Full Text of HB4768 103rd General Assembly
HB4768enr 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | | | HB4768 Enrolled | | LRB103 37572 JRC 67698 b |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning civil law. | 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 | | represented in the General Assembly: | 4 | | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Landlord Retaliation Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Prohibition on retaliatory conduct by landlord. | 7 | | It is declared to be against public policy of the State for a | 8 | | landlord to take retaliatory action against a tenant. A | 9 | | landlord may not knowingly terminate a tenancy, increase rent, | 10 | | decrease services, bring or threaten to bring a lawsuit | 11 | | against a tenant for possession or refuse to renew a lease or | 12 | | tenancy because the tenant has in good faith done any of the | 13 | | following: | 14 | | (1) complained of code violations applicable to the | 15 | | premises to the relevant governmental agency, elected | 16 | | representative, or public official charged with | 17 | | responsibility for enforcement of a building, housing, | 18 | | health, or similar code; | 19 | | (2) complained of a building, housing, health, or | 20 | | similar code violation or an illegal landlord practice to | 21 | | a community organization; | 22 | | (3) sought the assistance of a community organization | 23 | | to remedy a code violation or illegal landlord practice; |
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| 1 | | (4) complained or requested the landlord to make | 2 | | repairs to the premises as required by a building code, | 3 | | health ordinance, other regulation, or the residential | 4 | | rental agreement; | 5 | | (5) organized or become a member of a tenants' union | 6 | | or similar organization; | 7 | | (6) testified in any court or administrative | 8 | | proceeding concerning the condition of the premises; or | 9 | | (7) exercised any right or remedy provided by law. | 10 | | Section 10. Remedies for violation of this Act. If the | 11 | | landlord acts in violation of this Act, the tenant has a | 12 | | defense in any retaliatory action against the tenant, and a | 13 | | landlord shall be subject to a civil action for damages and | 14 | | other appropriate relief, including, but not limited to, the | 15 | | following remedies: | 16 | | (1) terminate the rental agreement and, if the rental | 17 | | agreement is terminated, the landlord shall return all | 18 | | security and interest recoverable under the Security | 19 | | Deposit Return Act and all prepaid rent; | 20 | | (2) recover possession of the premises if the landlord | 21 | | has dispossessed, threatened to dispossess, or is in the | 22 | | process of dispossessing; and | 23 | | (3) recovery of an amount equal to and not more than 2 | 24 | | months' rent or 2 times the damages sustained by the | 25 | | tenant, whichever is greater, and reasonable attorney's |
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| 1 | | fees. | 2 | | Section 15. Non-retaliatory actions. An action is not | 3 | | retaliatory if the landlord can prove a legitimate, | 4 | | non-retaliatory basis for the action; or the landlord began | 5 | | the action before the tenant engaged in the protected | 6 | | activity. | 7 | | Section 20. Rebuttable presumption. In an action by or | 8 | | against the tenant, if within one year before the alleged act | 9 | | of retaliation there is evidence that the retaliation was | 10 | | against tenant's conduct that is protected under this Act, | 11 | | that evidence creates a rebuttable presumption that the | 12 | | landlord's conduct was retaliatory. The presumption does not | 13 | | arise if the protected tenant activity was initiated after the | 14 | | alleged act of retaliation. | 15 | | (765 ILCS 720/Act rep.) | 16 | | Section 95. The Retaliatory Eviction Act is repealed. |
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