HB4715 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB094 15382 AJO 50573 b

94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006
HB4715

Introduced 1/12/2006, by Rep. Robin Kelly

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act

Creates the Safe Homes Act. Provides that a victim of domestic violence or sexual violence has certain rights with respect to the victim's dwelling unit. Provides that, depending upon the circumstances, the victim can obtain relief that includes: requiring that the landlord change the locks, allowing the victim to change the locks if the landlord does not act, terminating the lease, and imposing penalties on a landlord for certain violations. Provides definitions. Places obligations on landlords, tenants, and perpetrators of domestic or sexual violence. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning housing.

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 Safe Homes Act.

Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds and declares the following:

(1) Domestic and sexual violence affect many persons without regard to age, race, education, socioeconomic status, religion, or occupation.

(2) Domestic and sexual violence have a devastating effect on individuals, families, and communities.

(3) Domestic violence crimes account for approximately 15% of total crime costs in the United States each year.

(4) Violence against women has been reported to be the leading cause of physical injury to women. This violence has a devastating impact on women's physical and emotional health.

(5) According to recent government surveys, from 1993 through 1998 the average annual number of violent victimizations committed by intimate partners of the victim was 1,082,110 and 87% of those were committed against women.

(6) Female murder victims were substantially more likely than male murder victims to have been killed by an intimate partner. About one-third of female murder victims, and about 4% of male murder victims, were killed by an intimate partner.

(7) According to recent government estimates, approximately 987,400 rapes occur annually in the United States and 89% of the rapes are perpetrated against female victims.

(8) One out of every 7 adult women, or more than 670,000 in Illinois, has been the victim of a forcible rape sometime in her lifetime.

(9) In a survey of 600 women and men ages 16-24, 60% of the respondents stated that they know a woman who has been sexually assaulted.

(10) Eighty percent of women who are raped are raped by acquaintances.

(11) Approximately 10,200,000 people have been stalked at some time in their lives. Four out of every 5 stalking victims are women. Stalkers harass and terrorize their victims by spying on the victims, standing outside their homes or work places, making unwanted phone calls, sending or leaving unwanted letters or items, or vandalizing property.

(12) Too often, victims of domestic and sexual violence suffer not only physical and emotional abuse, but also the devastation of being displaced from their homes because of violence.

(13) The loss of a victim's home can, in turn, result in the loss of employment, public benefits, and even the custody of children.

(14) The problem is compounded by the fact that victims of domestic and sexual violence are discriminated against when attempting to access safe housing, make their current housing more safe, or flee existing housing. Additionally, victims of domestic and sexual violence are often evicted because of the abuse that they have suffered.

(15) There is a strong link between domestic violence and homelessness. Among cities surveyed, 44% identified domestic violence as a primary cause of homelessness.

(16) Ninety-two percent of homeless women have experienced severe physical or sexual abuse at some point in their lives. Of all homeless women and children, 60% had been abused by age 12, and 63% have been victims of intimate partner violence as adults.

(17) Women who leave their abusers frequently lack adequate emergency shelter options and this makes their decisions concerning leaving their dwelling places more difficult.

(18) Victims of domestic violence often return to abusive partners because they cannot find long-term housing.

(19) Because abusers frequently manipulate their victims' finances in an effort to control their partners, victims often lack a steady income, a credit history, landlord references, and a current address, all of which are necessary to obtain long-term permanent housing.

(20) Victims of domestic and sexual violence in rural areas face additional barriers, challenges, and unique circumstances, such as geographic isolation, poverty, lack of public transportation systems, shortage of health care providers, and decreased access to safe housing resources.

(21) The U.S. Congress has recognized the severity of this problem. In its Conference report accompanying the FY 2002 HUD appropriations bill, Congress urged HUD to "develop plans to protect victims of domestic violence from being discriminated against in receiving or maintaining public housing because of their victimization." H.R. REP. No. 107-272, at 120 (2001).

Section 10. Purposes. The purposes of this Act are:

(1) To promote the State's interest in reducing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking by enabling victims of domestic or sexual violence and their families to access or maintain safe housing or flee existing dangerous housing in order to leave violent or abusive situations, achieve safety, and minimize the physical and emotional injuries from domestic or sexual violence, and to reduce the devastating economic consequences to the State and victims.

(2) To address the failure of existing laws to protect the housing rights of victims of domestic or sexual violence, as well as family or household members affected by the violence.

(3) To accomplish the purposes described in paragraphs (1) and (2) by providing victims of domestic or sexual violence and their families with options to access or maintain safe housing or to flee dangerous housing.

Section 15. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act:

"Domestic violence" means one or more acts or threats of violence, not including acts of self defense or defense of another, and all behaviors defined in Section 103 of the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986.

"Landlord" and "tenant" have the definitions stated in Section 1.1 of the Rental Property Utility Service Act.

