HB2471 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB102 14066 LNS 19418 b

102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
HB2471

Introduced 2/19/2021, by Rep. Deanne M. Mazzochi

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

30 ILCS 105/5.935 new
765 ILCS 605/34 new

Amends the Condominium Property Act. Provides that no seller of a unit subject to a declaration and association, property manager, board of managers, or any other association created by the governing recorded declaration and bylaws for the unit, shall fail to disclose to any prospective buyer the existence of measured toxic mold in any indoor residential living space. Provides that any provision between a unit owner and a property manager or a unit owner and a condominium association that seeks to prohibit, limit, or otherwise restrict disclosure of measured toxic mold in a unit by a seller to a buyer is against public policy and is void and unenforceable. Provides that if there exists measured toxic mold and a resident suffers from symptoms associated with measured toxic mold, and adequate notice has been provided by the unit owner to the board of managers, the unit owner may file an action in court against the board of managers for specific performance to have the mold removed and preventive measures taken to ensure that the mold will not return. Provides that the Attorney General, or a local county public health department, shall have authority to investigate complaints of unremediated measured toxic mold. Provides that if, after one year following notice of noncompliance, the affected area has not been subjected to reasonable remedial efforts, penalties may be assessed in an amount up to $5,000 per month, but shall not exceed 50% of the value of the unit subject to the complaint. Provides that the penalties shall be used for mold remediation and to repair and remediate housing stock. Makes a corresponding change in the State Finance Act.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning civil law.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The State Finance Act is amended by adding Section 5.935 as follows:

(30 ILCS 105/5.935 new)

Sec. 5.935. The Condominium Mold Remediation Fund.

Section 10. The Condominium Property Act is amended by adding Section 34 as follows:

(765 ILCS 605/34 new)

Sec. 34. Mold disclosures and remediation.

(a) As used in this Section:

"Adjacent unit" means any unit that shares a common wall with another unit, has a floor immediately above the ceiling of the unit, has a ceiling immediately below the floor of the unit, is across a common hallway from a unit, or is tied to the same ventilation system as the unit.

"Association" and "board of managers" include any association of owners of units in a condominium or common interest community acting pursuant to the declaration, whether through a master association or a subset thereof.

"Declaration" means any duly recorded instruments, however designated, that have subjected the property to this Act or the Common Interest Community Association Act.

"Measured toxic mold" includes culture-based measurement levels, if measurements are compared against at least an outdoor air quality standard, or quantitative PCR levels obtained in accordance with the standards of the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index.

"Residential real property" means real property improved with not less than one nor more than 4 residential dwelling units, units in residential cooperatives, or condominium units, including the limited common elements allocated to the exclusive use thereof that form an integral part of a condominium unit or common interest property.

"Seller" means every person or entity who is an owner, beneficiary of a trust, contract purchaser or lessee of a ground lease, who has an interest, legal or equitable, in residential real property.

"Tendency to produce severe adverse health effects" includes symptoms of asthma, respiratory distress, acute idiopathic pulmonary hemorrhage in infants, or symptoms documented as having a causal link to symptoms in peer-reviewed medical literature.

"Unit" means a physical portion of the property that is subject to the declaration that has been designated by separate ownership or occupancy by boundaries that are described in the declaration.

"Toxic mold" includes stachybotrys chartarum, penicillum, aspergillus flavus, and aspergillus parasiticus, or any other mold that can be seen or smelled, and that further excretes a sufficient amount of mycotoxin that has a tendency to produce severe adverse health effects, which may include aflatoxin, macrocyclic trochothecenes, trichodermin, sterigmatocystin, and satratoxin G.

(b) After the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, no seller of a unit subject to a declaration and association, property manager, board of managers, or any other association created by the governing recorded declaration and bylaws for the unit, shall fail to disclose to any prospective buyer, or his or her agent, the existence of measured toxic mold in any indoor residential living space that includes:

(1) the unit proposed to be purchased by the buyer;

(2) any adjacent unit;

(3) in common elements, whether general or limited common elements; or

(4) remediation efforts, if any, taken in response to the presence of measured toxic mold.

(c) Any provision between a unit owner and a property manager or a unit owner and a condominium association that seeks to prohibit, limit, or otherwise restrict disclosure of measured toxic mold in a unit by a seller to a buyer, including any confidentiality agreements, is against the public policy of this State and is void and unenforceable. A buyer may waive disclosure requirements under this Act if the waiver is in writing or if property is being purchased by the buyer "as is".

(d) If there exists measured toxic mold and a resident suffers from symptoms associated with measured toxic mold, and adequate notice has been provided by the unit owner to the board of managers under this Act, the unit owner may file an action in court against the board of managers for specific performance to have the mold removed and preventive measures taken to ensure that the mold will not return, particularly if the source of mold is tied to a common element, structural element within the property, or source of water moisture or dampness within the authority of the board of managers to repair. It is presumed that appropriate remediation requires removal and replacement of all affected areas, particularly if prior cleaning efforts led to the return of toxic mold growth. A board of managers may assess the costs of the remediation through a special assessment on the owners.

(e) The Attorney General, or a local county public health department, shall have authority to investigate complaints of unremediated measured toxic mold. If, after one year following notice of noncompliance, the affected area has not been subjected to reasonable remedial efforts, penalties may be assessed in an amount up to $5,000 per month, but shall not exceed 50% of the value of the unit subject to the complaint. All penalties collected under this subsection shall be deposited into the Condominium Mold Remediation Fund, a special fund in the State treasury that is hereby created. All money in the Condominium Mold Remediation Fund shall be paid as grants for mold remediation and to repair and remediate housing stock. Grant priority shall be given to residents whose annual or household income is 75% or less of the Area Median Income.

(f) The Attorney General may adopt rules to implement this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly.