Politics & Government
New Crime-Free Housing Law Allows City Attorneys to Issue Evictions to Rental Tenants
This legislation gives authority to non-home rule communities like Frankfort. But the village isn't likely to resort to it, says official.
Local governments will have the power to evict tenants that use rental property to commit criminal activity, thanks to legislation signed by Gov. Pat Quinn this week.
The new law will require landlords to provide additional disclosure about criminal activity in their leases, according to State Rep. Anthony DeLuca, who proposed the legislation.
“By taking on crime in neighborhood rental properties we are doing more to ensure families in our communities are safe in their own homes,” DeLuca said.
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“As a former local mayor, I supported a policy to help reduce the crime rate by asking for more coordination between landlords and law enforcement," DeLuca added. "This new crime-free rental housing legislation aims to curtail crime through this same successful partnership.”
Home rule municipalities already have the power to evict, as they can exercise the state's powers of governance, but the new legislation will give non-home rule communities--such as Frankfort--the same authority.
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However, this new legislation isn't something that Frankfort officials would use as a criminal deterrent, said Village Administrator Jerry Ducay. The village's policy is to let the criminal and civil courts handle these matters between landlords and tenants, not local government, he added.
"We try not to delve into those issues," Ducay said.
The bill is modeled off of crime-free rental housing ordinances found in other Illinois municipalities and will allow city attorneys to issue eviction notices on behalf of a landlord, according to a press release from DeLuca's office. Before the bill, only the State’s Attorney's office was permitted to do this.
"Problem tenants" committing criminal activity will be more easily removed from the area under the new legislation, according to DeLuca's office.
“This approach provides renters with frank information about the consequences of questionable behavior, and allows municipalities to more effectively go after problem tenets,” DeLuca said.
Joe Vince, local editor for Frankfort Patch, contributed to this story.