"Perpetrator" means an individual who commits or is alleged to have committed or threatened any act of domestic or sexual violence.

"Protected applicant" means a person who makes application to the landlord of a building or mobile home to become an occupant in the building or mobile home, whether under a lease or periodic tenancy, who has been subjected to any act or threat of domestic or sexual violence. A perpetrator is not considered a protected applicant.

"Protected household member" means any member of a household who has been subjected to any act or threat of domestic or sexual violence, including but not limited to: any minor child, any dependant adult, and any other person residing with a victim of domestic or sexual violence. A perpetrator is not considered a protected household member.

"Protected tenant" means an occupant of a building or mobile home, whether under a lease or periodic tenancy, who has been subjected to any act or threat of domestic or sexual violence, including but not limited to a tenant residing with a victim of domestic or sexual violence. A perpetrator is not considered a protected tenant.

"Sexual violence" means any act or threat of sexual assault, abuse, or stalking of an adult or minor child including, but not limited to, non-consensual sexual conduct or non-consensual sexual penetration as defined in the Civil No Contact Order Act and offenses of stalking, aggravated stalking, cyberstalking, criminal sexual assault, predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, criminal sexual abuse, and aggravated criminal sexual abuse as these offenses are described in the Criminal Code of 1961, including sexual violence committed by perpetrators who are strangers to the victim and sexual violence committed by perpetrators who are known or related by blood, marriage, or law to the victim.

"Victim" means an individual who has been subjected to any act or threat of domestic or sexual violence. A perpetrator is not considered a victim.

Section 20. Victim protection; nondiscrimination. A landlord shall not terminate a tenancy, fail to renew a tenancy, refuse to enter into a rental agreement, retaliate, or otherwise interfere in the rental of a dwelling based on: (i) the protected tenant, the protected applicant, or a protected household member's status as a victim of domestic violence or sexual violence; or (ii) the protected tenant or protected applicant having terminated a rental agreement under Section 30. Evidence provided to the landlord of domestic violence or sexual violence may include any one of the following:

(1) a statement of the protected tenant, protected applicant, or protected household member;

(2) a statement from a person other than the protected tenant, protected applicant, or protected household member who has knowledge of the resident's history as a victim of domestic or sexual violence;

(3) a statement from an employee, agent, or volunteer of a victim services, domestic violence, or rape crisis organization from whom the protected tenant, protected applicant, or protected household member has sought services;

(4) a statement from an attorney, medial professional, member of the clergy, or other professional from whom the protected tenant, protected applicant, or protected household member has sought assistance in addressing domestic or sexual violence;

(5) court, police, medical, or other corroborating evidence of domestic or sexual violence; or

(6) any other evidence of domestic or sexual violence.

Section 25. Victim protection; change of locks and right to possession.

(a) If the perpetrator of domestic violence or sexual violence is not a leaseholder in the same dwelling unit as the victim, a protected tenant of the dwelling unit may give oral or written notice to the landlord that a protected household member is a victim of domestic violence or sexual violence and may request that the locks to the dwelling unit be changed. The landlord shall not consider this notice evidence of a lease violation. A protected tenant is not required to provide documentation of the domestic violence or sexual violence to initiate the changing of the locks, pursuant to this subsection. A landlord who receives a request under this subsection shall, within 48 hours, change the locks to the protected tenant's dwelling unit or give the protected tenant permission to change the locks within 48 hours.

(b) If the perpetrator of the domestic violence or sexual violence is a leaseholder in the same dwelling unit as the victim, a protected tenant of the dwelling unit may give oral or written notice to the landlord that a protected household member is a victim of domestic or sexual violence and may request that the locks to the dwelling unit be changed. In these circumstances, the following shall apply:

(1) Before the landlord or protected tenant changes the locks under this subsection, the landlord may require a copy of an order issued by a court, including but not limited to an Order Of Protection pursuant to the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986 or Article 112A of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963.

(2) Unless a court order allows the perpetrator to return to the dwelling unit to retrieve personal belongings, the landlord has no duty under the rental agreement or by law to allow the perpetrator access to the dwelling unit, to provide keys to the perpetrator, or to provide the perpetrator access to the perpetrator's personal property within the dwelling unit once the landlord has been provided with a court order. If a landlord complies with this Section, the landlord is not liable for civil damages to a perpetrator excluded from the dwelling unit for loss of use of the dwelling unit or loss of use or damage to the perpetrator's personal property.

(3) The perpetrator who has been excluded from the dwelling unit under this subsection remains liable under the lease with any other tenant of the dwelling unit for rent or damages to the dwelling unit.

(4) A landlord who receives a request under this subsection shall, within 72 hours, change the locks to the dwelling unit or give the protected tenant permission to change the locks.

