HB4123ham001 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Martin J. Moylan

Filed: 3/27/2014

09800HB4123ham001 LRB098 15679 HEP 57724 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4123

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 4123 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 5. The Mobile Home Landlord and Tenant Rights Act is amended by changing Section 6, 6.5, 12, 18, and 21 and by adding Sections 6.6 and 6.7 as follows:

(765 ILCS 745/6) (from Ch. 80, par. 206)

Sec. 6. Obligation of Park Owner to Offer Written Lease. Except as provided in this Act, no person shall offer a mobile home or lot for rent or sale in a mobile home park without having first exhibited to the prospective tenant or purchaser a copy of the lease applicable to the respective mobile home park, unless the prospective tenant waives this right in writing.

(a) The park owner shall be required, on a date before the date on which the lease is signed, to offer to each present and future tenant a written lease for a term of not less than 24 months, unless the prospective tenant waives that right and the parties agree to a different term subject to existing leases which shall be continued pursuant to their terms.

(b) Tenants in possession on the effective date of this Act shall have 30 days after receipt of the offer for a written lease within which to accept or reject such offer; during which period, the rent may not be increased or any other terms and conditions changed, except as permitted under this Act; providing that if the tenant has not so elected he shall vacate within the 30 day period.

(c) The park owner shall notify his tenants in writing not later than 30 days after the effective date of this Act, that a written lease shall be available to the tenant and that such lease is being offered in compliance with and will conform to the requirements of this Act.

(d) The park owner shall give 90 days' notice of any rent increase and no rent increase shall go into effect until 90 days after the notice. Upon receipt of the notice of the rent increase, a tenant shall have 30 days in which to accept or reject the rent increase. If the tenant rejects the rent increase, the tenant must notify the park owner of the date on which the tenant will vacate the premises, which shall be a date before the effective date of the rent increase.

(e) The park owner may provide for a specified rent increase between the first and second years of the lease.

(f) The park owner may offer a month-to-month tenancy agreement option to a tenant not wishing to make a long-term commitment if the tenant signs a written statement acknowledging that the park owner offered the tenant a longer term lease but the tenant chose instead to agree to only a month-to-month tenancy agreement. If the tenant declines to sign either a lease or a statement acknowledging that a lease was offered, the park owner shall sign and deliver to the tenant a statement to that effect. Any month-to-month tenancy agreement must provide a minimum of 90 days' notice to the tenant before any rent increase is effective.

(g) A prospective tenant who executes a lease pursuant to this Section may cancel the lease by notifying the park owner in writing within 3 business days after the prospective tenant's execution of the lease, unless the prospective tenant waives in writing this right to cancel the lease or waives this right by taking possession of the mobile home or the lot. The park owner shall return any security deposit or rent paid by the prospective tenant within 10 days after receiving the written cancellation.

(h) The maximum amount that a park owner may recover as damages for a tenant's early termination of a lease is the amount due under the lease, less any offset or mitigation through a re-lease.

(i) A tenant in possession of a mobile home or lot who is not subject to a current lease on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly shall be offered a lease by the park owner within 90 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly. Tenants in possession on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly shall have 30 days after receipt of the offer for a written lease within which to accept or reject the offer, during which period the rent may not be increased or any other terms and conditions changed, except as permitted under this Act; provided that if the tenant has not so elected he or she shall vacate within the 30-day period.

(j) A written lease or month-to-month tenancy agreement under this Section is not terminated solely by:

(1) the filing by or against the park owner of a case or proceeding under Title 11 of the United States Code;

(2) the entry of a judgment or order against the park owner or involving the park property in a foreclosure proceeding brought by a creditor of the park owner; or

(3) the foreclosure of a property tax lien on the park property or sale of the park property for unpaid property taxes pursuant to Section 21-75 of the Property Tax Code.

(Source: P.A. 95-383, eff. 1-1-08.)

