Commercial Banking, Collections, and Bankruptcy

(Barickman, R-Pontiac; LaHood, R-Dunlap) amends the Security Deposit Return Act to allow a lessor of five or more units to send an itemized statement of damage and repair costs to the lessee by electronic mail to a verified electronic mail address provided by the lessee. Passed both chambers.

(Silverstein, D-Chicago; Mautino, D-Spring Valley) is a cleanup of the statutes that authorize organizing as a business entity under Illinois law. (1) It provides consistency between the various business entity acts by authorizing filings previously missing from the Acts, particularly the Uniform Partnership Act and Uniform Limited Partnership Act and by standardizing the filing fees. (2) Allows for electronic filing of documents and reports. (3) Establishes procedures for reinstatement of limited liability partnership status. (4) Provides the manner for resignation as agent for service of process and the method of service. (5) Revises the manner by which administrative dissolution, revocation, and reinstatement is accomplished. Passed both chambers.

(Nekritz, D-Des Plaines; Garrett, D-Lake Forest) authorizes easements for high-speed Internet to the existing easement for cable television. Passed both chambers.

(Zalewski, D-Chicago; Harmon, D-Oak Park) amends the Secured Transactions Article of the Uniform Commercial Code. It provides that a person may not cause to be filed a false record the person knows or reasonably should know is (1) not authorized or permitted under specified provisions; (2) not related to a valid existing or potential commercial or financial transaction, an existing agricultural or other lien, or a judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction; and (3) filed with the intent to harass or defraud the person identified as debtor in the record or any other person. Creates criminal and civil penalties and administrative relief from the Secretary of State. Exempts records filed by a regulated financial institution or its representative. Passed both chambers.

(Harmon, D-Oak Park; Zalewski, D-Chicago) conforms Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code to the 2010 amendments as proposed by the Uniform Law Commission. Passed both chambers. (See the June Illinois Bar Journal article by Michelle Nijm that discusses this bill in more detail.)

(McAsey, D-Lockport; Collins, D-Chicago) creates the Radon Resistant Construction Act. It requires all new residential construction include passive radon resistant construction. “New residential construction” is any original construction of a single-family home or a dwelling containing two or fewer apartments, condominiums, or townhouse. “Passive radon resistant construction” includes an installed pipe that relies solely on the convective flow of air upward for soil-gas depressurization and may consist of multiple pipes routed through conditioned space from below the foundation to above the roof. Passed both chambers.

(Althoff, R-Crystal Lake; Tyron, R-Crystal Lake) requires work to be done or materials furnished within three years for residential property and five years for any other kind of property. Senate Bill 3792 sunsets on January 1, 2016, and the limitation then reverts to three years for any kind of property at that time. Passed both chambers.

(Williams, D-Chicago; Haine, D-Alton) makes three changes to citations and body attachments. (1) Requires a citation to be served by personal service or abode service as provided in Supreme Court Rule 105 attaching a copy of the statutory Income and Asset Form created by this bill. (2) Prohibits a payment order from being issued against a person unless the form was served on the debtor, the debtor has an opportunity to assert exemptions, and the payments are from nonexempt sources. (3) No order of body attachment or other civil order for the incarceration may be issued for a respondent on a charge of indirect civil contempt unless the respondent has first had an opportunity to appear in court to answer after personal service or abode service of notice as provided in Section 2-203. Exempts enforcement for a violation of a municipal ordinance. Passed both chambers. (See the June Illinois Bar Journal article by Adam Lasker that discusses this bill in more detail.)