(c) If the landlord charges a fee for the expense of changing the locks, that fee must not exceed the reasonable price customarily charged for the repair.

(d) If a landlord fails to act within the required time pursuant to subsection (a) or (b), the protected tenant may change the locks without the landlord's permission. If the protected tenant changes the locks, the protected tenant shall give a key to the new locks to the landlord within 48 hours of the locks being changed.

Section 30. Early termination of rental agreement by victims of domestic violence or sexual violence.

(a) Any protected tenant who is a victim of domestic or sexual violence or whose dwelling unit contains protected household members who are victims of domestic or sexual violence may terminate his or her rental agreement for a dwelling unit by providing the landlord with a written notice of termination to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 30 days after the landlord's receipt of the notice. The notice to the landlord shall be accompanied by any one of the types of evidence of domestic or sexual violence presented by the protected tenant as set forth in Section 20.

(b) Upon termination of a rental agreement under this Section, if the perpetrator is not a tenant in the same dwelling unit, the protected tenant who is released from a rental agreement pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section is liable for the rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination and payable at the time that would have been required by the terms of the rental agreement. If the perpetrator is a tenant in the same dwelling unit, the perpetrator is liable for the protected tenant's rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination and payable at the time that would have been required by the terms of the rental agreement. The protected tenant is not liable for any other rent or fees due only to the early termination of the tenancy. If, pursuant to this Section, a protected tenant or applicant terminates the rental agreement 14 days or more before occupancy, the protected tenant or applicant is not subject to any damages or penalties.

(c) Notwithstanding the release of a protected tenant from a rental agreement under subsection (a) of this Section, or the exclusion of a perpetrator of domestic or sexual violence by court order if the perpetrator is a tenant in the same dwelling unit, if there are any remaining tenants residing in the dwelling unit, the tenancy shall continue for those tenants if they so desire. The perpetrator who is a tenant in the same dwelling unit remains liable under the lease with any other tenant of the dwelling unit for rent or damages to the dwelling unit.

Section 35. Right of possession to non-leaseholder victim of domestic or sexual violence. If the perpetrator of the domestic violence or sexual violence is a tenant in the same dwelling unit as the victim and has possession of the dwelling unit, any adult or emancipated protected household member of that dwelling unit may give oral or written notice to the landlord that a protected household member is a victim of domestic or sexual violence and request that the protected household member be given possession of the dwelling unit and become the primary leaseholder. The landlord may require that the protected household member provide the landlord with a copy of an order issued by a court, including but not limited to an Order Of Protection pursuant to the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986 or Article 112A of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. If a landlord complies with this Section, the landlord is not liable for civil damages to a perpetrator excluded from the dwelling unit for loss of possession, the use of the dwelling unit, or loss of use or damage to the perpetrator's personal property.

Section 40. Right to vacate following domestic or sexual violence.

(a) A protected tenant may terminate her or his rights and obligations under a lease and may vacate the dwelling unit and avoid liability for future rent and any other sums due under the lease for terminating the lease and vacating the dwelling unit before the end of the lease term, if the protected tenant complies with subsection (c) of Section 30 and provides the landlord or the landlord's agent with notice that the protected tenant or a protected household member is the victim of domestic or sexual violence and that in order to maintain her or his personal safety she or he must vacate the dwelling.

(b) A protected tenant may exercise the right to terminate the lease under subsection (b) of Section 30, and vacate the dwelling before the end of the lease term, beginning on the date after all of the following events have occurred:

(1) the protected tenant has delivered a copy of the notice to the landlord; and

(2) the protected tenant has vacated the dwelling unit.

(c) If the perpetrator was not a tenant in the same dwelling unit as the protected tenant, this Section does not affect a protected tenant's liability for unpaid rent owed to the landlord before the lease was terminated by the protected tenant under this Section. The perpetrator, however, shall be liable for all charges related to the domestic or sexual violence, including but not limited to damage to property.

(d) If the perpetrator is a tenant in the same dwelling unit as the protected tenant, the perpetrator is liable for all unpaid rent or other sums owed to the landlord before the lease was terminated by the protected tenant. The perpetrator shall also be liable for all charges related to the domestic or sexual violence, including but not limited to damage to property.

(e) A landlord who is found by a court to have violated this Act is liable to the protected tenant for actual damages, an additional amount equal to the amount of one month's rent plus $500, and the tenant's attorney's fees.

Section 45. Effect on other laws.

(a) More protective laws. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to supersede any provision of any federal, State, or local law that provides greater protections for victims of domestic or sexual violence than the rights established under this Act.

(b) Less protective laws. The rights established for victims of domestic or sexual violence under this Act shall not be diminished by any State or local law.

Section 50. Prohibition on Waiver or Modification. Sections 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, and 45 may not be waived or modified by an agreement of the parties.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.