Bill Amendment: IL HB1569 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly
NOTE: For additional amemendments please see the Bill Drafting List
Bill Title: EVICT-IMPOUND FILE-DISMISSAL
Status: 2023-03-27 - House Floor Amendment No. 2 Rule 19(c) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB1569 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2023-HB1569-House_Amendment_001.html
Bill Title: EVICT-IMPOUND FILE-DISMISSAL
Status: 2023-03-27 - House Floor Amendment No. 2 Rule 19(c) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB1569 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2023-HB1569-House_Amendment_001.html
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1 | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1569
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2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1569 by replacing | ||||||
3 | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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4 | "Section 5. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by | ||||||
5 | changing Section 9-121 and by adding Section 9-123 as follows:
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6 | (735 ILCS 5/9-121) | ||||||
7 | Sec. 9-121. Impounding Sealing of court file. | ||||||
8 | (a) Definition. As used in this Section : , | ||||||
9 | "Court "court file"
means the court file created when an | ||||||
10 | eviction
action is filed with the court. | ||||||
11 | "Impound" and "impoundment" have the same meaning as
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12 | "impounded" under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 8, as now or | ||||||
13 | hereafter amended. | ||||||
14 | "Seal" and "sealing", as previously used in this Act, have
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15 | the same meaning as "impounded" under Illinois Supreme Court
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16 | Rule 8, as now or hereafter amended. |
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1 | (b) Discretionary sealing of court file. The court may
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2 | order that a court file in an eviction action
be placed under | ||||||
3 | seal if the court finds that the plaintiff's
action is | ||||||
4 | sufficiently without a basis in fact or law, which
may include | ||||||
5 | a lack of jurisdiction, that placing the court file
under seal | ||||||
6 | is clearly in the interests of justice, or and that the | ||||||
7 | interests of justice
those interests are not outweighed by the | ||||||
8 | public's interest in
knowing about the record. | ||||||
9 | (c) Mandatory impoundment sealing of court file. The court | ||||||
10 | file relating to an eviction action brought against a tenant | ||||||
11 | under Section 9-207.5 of this Code or as set forth in | ||||||
12 | subdivision (h)(6) of Section 15-1701 of this Code shall be | ||||||
13 | impounded placed under seal . | ||||||
14 | (d) In any residential eviction filed 7 or more years | ||||||
15 | prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd | ||||||
16 | General Assembly, the court shall order the court file | ||||||
17 | impounded regardless of the disposition of the case. | ||||||
18 | Thereafter, the court shall undertake a yearly review of all | ||||||
19 | eviction court files and order the court file impounded if the | ||||||
20 | case was filed 7 years prior to that review regardless of the | ||||||
21 | disposition of the case. This Section is operative on and | ||||||
22 | after August 1, 2022.
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23 | (e) Except as provided in subsection (g), any person who | ||||||
24 | disseminates a sealed or impounded court file under
this | ||||||
25 | Section, or the information contained therein, for
commercial | ||||||
26 | purposes shall be liable for a civil penalty of
$2,000 or twice |
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1 | the actual and consequential damages
sustained, whichever is | ||||||
2 | greater, as well as the costs of the
action, including | ||||||
3 | reasonable attorney's fees. A landlord providing or receiving | ||||||
4 | an individual reference about a prospective tenant is not | ||||||
5 | considered a commercial purpose and is not subject to the | ||||||
6 | penalty identified in this subsection. | ||||||
7 | (f) The Attorney General may enforce a violation of this | ||||||
8 | Section as an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and | ||||||
9 | Deceptive Business Practices Act. All remedies, penalties, and | ||||||
10 | authority granted to the Attorney General by the Consumer | ||||||
11 | Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act shall be available | ||||||
12 | to the Attorney General for the enforcement of this Section. | ||||||
13 | (g) Nothing in this Section prohibits a landlord from | ||||||
14 | receiving a reference from a previous landlord of a | ||||||
15 | prospective tenant. Nothing in this Section prohibits a | ||||||
16 | landlord form providing a reference for a previous or current | ||||||
17 | tenant to a prospective landlord of that tenant. | ||||||
18 | (Source: P.A. 102-5, eff. 5-17-21.)
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19 | (735 ILCS 5/9-123 new) | ||||||
20 | Sec. 9-123. Notice and dismissal for failure to prosecute | ||||||
21 | after 365 days. | ||||||
22 | (a) If, at any time after the filing of an eviction action, | ||||||
23 | the plaintiff has not further prosecuted the case for a period | ||||||
24 | of 365 days, the court shall send to the parties written | ||||||
25 | notice: |
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1 | (1) informing the parties of the date of the most | ||||||
2 | recent action taken by the plaintiff in the case; and | ||||||
3 | (2) directing the plaintiff to take one of the | ||||||
4 | following actions not later than 10 business days after | ||||||
5 | the date of the notice: | ||||||
6 | (A) further prosecute the case; or | ||||||
7 | (B) dismiss the case. | ||||||
8 | (b) If the plaintiff fails to take an action described in | ||||||
9 | paragraph (2) of subsection (a) within the time prescribed by | ||||||
10 | paragraph (2) of subsection (a): | ||||||
11 | (1) the defendant in the eviction action may file a | ||||||
12 | motion with the court to dismiss the case; or | ||||||
13 | (2) the court, on the court's own motion, may dismiss | ||||||
14 | the case. | ||||||
15 | If the court dismisses the case under this subsection on | ||||||
16 | or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd | ||||||
17 | General Assembly, the court, in conjunction with its order of | ||||||
18 | dismissal, shall issue an order impounding the court file in | ||||||
19 | accordance with paragraph (2) of subsection (b) of Section | ||||||
20 | 9-121 without further motion of the defendant. | ||||||
21 | (c) The form of the notice described in subsection (a) may | ||||||
22 | be developed by each judicial circuit in accordance with its | ||||||
23 | practice or the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts | ||||||
24 | may develop a standardized form. | ||||||
25 | (d) A judicial circuit, in its discretionary control over | ||||||
26 | its records, may adopt a rule to follow this procedure in a |
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1 | shorter amount of time than 365 days.
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2 | Section 10. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business | ||||||
3 | Practices Act is amended by adding Section 2z.6 as follows:
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4 | (815 ILCS 505/2z.6 new) | ||||||
5 | Sec. 2z.6. Dissemination of a sealed or impounded court | ||||||
6 | file. A private entity or person that violates Section 9-121 | ||||||
7 | of the Code of Civil Procedure commits an unlawful practice | ||||||
8 | within the meaning of this Act. ".
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