Financial Services Law Developments: FYI: Chicago City Council Passes Ordinance Affecting Tenants in Foreclosed Properties

Saturday, June 8, 2013

FYI: Chicago City Council Passes Ordinance Affecting Tenants in Foreclosed Properties

The City Council of the City of Chicago enacted a new "Keep Chicago Renting" Ordinance that, among other things:

(1) Requires a new notice provided in 4 different languages to tenants in foreclosed properties; and

(2) Requires that a $10,600 "relocation fee" be paid to tenants in foreclosed properties, unless the foreclosure buyer renews or extends the tenant's current rental agreement at no more than 102%of the existing lease rate; and

(3) Requires registration requirements as to foreclosed rental property, with a $250 registration fee per property;

(4) Provides a private right of action for violation of the notice and "relocation fee" provisions, with attorneys fees to the "prevailing plaintiff;" and

(5) Additional penalties to be enforced by the City.

The new Ordinance takes effect "90 days after its passage and publication," which should be September 5, 2013.

A copy of the text of Ordinance is available at: Ordinance Text

The Chicago Mayor's press release as to the new Ordinance is available at: Press Release

The new Ordinance does not apply, among other things, to:

(a) Pre-existing REO owners; or

(b) Purchasers who are not the mortgagee, or a "subsidiary, parent, trustee, nominee, agent or assignee" of the mortgagee; or

(c) Leases that are with the mortgagor or an immediate family member of the mortgagor, and leases that allow "substantially less than fair market rent for the property, or the rental unit's rent is reduced or subsidized due to a government subsidy."

Ralph T. Wutscher
McGinnis Wutscher Beiramee LLP
The Loop Center Building
105 W. Madison Street, 18th Floor
Chicago, Illinois 60602
Direct: (312) 551-9320
Fax: (312) 284-4751
Mobile: (312) 493-0874
Email: RWutscher@mwbllp.com

Admitted to practice law in Illinois

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The Editor's Bio

Ralph T. Wutscher
Maurice Wutscher LLP
20 N. Clark Street, 33rd Floor
Chicago, Illinois 60602
Direct: (312) 493-0874
RWutscher@MauriceWutscher.com
https://www.MauriceWutscher.com/

Ralph Wutscher's practice focuses primarily on representing depository and non-depository mortgage lenders and servicers, as well as mortgage loan investors, distressed asset buyers and sellers, loss mitigation companies, automobile and other personal property secured lenders and finance companies, credit card and other unsecured lenders, and other consumer financial services providers. He represents the consumer lending industry as a litigator, and as regulatory compliance counsel.

Ralph has substantial experience in defending private consumer finance lawsuits, including cases ranging from large interstate putative class actions to localized single-asset cases, as well as in responding to regulatory investigations and other governmental proceedings. His litigation successes include not only victories at the trial court level, but also on appeal, and in various jurisdictions. He has successfully defended numerous putative class actions asserting violations of a wide range of federal and state consumer protection statutes. He is frequently consulted to assist other law firms in developing or improving litigation strategies in cases filed around the country.

Ralph also has substantial experience in counseling clients regarding their compliance with federal laws, and with state and local laws primarily of the Midwestern United States. For example, he regularly provides assistance in connection with portfolio or program audits, consumer lending disclosure issues, the design and implementation of marketing and advertising campaigns, licensing and reporting issues, compliance with usury laws and other limitations on pricing, compliance with state and local “predatory lending” laws, drafting or obtaining opinion letters on a single- or multi-state basis, interstate branching and loan production office licensing, evaluations and modifications of new or existing products and procedures, debt collection and servicing practices, proper methods of responding to consumer inquiries and furnishing consumer information, as well as proposed or existing arrangements with settlement service providers and other vendors, and the implementation of procedural or other operational changes following developments in the law.

Ralph is a member of the Governing Committee of the Conference on Consumer Finance Law. He is also the immediate past Chair of the Preemption and Federalism Subcommittee for the ABA's Consumer Financial Services Committee. He served on the Law Committee for the former National Home Equity Mortgage Association, and completed two terms as Co-Chair of the Consumer Credit Committee of the Chicago Bar Association.

Ralph received his Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law, and his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). He is a member of the national Mortgage Bankers Association, the American Bankers Association, the Conference on Consumer Finance Law, DBA International, the ACA International Members Attorney Program, as well as the American and Chicago Bar Associations.

Ralph is admitted to practice in Illinois, as well as in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the United States District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Illinois, and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, and has been admitted pro hac vice in various jurisdictions around the country.