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90_HB0246
65 ILCS 5/11-117-12 from Ch. 24, par. 11-117-12
Amends the Illinois Municipal Code. Provides that
delinquent service charges or rates for municipal utilities
are liens on the real estate upon or for which service is
provided. Provides that a lien is created only when the
municipality sends the owners of record (i) a copy of the
delinquency notice sent to the person who is delinquent in
paying the charges or rates and (ii) a notice that a lien may
be created. Provides that the municipality may recover the
money due in a civil action. Provides that judgment in a
civil action operates as a release and waiver of the lien.
Effective immediately.
LRB9000927MWpc
LRB9000927MWpc
1 AN ACT to amend the Illinois Municipal Code by changing
2 Section 11-117-12.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by
6 changing Section 11-117-12 as follows:
7 (65 ILCS 5/11-117-12) (from Ch. 24, par. 11-117-12)
8 Sec. 11-117-12. The charges fixed for the product
9 supplied or the service rendered by any municipality shall be
10 sufficient at least to bear all cost of maintenance and
11 operation, to meet interest charges on the bonds and
12 certificates issued on account thereof, and to permit the
13 accumulation of a surplus or sinking fund to meet all unpaid
14 bonds or certificates at maturity.
15 The corporate authorities of any municipality owning and
16 operating a municipal utility plant shall, in addition to
17 fixing utility rates, have the power to establish a service
18 charge for the late payment of rates charged.
19 Those charges or rates are liens on the real estate upon
20 which or for which the product is supplied whenever the
21 charges or rates become delinquent as provided by the
22 ordinance of the municipality fixing a delinquency date. A
23 lien is created under the preceding sentence only if the
24 municipality sends to the owner or owners of record, as
25 referenced by the taxpayer's identification number, of the
26 real estate (i) a copy of each delinquency notice sent to the
27 person who is delinquent in paying the charges or rates or
28 other notice sufficient to inform the owner or owners of
29 record, as referenced by the taxpayer's identification
30 number, that the charges or rates have become delinquent and
31 (ii) a notice that unpaid charges or rates may create a lien
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1 on the real estate under this Section. However, the
2 municipality has no preference over the rights of any
3 purchaser, mortgagee, judgment creditor, or other lien holder
4 arising prior to the filing of the notice of a lien in the
5 office of the recorder of the county in which the real estate
6 is located, or in the office of the registrar of titles of
7 the county if the property affected is registered under the
8 Registered Titles (Torrens) Act. This notice shall consist
9 of a sworn statement setting out (i) a description of the
10 real estate sufficient for the identification, (ii) the
11 amount of money due for the service, and (iii) the date when
12 the amount became delinquent. The municipality shall send a
13 copy of the notice of the lien to the owner or owners of
14 record of the real estate, as referenced by the taxpayer's
15 identification number. The municipality has the power to
16 foreclose this lien in the same manner and with the same
17 effect as in the foreclosure of mortgages on real estate.
18 The municipality also has the power to sue the occupant
19 or user of that real estate in a civil action to recover
20 money due for the services provided under this Division, plus
21 a reasonable attorney's fee, to be fixed by the court.
22 However, whenever a judgment is entered in a civil action,
23 the foregoing provisions in this Section with respect to
24 filing sworn statements of delinquencies in the office of the
25 recorder and creating a lien against the real estate shall
26 not be effective as to the charges sued upon and no lien
27 shall exist thereafter against the real estate for the
28 delinquency. Judgment in the civil action operates as a
29 release and waiver of the lien upon the real estate for the
30 amount of the judgment.
31 These amendatory Acts of 1971 and 1975 are not limits on
32 any municipality which is a home rule unit.
33 (Source: P.A. 79-661.)
-3- LRB9000927MWpc
1 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
2 becoming law.