Bill Text: IL HB5550 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Creates the Summary of Rights for Safer Homes Act. Requires the Department of Human Rights to create a summary form advising tenants who have suffered domestic violence or sexual violence of the rights that they have under Illinois law that provide protection in their ability to have safe housing. Requires landlords to attach a copy of the summary as the first page of any written residential lease entered into with a tenant.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 19-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-04-18 - Referred to Assignments [HB5550 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB5550-Engrossed.html

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AN ACT concerning civil law.
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
Summary of Rights for Safer Homes Act.
Section 5. Legislative intent. The purpose of this Act is
to promote the State's interest in enabling more victims of
domestic or sexual violence and their families to become
timely aware of the existing housing protections they have
under 6 Illinois statutes and how to exercise their rights
under these statutes. By requiring that a summary of these
rights appear on page 1 of each residential lease, more
tenants will become timely aware of these rights and how to
exercise them. This will lead to safer homes and greater
financial security for more victims of domestic or sexual
violence and their families.
Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
"Domestic violence" means "abuse" as defined in Section
103 of the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986 by a "family
or household member" as defined in Section 103 of the Illinois
Domestic Violence Act of 1986.
"Landlord" means the owner of the building or the owner's

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agent for matters concerning the landlord's leasing of a
dwelling.
"Sexual violence" means any act of sexual assault, sexual
abuse, or stalking of an adult or minor child. This includes,
but is not limited to, non-consensual sexual conduct or
non-consensual sexual penetration as defined in the Civil No
Contact Order Act and the offense of stalking, aggravated
stalking, criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual
assault, predatory criminal sexual assault of a child,
criminal sexual abuse, and aggravated criminal sexual abuse as
those offenses are described in the Criminal Code of 2012.
"Tenant" means a person who has entered into a written
lease with a landlord in which the person is the lessee under
the lease.
Section 15. Summary of Illinois housing protections for
survivors of domestic violence and sexual violence and
acknowledgment of receipt of summary form.
(a) The Director of the Illinois Department of Human
Rights shall prepare a summary identifying the key rights and
remedies of tenants or household members of tenants who are
survivors of domestic violence or sexual violence under the
following 6 Illinois statutes: the Safe Homes Act; the
Eviction Article in the Code of Civil Procedure; the Illinois
Human Rights Act; and Section 8-201.6 of the Public Utilities
Act providing for the deferral of deposit for victims of

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domestic violence and ordinances that prohibit penalizing
tenants who contact police or other emergency services in
Section 1-2-1.5 of the Illinois Municipal Code and Section
5-1005.10 of the Counties Code. The Director shall make this
summary available for public inspection and copying no later
than 60 days after this bill becomes law.
(b) Space must be provided at the bottom of each page of
the summary that the tenant may sign as acknowledgment of the
tenant's receipt of the summary as attached to a paper version
of the lease or inserted into an electronic version of the
lease.
(c) The summary described in this Act shall be prepared in
consultation with Illinois domestic and sexual violence
service providers.
Section 20. Disclosure of summary to tenants and obtaining
acknowledgment of receipt. A landlord or a landlord's agent
shall attach a copy of the summary of this Act as the first
page of any written residential lease they enter into with a
tenant, including for a new rental or renewal, and obtain the
signature of each tenant in the acknowledgment of receipt at
the bottom of each page of the summary.
Section 25. Evidence of attachment of summary and delivery
of summary to tenants under written residential leases.
(a) The signature of the tenant at the bottom of each page

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of the summary described in this Act may simultaneously act as
evidence that the landlord fulfilled the obligations described
in this Act for that tenant.
(b) Failure of the landlord to provide the evidence
described in this Section creates a rebuttable presumption
that the landlord failed to comply with the landlord's
disclosure obligations in this Act.
Section 30. Failure to comply with the Act's requirements.
(a) A landlord who is found to have failed to comply with
the requirements of this Act for any tenant under a written
residential lease shall be liable to that tenant for the
greater of: (i) the tenant's actual damages, if any, not to
exceed $2,000 or (ii) $100.
(b) If a tenant brings a private right of action under this
Act and prevails in such action, the tenant shall also be
awarded all court costs and reasonable attorney's fees. There
is no requirement for the tenant to seek relief under this Act
through the Illinois Department of Human Rights.