(765 ILCS 745/6.5)

Sec. 6.5. Disclosure. A park owner must disclose in writing the following with every lease or sale and upon renewal of a lease of a mobile home or lot in a mobile home park:

(1) the rent charged for the mobile home or lot in the past 5 years;

(2) the park owner's responsibilities with respect to the mobile home or lot;

(3) information regarding any fees imposed in addition to the base rent;

(4) information regarding late payments;

(5) information regarding any privilege tax that is applicable;

(6) information regarding security deposits, including the right to the return of security deposits and interest as provided in Section 18 of this Act; and

(7) information on a 3-year rent increase projection which includes the 2 years of the lease and the year immediately following. The basis for such rent increases may be a fixed amount, a "not to exceed" amount, a formula, an applicable index, or a combination of these methodologies as elected by the park owner. These increases may be in addition to all the non-controllable expenses including, but not limited to, property taxes, government assessments, utilities, and insurance; .

(8) the name, address, and telephone number of the community or park owner and any manager or designated agent for the manufactured home community or mobile home park;

(9) if the community or park owner has business headquarters off-site from the manufactured home community or mobile home park, the name, address, and telephone number of the community or park owner's business headquarters;

(10) the nature of the park owner's affiliation, if any, with the seller of any manufactured home that the tenant is purchasing for use on the lot that the tenant is to lease or the entity that is financing the purchase of the home; and

(11) information contained in the notice required under Section 6.7 of this Act.

The park owner must update the written disclosure at least once per year. The park owner must advise tenants who are renewing a lease of any changes in the disclosure from any prior disclosure. Within 10 days after the sale of a manufactured home community or mobile home park, the purchaser must provide written notice to each homeowner of the name, address, and telephone number of the new community or park owner, the name, address, and telephone number of the community or park owner's business headquarters, if located off-site from the manufactured home community or mobile home park, and any manager or designated agent for the manufactured home community or mobile home park.

(Source: P.A. 95-383, eff. 1-1-08.)

(765 ILCS 745/6.6 new)

Sec. 6.6. Notice of bankruptcy or foreclosure proceedings.

(a) If a bankruptcy case is commenced by or against a park owner by the filing of a voluntary or involuntary petition under Title 11 of the United States Code, if a receiver is appointed by a court of competent jurisdiction in a case filed by or against a park owner, or if a foreclosure proceeding is initiated against the park property by a creditor of the park owner, the park owner shall provide written notice of the commencement of the bankruptcy, receivership, or foreclosure to the tenant within 30 days of the commencement of the case or proceeding.

(b) If a trustee in bankruptcy, receiver, or foreclosing mortgagee contends that rent should be paid by the tenant to the trustee, receiver, or foreclosing mortgagee rather than to the park owner, the trustee, receiver, or foreclosing mortgagee shall provide written notice to the tenant with clear payment instructions at least 15 days before any rent payment is due.

(765 ILCS 745/6.7 new)

Sec. 6.7. Department of Public Health violations.

(a) A park owner shall provide notice of:

(1) any violations that have been cited by the Illinois Department of Public Health or by a local department of public health and that have not been rectified within the time period allotted by the citing authority; and

(2) any ongoing enforcement actions against the park.

(b) The notice required by this Section shall be posted in the office of the custodian of the park and on the park's Internet website if the park has an Internet website.

(765 ILCS 745/12) (from Ch. 80, par. 212)

Sec. 12. Lease prohibitions. No lease hereafter executed or currently existing between a park owner and tenant in a mobile home park in this State shall contain any provision:

(a) Permitting the park owner to charge a penalty fee for late payment of rent without allowing a tenant a minimum of 5 days beyond the date the rent is due in which to remit such payment;

(b) Permitting the park owner to charge an amount in excess of one month's rent as a security deposit;

(c) Requiring the tenant to pay any fees not specified in the lease;

(d) Permitting the park owner to transfer, or move, a mobile home to a different lot, including a different lot in the same mobile home park, during the term of the lease; .

(e) Waiving the tenant's right to a trial by jury.

(Source: P.A. 85-607.)

