission in investment |
obligations which shall be in such
amounts, and shall mature at |
such times, that the maturity or date of
redemption at the |
option of the holder of such investment obligations shall
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coincide, as nearly as practicable, with the times at which |
monies will be
required for the purposes of the program. For |
the purposes of this
Section investment obligation shall mean |
direct general municipal, state,
or federal obligations which |
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at the time are legal investments under the
laws of this State |
and the payment of principal of and interest on which
are |
unconditionally guaranteed by the governing body issuing them.
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(d) Except as permitted by this subsection and subsection |
(d-5),
the guarantee fund shall be used solely and exclusively |
for the
purpose of providing guarantees to members of the |
particular Guaranteed
Home Equity Program and for reasonable |
salaries, expenses, bills,
and fees incurred in administering |
the program, and shall be used for no other
purpose.
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A governing commission, with no less than $4,000,000 in its |
guarantee
fund,
may, if authorized by referendum duly adopted |
by a majority of the voters,
establish a Low
Interest
Home |
Improvement Loan Program in accordance with and subject to |
procedures
established by a financial institution, as defined |
in the Illinois Banking Act.
Whenever
the question of creating |
a Low Interest Home Improvement Loan Program is
initiated by
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resolution or ordinance of the corporate authorities of the |
municipality or by
a petition
signed by not less than 10% of |
the total number of registered voters of each
precinct in
the |
territory, the registered voters of which are eligible to sign |
the
petition, it shall be the
duty of the election authority |
having jurisdiction over the municipality to
submit the
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question of creating the program to the electors of each |
precinct within the
territory at
the regular election specified |
in the resolution, ordinance, or petition
initiating the
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question. A petition initiating a question described in this |
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subsection shall
be filed with
the election authority having |
jurisdiction over the municipality. The petition
shall be filed
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and objections to the petition shall be made in the manner |
provided in the
Election Code.
A resolution, ordinance, or |
petition initiating a question described in this
subsection |
shall
specify the election at which the question is to be |
submitted. The referendum
on the
question shall be held in |
accordance with the Election Code. The question
shall be in |
substantially the
following form:
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"Shall the (name of the home equity program) implement |
a Low Interest Home
Improvement Loan Program with money |
from the guarantee fund of the established
guaranteed home |
equity program?"
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The votes must be recorded as "Yes" or "No".
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Whenever a majority of the voters on the public question |
approve the
creation of
the program as certified by the proper |
election authorities, the commission
shall
establish the |
program and administer the program with funds collected under |
the
Guaranteed Home Equity
Program, subject to the following |
conditions:
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(1) At any given time, the cumulative total of all |
loans and loan
guarantees
(if applicable) issued under this |
program may not reduce the balance of the
guarantee
fund to |
less than $3,000,000.
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(2) Only eligible applicants may apply for a
loan.
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(3) The loan must be used for the repair, maintenance, |
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remodeling,
alteration, or improvement of a guaranteed |
residence. This condition is intended to include the repair |
or maintenance of a guaranteed residence's water and sewer |
pipes and repair of a guaranteed residence, including but |
not limited to basement repairs, following flooding damage |
to the property. This condition is not
intended to exclude |
the repair, maintenance, remodeling, alteration, or
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improvement of a guaranteed residence's landscape. This |
condition is intended
to exclude the demolition of a |
current residence. This condition is also
intended to |
exclude
the construction of a new residence.
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(4) An eligible applicant may not borrow more than the |
amount of equity
value in his or her residence.
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(5) A commission must ensure that loans issued are |
secured with
collateral that is at least equal to the |
amount of the loan or loan guarantee.
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(6) A commission shall charge an interest rate which it |
determines to be
below the market rate of interest |
generally available to the applicant.
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(7) A commission may, by resolution, establish other |
administrative
rules and procedures as are necessary to |
implement this program including, but
not limited to, loan |
dollar amounts and terms. A commission may also impose
on |
loan applicants a one-time application fee for the purpose |
of defraying the
costs of administering the program.
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(d-5) A governing commission, with no less than $4,000,000 |
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in its guarantee fund, may, if authorized by referendum duly |
adopted by a majority of the voters, establish a Foreclosure |
Prevention Loan Fund to provide low interest emergency loans to |
eligible applicants that may be forced into foreclosure |
proceedings. |
Whenever the question of creating a Foreclosure Prevention |
Loan Fund is initiated by resolution or ordinance of the |
corporate authorities of the municipality or by a petition |
signed by not less than 10% of the total number of registered |
voters of each precinct in the territory, the registered voters |
of which are eligible to sign the petition, it shall be the |
duty of the election authority having jurisdiction over the |
municipality to submit the question of creating the program to |
the electors of each precinct within the territory at the |
regular election specified in the resolution, ordinance, or |
petition initiating the question. A petition initiating a |
question described in this subsection shall be filed with the |
election authority having jurisdiction over the municipality. |
The petition shall be filed and objections to the petition |
shall be made in the manner provided in the Election Code. A |
resolution, ordinance, or petition initiating a question |
described in this subsection shall specify the election at |
which the question is to be submitted. The referendum on the |
question shall be held in accordance with the Election Code. |
The question shall be in substantially the following form: |
"Shall the (name of the home equity program) implement a |
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Foreclosure Prevention Loan Fund with money from the guarantee |
fund of the established guaranteed home equity program?" |
The votes must be recorded as "Yes" or "No". |
Whenever a majority of the voters on the public question |
approve the creation of a Foreclosure Prevention Loan Fund as |
certified by the proper election authorities, the commission |
shall establish the program and administer the program with |
funds collected under the Guaranteed Home Equity Program, |
subject to the following conditions: |
(1) At any given time, the cumulative total of all |
loans and loan guarantees (if applicable) issued under this |
program may not exceed $3,000,000. |
(2) Only eligible applicants may apply for a loan. The |
Commission may establish, by resolution, additional |
criteria for eligibility. |
(3) The loan must be used to assist with preventing |
foreclosure proceedings. |
(4) An eligible applicant may not borrow more than the |
amount of equity value in his or her residence. |
(5) A commission must ensure that loans issued are |
secured as a second lien on the property. |
(6) A commission shall charge an interest rate which it |
determines to be below the market rate of interest |
generally available to the applicant. |
(7) A commission may, by resolution, establish other |
administrative rules and procedures as are necessary to |
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implement this program including, but not limited to, |
eligibility requirements for eligible applicants, loan |
dollar amounts, and loan terms. |
(8) A commission may also impose on loan applicants a |
one-time application fee for the purpose of defraying the |
costs of administering the program. |
(e) The guarantee fund shall be maintained, invested, and |
expended
exclusively by the governing commission of the program |
for whose purposes
it was created. Under no circumstance shall |
the guarantee fund be used by
any person or persons, |
governmental body, or public or private agency or
concern other |
than the governing commission of the program for whose
purposes |
it was created. Under no circumstances shall the guarantee fund |
be
commingled with other funds or investments.
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(e-1) No commissioner or family member of a commissioner, |
or employee or
family member of an employee, may receive any
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financial benefit, either directly or indirectly, from the |
guarantee fund.
Nothing in this subsection (e-1) shall be |
construed to prohibit payment of
expenses to a commissioner in |
accordance with Section 4 or payment of salaries
or expenses to |
an employee in accordance with this Section.
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As used in this subsection (e-1), "family member" means a |
spouse, child,
stepchild, parent, brother, or sister of a |
commissioner or a child, stepchild,
parent, brother, or sister |
of a commissioner's spouse.
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(f) An independent audit of the guarantee fund and the |