Chicago’s Protecting Renters Ordinance Advances After Key Changes

Chicago’s Protecting Renters Ordinance passed the city council’s Committee on Housing and Real Estate. The committee passed the ordinance by a slim 12-9 vote after amending key provisions of the controversial ordinance.

The Protecting Renter Ordinance that passed committee removed the controversial ‘just cause’ provision in the original ordinance. The just cause provision states that a landlord may refuse to renew or terminate a lease when the landlord has ‘just cause,’ such as nonpayment of rent, a lease violation, owner occupancy, taking the unit off the market, or substantial rehabilitation. When a landlord elects not to renew a lease without ‘just cause’, the landlord must pay relocation assistance (up to three months’ rent) to the tenant.

The Protecting Renters Ordinance that passed committee kept language limiting security deposits to one month’s rent and eliminating non-refundable move-in fees. It also establishes the Office of Housing Stability, which will help renters and landlords understand their rights and obligations, document tenant complaints against landlords, and offer mediation services.

“At this time, I can’t support it only because there’s still more work to be done,” Alderman Villegas told the committee on Wednesday. ”

“This vote represented a mistaken impulse to layer costs and burdens on the buildings that house the working families of Chicago’s neighborhoods,” said Michael Glasser, who leads the Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance.

The Protecting Renters Ordinance still needs to pass the Chicago City Council.

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