Full Text of HB1569 103rd General Assembly
HB1569ham002 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Rep. La Shawn K. Ford Filed: 3/17/2023
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1569
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1569, AS AMENDED, | 3 | | by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the | 4 | | following:
| 5 | | "Section 5. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by | 6 | | changing Section 9-121 and by adding Section 9-123 as follows: | 7 | | (735 ILCS 5/9-121) | 8 | | Sec. 9-121. Impounding Sealing of court file. | 9 | | (a) Definition. As used in this Section : , | 10 | | "Court "court file"
means the court file created when an | 11 | | eviction
action is filed with the court. | 12 | | "Impound" and "impoundment" have the same meaning as
| 13 | | "impounded" under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 8, as now or | 14 | | hereafter amended. | 15 | | "Seal" and "sealing", as previously used in this Act, have
| 16 | | the same meaning as "impounded" under Illinois Supreme Court
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| 1 | | Rule 8, as now or hereafter amended. | 2 | | (b) Discretionary impoundment sealing of court file. The | 3 | | court may
order that a court file in an eviction action
be | 4 | | impounded placed under seal if the court finds that the | 5 | | plaintiff's
action is sufficiently without a basis in fact or | 6 | | law, which
may include a lack of jurisdiction, or if the court | 7 | | finds that placing the court file
under seal is clearly in the | 8 | | interests of justice, and that the interests of justice | 9 | | outweigh
those interests are not outweighed by the public's | 10 | | interest in
knowing about the record. If a defendant
files a | 11 | | motion to impound a court file, the court may consider a
| 12 | | plaintiff's written response even if the plaintiff does not
| 13 | | appear in person on the motion. | 14 | | (c) Mandatory impoundment sealing of court file. The court | 15 | | file relating to an eviction action brought against a tenant | 16 | | under Section 9-207.5 of this Code or as set forth in | 17 | | subdivision (h)(6) of Section 15-1701 of this Code shall be | 18 | | impounded placed under seal . | 19 | | (d) (Blank). This Section is operative on and after August | 20 | | 1, 2022.
| 21 | | (e) Except as provided in subsection (g), any person who | 22 | | disseminates a sealed or impounded court file under
this | 23 | | Section, or the information contained therein, for
commercial | 24 | | purposes shall be liable for a civil penalty of
$2,000 or twice | 25 | | the actual and consequential damages
sustained, whichever is | 26 | | greater, as well as the costs of the
action, including |
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| 1 | | reasonable attorney's fees. A landlord providing or receiving | 2 | | an individual reference about a prospective tenant is not | 3 | | considered a commercial purpose and is not subject to the | 4 | | penalty identified in this subsection. | 5 | | (f) The Attorney General may enforce a violation of this | 6 | | Section as an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and | 7 | | Deceptive Business Practices Act. All remedies, penalties, and | 8 | | authority granted to the Attorney General by the Consumer | 9 | | Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act shall be available | 10 | | to the Attorney General for the enforcement of this Section. | 11 | | (g) Nothing in this Section prohibits a landlord from | 12 | | receiving a reference from a previous landlord of a | 13 | | prospective tenant. Nothing in this Section prohibits a | 14 | | landlord from providing a reference for a previous or current | 15 | | tenant to a prospective landlord of that tenant. | 16 | | (Source: P.A. 102-5, eff. 5-17-21.) | 17 | | (735 ILCS 5/9-123 new) | 18 | | Sec. 9-123. Notice and dismissal for failure to prosecute | 19 | | after 365 days. | 20 | | (a) If, at any time after the filing of an eviction action, | 21 | | the plaintiff has not further prosecuted the case for a period | 22 | | of 365 days, the court shall send to the parties written | 23 | | notice: | 24 | | (1) informing the parties of the date of the most | 25 | | recent action taken by the plaintiff in the case; and |
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| 1 | | (2) directing the plaintiff to take one of the | 2 | | following actions not later than 10 business days after | 3 | | the date of the notice: | 4 | | (A) further prosecute the case; or | 5 | | (B) dismiss the case. | 6 | | (b) If the plaintiff fails to take an action described in | 7 | | paragraph (2) of subsection (a) within the time prescribed by | 8 | | paragraph (2) of subsection (a): | 9 | | (1) the defendant in the eviction action may file a | 10 | | motion with the court to dismiss the case; or | 11 | | (2) the court, on the court's own motion, may dismiss | 12 | | the case. | 13 | | (c) The form of the notice described in subsection (a) may | 14 | | be developed by each judicial circuit in accordance with its | 15 | | practice or the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts | 16 | | may develop a standardized form. | 17 | | (d) A judicial circuit, in its discretionary control over | 18 | | its records, may adopt a rule to follow this procedure in a | 19 | | shorter amount of time than 365 days.
| 20 | | Section 10. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business | 21 | | Practices Act is amended by adding Section 2z.6 as follows: | 22 | | (815 ILCS 505/2z.6 new) | 23 | | Sec. 2z.6. Dissemination of a sealed or impounded court | 24 | | file. A private entity or person that violates Section 9-121 |
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| 1 | | of the Code of Civil Procedure commits an unlawful practice | 2 | | within the meaning of this Act. ".
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