Rep. Mary E. Flowers

Filed: 3/23/2015

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2758

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2758 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The Housing Authorities Act is amended by
5changing Section 25 as follows:
 
6    (310 ILCS 10/25)   (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 25)
7    Sec. 25. Rentals and tenant selection. In the operation or
8management of housing projects an Authority shall at all times
9observe the following duties with respect to rentals and tenant
10selection:
11    (a) It shall not accept any person as a tenant in any
12dwelling in a housing project if the persons who would occupy
13the dwelling have an aggregate annual income which equals or
14exceeds the amount which the Authority determines (which
15determination shall be conclusive) to be necessary in order to
16enable such persons to secure safe, sanitary and uncongested

 

 

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1dwelling accommodations within the area of operation of the
2Authority and to provide an adequate standard of living for
3themselves.
4    (b) It may rent or lease the dwelling accommodations
5therein only at rentals within the financial reach of persons
6who lack the amount of income which it determines (pursuant to
7(a) of this Section) to be necessary in order to obtain safe,
8sanitary and uncongested dwelling accommodations within the
9area of operation of the Authority and to provide an adequate
10standard of living.
11    (c) It may rent or lease to a tenant a dwelling consisting
12of the number of rooms (but no greater number) which it deems
13necessary to provide safe and sanitary accommodations to the
14proposed occupants thereof, without overcrowding.
15    (d) It shall not change the residency preference of any
16prospective tenant once the application has been accepted by
17the authority.
18    (e) It may refuse to certify or recertify applicants,
19current tenants, or other household members if, after due
20notice and an impartial hearing, that person or any of the
21proposed occupants of the dwelling has, prior to or during a
22term of tenancy or occupancy in any housing project operated by
23an Authority, been convicted of a criminal offense relating to
24the sale or distribution of controlled substances under the
25laws of this State, the United States or any other state. If an
26Authority desires a criminal history records check of all 50

 

 

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1states or a 50-state confirmation of a conviction record, the
2Authority shall submit the fingerprints of the relevant
3applicant, tenant, or other household member to the Department
4of State Police in a manner prescribed by the Department of
5State Police. These fingerprints shall be checked against the
6fingerprint records now and hereafter filed in the Department
7of State Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal
8history records databases. The Department of State Police shall
9charge a fee for conducting the criminal history records check,
10which shall be deposited in the State Police Services Fund and
11shall not exceed the actual cost of the records check. The
12Department of State Police shall furnish pursuant to positive
13identification, records of conviction to the Authority. Prior
14to refusing to certify or recertify an applicant, current
15tenant, or other household member pursuant to this subsection,
16the Authority shall make an individualized assessment and
17determine whether it is reasonable to conclude that the
18applicant, current tenant, or other household member would
19constitute a threat to those in the community where the
20applicant, current tenant, or other household member would
21reside; or whether it is reasonable to conclude that the
22applicant, current tenant, or other household member would
23otherwise engage in other unlawful activities in that
24community. During the individualized assessment, the Authority
25shall consider all mitigating circumstances, including, but
26not limited to: the nature of the crime; the time elapsed

 

 

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1between the date of conviction and the date of certification or
2recertification; the applicant's, tenant's, or other household
3member's background; the incentive to litigate the criminal
4matter; and any evidence demonstrating rehabilitation. The
5Authority shall provide notice to the applicant, current
6tenant, or other household member that he or she may be denied
7certification or recertification because of a criminal
8conviction and that he or she has the right to an impartial
9hearing to demonstrate that he or she should not be denied
10certification or recertification because of his or her
11particular circumstances.
12    (f) It may, if a tenant has created or maintained a threat
13constituting a serious and clear danger to the health or safety
14of other tenants or Authority employees, after 3 days' written
15notice of termination and without a hearing, file suit against
16any such tenant for recovery of possession of the premises. The
17tenant shall be given the opportunity to contest the
18termination in the court proceedings. A serious and clear
19danger to the health or safety of other tenants or Authority
20employees shall include, but not be limited to, any of the
21following activities of the tenant or of any other person on
22the premises with the consent of the tenant:
23        (1) Physical assault or the threat of physical assault.
24        (2) Illegal use of a firearm or other weapon or the
25    threat to use in an illegal manner a firearm or other
26    weapon.

 

 

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1        (3) Possession of a controlled substance by the tenant
2    or any other person on the premises with the consent of the
3    tenant if the tenant knew or should have known of the
4    possession by the other person of a controlled substance,
5    unless the controlled substance was obtained directly from
6    or pursuant to a valid prescription.
7        (4) Streetgang membership as defined in the Illinois
8    Streetgang Terrorism Omnibus Prevention Act.
9    The management of low-rent public housing projects
10financed and developed under the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 shall
11be in accordance with that Act.
12    Nothing contained in this Section or any other Section of
13this Act shall be construed as limiting the power of an
14Authority to vest in a bondholder or trustee the right, in the
15event of a default by the Authority, to take possession and
16operate a housing project or cause the appointment of a
17receiver thereof, free from all restrictions imposed by this
18Section or any other Section of this Act.
19(Source: P.A. 93-418, eff. 1-1-04; 93-749, eff. 7-15-04.)".