The IAR is made up of hundreds of REALTORS® promote the real estate industry and private property rights at the Illinois State Capitol. The IAR strongly opposes proposals to reduce the mortgage interest deduction (MID) as this would further erode a critical cornerstone of families, communities and our economy and would be dangerously counterproductive.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT MEASURES OPPOSED BY IAR STALLED IN HOUSE
House Bill 1323, OPPOSED by the IAR and a wide variety of business groups, which sought to grant ALL municipalities the authority to license and regulate all businesses within their corporate limits was not called by the sponsor due to the significant opposition and the bill is now DEAD.
Two measures related to the granting of the authority for a local government to collect costs associated with nuisances on property tax bills are also DEAD. This concept has been OPPOSED by the IAR in previous sessions and both House Bill 1384 and House Bill 3407 were similarly OPPOSED this year and neither sponsor called the bill prior to today’s deadline for final consideration. Two similar bills- Senate Bill 1650 (Wilhelmi) and House Bill 2848 (Schmitz) – were similarly not called and are also DEAD.
SHORT SALES
The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 1259 this week, a measure related to short sales.
SB 1259, sponsored by Senator Ira Silverstein, adds a new section to the Code of Civil Procedure to define a short sale and to specify that in a foreclosure of residential property, if:
(i) the mortgagor presents to the mortgagee, a bona fide written offer from a third party to purchase the property that is the subjection of the foreclosure proceeding; (ii) the written offer to purchase is for an amount which constitutes a short sale of the property, and (iii) the mortgagor makes a written request to the mortgagee to approve the sale on the terms of the offer to purchase, the mortgagee must respond to the mortgagor within 90 days after receipt of the written offer and written request. The mortgagee shall determine whether to accept the short sale offer.
The legislation further provides that the failure to accept the offer shall not impair or abrogate in any way the rights of the mortgagee or affect the status of the foreclosure proceedings. Lastly, the bill states that the 90-day period shall not operate as a stay of the proceeding. The IAR is NEUTRAL. No House sponsor has been determined as of today.
EVICTIONS FOR CRIMINAL ACTIVITY
Senate Bill 1766, sponsored by Senator A.J. Wilhelmi, was approved this week in the Senate on a roll call vote of 52-4-0. This bill amends the eviction provisions for engaging in criminal conduct under the Code of Civil Procedure to provide that a written lease shall notify the tenant that if they use or permit the use of the premises for a felony or Class A misdemeanor the landlord may void the lease and evict the tenant. However, the bill specifies that if the language is not included or if there is an oral lease it does not impair the landlords rights. The bill also provides that the attorney for the municipality in which the property is located can pursue an eviction on behalf of the landlord- with the landlords permission. This legislation, and a similar bill in the House (HB 1309-DeLuca), are SUPPORTED by the IAR and represent an alternative approach to the landlord licensing proposals we have seen in the past. SB 1766 now moves to the House for consideration and Representative Anthony DeLuca will be the sponsor. HB 1309 remains a work in progress.
HOMEOWNERSENERGY POLICY STATEMENTS
The House unanimously approved House Bill 991 this week to expand an energy policy statement provisions for homeowner associations, common interest community associations and condominium associations to include wind energy collection devices, rain water collection devices and composting systems. Representative Carol Sente, the chief sponsor, reiterated that for these added elements, the homeowner’s, common interest community or condominium association could prohibit these if they so chose or, if allowed, that the location, design and architectural requirements for these systems be in the energy policy statement. You will recall that the IAR was opposed to the initial draft of the proposal but worked with Representative Sente to modify the provisions and with the changes we are NEUTRAL. Senator Pam Althoff will sponsor this measure in the Senate.
Illinois Association of REALTORS® | 522 South Fifth Street | Springfield, IL 62701
Ph. 217/529-2600 | FAX 217/529-3904 | www.illinoisrealtor.org | iarnews@iar.org
State Capitol Report is distributed Fridays when the General Assembly is in session. For more information, contact Greg St. Aubin, Director of IAR Governmental Affairs, gstaubin@iar.org or Julie Sullivan, Assistant Director, Legislative and Political Affairs, jsullivan@iar.org. Full text of legislation cited in this newsletter can be found at www.ilga.gov.
ICE Most Commented