UPDATE July 1, 2020: At the onset of Illinois’ first round of stay-at-home orders in March 2020, many landlords had to quickly roll out alternative plans for showing vacant apartments in Chicago. The go-to solution was virtual showings, where a live video call or pre-recorded walkthrough video...
Every renter’s financial circumstances are unique, no doubt about that. And in Chicago, renters are protected from discrimination on the basis of their legal source of income. In other words, if a renter can afford the rent due to unemployment benefits, housing assistance, spousal support or...
The Chicago City Council approved an ordinance that protects tenants facing eviction on Wednesday, June 17, 2020. Mayor Lightfoot’s introduction of the COVID-19 Eviction Protection Ordinance includes more stringent requirements for Chicago landlords who file new eviction cases when their tenants...
UPDATE July 2, 2020: Eviction filings will be on hold in the state of Illinois through at least July 26, 2020 according to a recent announcement from the office of Governor J.B. Pritzker. Landlords were not permitted to file eviction cases through the end of June according to...
On June 3, 2020 Chicago moved into Phase 3 of the Restore Illinois plan to safely reopen the state during the Coronavirus pandemic. The city was lagging behind other municipalities in Illinois, due to its larger size and higher number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, but Phase 3, aka the “Recovery”...
In the wake of the unexpected job losses and furloughs caused by Coronavirus (COVID-19), Chicago renters are turning to landlords for rent reprieves. Their pleas are echoed by Mayor Lightfoot, who asked property owners on March 19, 2020 to “give tenants some grace, whenever...
Apartment landlords and property managers are starting to reassess their cleaning protocols to ensure maximum health and safety for their renter communities in the Coronavirus era. Apartment managers and independent landlords are adapting with intensive cleaning methods required to guard...
The federal government passed the CARES Act on March 27, 2020, which provides a whopping 2 trillion dollars of economic stimulus to the US economy in response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to expand an earlier stimulus package. Included in the legislation are loans, some portion of...
Beware, Chicago Airbnb, HomeAway and VRBO tycoons, because the carefree days of operating an illegal Chicago vacation rental are over. In 2016 and 2017, Mayor Emanuel and the City Council amended the Municipal Code to better regulate and tax vacation rentals and shared housing units. Not only do...