(765 ILCS 745/18) (from Ch. 80, par. 218)

Sec. 18. Security deposit; Interest.

(a) If the lease requires the tenant to provide any deposit with the park owner for the term of the lease, or any part thereof, said deposit shall be considered a Security Deposit. Security Deposits shall be returned in full to the tenant, provided that the tenant has paid all rent due in full for the term of the lease and has caused no actual damage to the premises.

The park owner shall furnish the tenant, within 15 days after termination or expiration of the lease, an itemized list of the damages incurred upon the premises and the estimated cost for the repair of each item. The tenant's failure to object to the itemized list within 15 days shall constitute an agreement upon the amount of damages specified therein. The park owner's failure to furnish such itemized list of damages shall constitute an agreement that no damages have been incurred upon the premises and the entire security deposit shall become immediately due and owing to the tenant.

The tenant's failure to furnish the park owner a forwarding address shall excuse the park owner from furnishing the list required by this Section.

(b) A park owner of any park regularly containing 25 or more mobile homes shall pay interest to the tenant, on any deposit held by the park owner, computed from the date of the deposit at a rate equal to the interest paid by the largest commercial bank, as measured by total assets, having its main banking premises in this State on minimum deposit passbook savings accounts as of December 31 of the preceding year on any such deposit held by the park owner for more than 6 months. However, in the event that any portion of the amount deposited is utilized during the period for which it is deposited in order to compensate the owner for non-payment of rent or to make a good faith reimbursement to the owner for damage caused by the tenant, the principal on which the interest accrues may be recomputed to reflect the reduction for the period commencing on the first day of the calendar month following the reduction.

The park owner shall, within 30 days after the end of each 12-month period, pay to the tenant any interest owed under this Section in cash, provided, however, that the amount owed may be applied to rent due if the owner and tenant agree thereto.

A park owner who willfully fails or refuses to pay the interest required by this Act shall, upon a finding by a circuit court that he willfully failed or refused to pay, be liable for an amount equal to the amount of the security deposit, together with court costs and a reasonable attorney's fee.

(c) A park owner shall hold in trust all security deposits received from a tenant in a federally insured interest-bearing account in a bank, savings and loan association, or other financial institution located in this State. A security deposit and the interest due thereon is the property of the tenant until the deposit is returned to the tenant or used to compensate the owner in accordance with this Section, shall not be commingled with the assets of the owner, and shall not be subject to the claims of any creditor of the owner or any party claiming an interest in the deposit through the owner, including a foreclosing mortgagee or trustee in bankruptcy.

(Source: P.A. 88-643, eff. 1-1-95.)

(765 ILCS 745/21) (from Ch. 80, par. 221)

Sec. 21. Remedies, Tenants. If the park owner fails to substantially conform to the lease agreement or fails to substantially comply with any code, statute, ordinance or regulation governing the operation of a mobile home park or the maintenance of the premises, the tenant may, on written notice to the park owner, terminate the lease and vacate the premises at any time during the first 30 days of occupancy. After the expiration of said 30 days the tenant may terminate the lease only if he has remained in possession in reliance upon the park owner's written promise to correct all or any part of the condition which would justify termination by the tenant under this Section.

Any condition which deprives the tenant of substantial benefit and enjoyment which the park owner shall fail to remedy within 30 days after having received notice in writing of such condition shall constitute grounds for the tenant to terminate the lease and vacate the premises. No such notice shall be required where the condition renders the mobile home uninhabitable or poses an imminent threat to the health, welfare and safety of any occupant.

If such condition was proximately caused by the willful or negligent act or omission of the park owner, the tenant may recover any damages sustained as a result of the condition including, but not limited to, reasonable expenditures necessary to obtain adequate substitute housing while the mobile home is uninhabitable.

The tenant may sue to enforce all Sections of this Act and the court may award damages or grant any injunctive or other relief.

The court shall award reasonable attorney's fees and costs to a prevailing tenant. The parties have the right to a trial by jury on any claims seeking damages.

(Source: P.A. 81-1509.)".