Public Act 0831 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB4768 Enrolled LRB103 37572 JRC 67698 b

Public Act 103-0831

AN ACT concerning civil law.

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

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Landlord Retaliation Act.

Section 5. Prohibition on retaliatory conduct by landlord. It is declared to be against public policy of the State for a landlord to take retaliatory action against a tenant. A landlord may not knowingly terminate a tenancy, increase rent, decrease services, bring or threaten to bring a lawsuit against a tenant for possession or refuse to renew a lease or tenancy because the tenant has in good faith done any of the following:

(1) complained of code violations applicable to the premises to the relevant governmental agency, elected representative, or public official charged with responsibility for enforcement of a building, housing, health, or similar code;

(2) complained of a building, housing, health, or similar code violation or an illegal landlord practice to a community organization;

(3) sought the assistance of a community organization to remedy a code violation or illegal landlord practice;

(4) complained or requested the landlord to make repairs to the premises as required by a building code, health ordinance, other regulation, or the residential rental agreement;

(5) organized or become a member of a tenants' union or similar organization;

(6) testified in any court or administrative proceeding concerning the condition of the premises; or

(7) exercised any right or remedy provided by law.

Section 10. Remedies for violation of this Act. If the landlord acts in violation of this Act, the tenant has a defense in any retaliatory action against the tenant, and a landlord shall be subject to a civil action for damages and other appropriate relief, including, but not limited to, the following remedies:

(1) terminate the rental agreement and, if the rental agreement is terminated, the landlord shall return all security and interest recoverable under the Security Deposit Return Act and all prepaid rent;

(2) recover possession of the premises if the landlord has dispossessed, threatened to dispossess, or is in the process of dispossessing; and

(3) recovery of an amount equal to and not more than 2 months' rent or 2 times the damages sustained by the tenant, whichever is greater, and reasonable attorney's fees.

Section 15. Non-retaliatory actions. An action is not retaliatory if the landlord can prove a legitimate, non-retaliatory basis for the action; or the landlord began the action before the tenant engaged in the protected activity.

Section 20. Rebuttable presumption. In an action by or against the tenant, if within one year before the alleged act of retaliation there is evidence that the retaliation was against tenant's conduct that is protected under this Act, that evidence creates a rebuttable presumption that the landlord's conduct was retaliatory. The presumption does not arise if the protected tenant activity was initiated after the alleged act of retaliation.

(765 ILCS 720/Act rep.)

Section 95. The Retaliatory Eviction Act is repealed.