Construction Law

(Ford, D-Chicago; Castro, D-Elgin) create a three-year pilot program that allows the recorder of deeds to establish an administrative law process to adjudicate expired mechanic’s liens that have been recorded but not litigated or released under the Mechanics Lien Act.

Effective January 1, 2019.

(Mulroe, D-Chicago; Martwick, D-Chicago) amends the Code of Civil Procedure to provide that the court’s jurisdiction is not affected by a technical error in format of a summons if the summons has been issued by a clerk of the court, the person or entity to be served is identified as a defendant on the summons, and the summons is properly served.

Actions for the recovery of real property following a foreclosure must be brought within two years after possession is taken. If a petition is filed to reopen a foreclosure proceeding, the purchaser or successor purchaser is entitled to remain in possession of the property until the foreclosure action is defeated or the previously foreclosed defendant redeems from the foreclosure sale if the purchaser has been in possession of the property for more than six months. A purchaser in actual possession of lands or tenements following a foreclosure is adjudged to be the legal owner of the lands or tenements if he or she continues in possession for two successive years and pays all taxes legally during that time.

Amends the Mortgage Rescue Fraud Act to provide that it is a violation for a distressed-property consultant to, among other things, enter into, enforce, or act upon any agreement with a foreclosure defendant, whether the foreclosure is completed or otherwise, if the agreement provides for a division of proceeds between the foreclosure defendant and the distressed-property consultant derived from the foreclosure litigation.

Effective August 23, 2018. 

(Mulroe, D-Chicago; Andersson, R-Geneva) is a trailer bill to resolve technical concerns in the rewrite of the fines and costs statutes in the just enacted Criminal and Traffic Assessment Act. Effective July 1, 2019. 

(Andersson, R-Geneva; Mulroe, D-Chicago) creates the Criminal and Traffic Assessment Act. The Act would standardize court-filing fees and fines into 13 schedules of potential assessments for criminal and traffic offenses and four schedules for civil court cases. The Act also caps the maximum amount of money that can be assessed under each schedule and for various services or filings within the court process. The money collected under these assessment schedules would then be distributed at the state, county, and local levels for officials to decide how to best allocate their portion for maintaining the courts. It would also provide a sliding-scale waiver for some civil litigants and criminal defendants depending on their income relative to the federal poverty level. It has an immediate effective date for part of it and a delayed effective date for most of it.

(Harmon, D-Oak Park; Feigenholtz, D-Chicago) includes registered interior designers under this Act. Effective August 17, 2018.

(Tracy, R-Quincy; Wheeler, R-North Aurora) creates authorization and requirements for using email as a method of service under this Act. Effective Jan. 1, 2019.

(Althoff, R-McHenry; Martwick, D-Chicago) amends the State Tax Lien Registration Act to provide that the notice of tax lien must also include the county or counties where the real property of the debtor to which the lien will attach is located. Provides that a tax lien that is filed in the registry must be attached to all of the existing and after-acquired real and personal property of the debtor. Effective August 3, 2018. 

(Thapedi, D-Chicago; Mulroe, D-Chicago) amends the Home Repair and Remodeling Act to make the consumer-rights brochure more explanatory for homeowners, contractors, and lawyers. It makes no changes to substantive law. Effective January 1, 2019.

(Halpin, D-Rock Island; Raoul, D-Chicago) provides that if a written lease specifies costs, they must be for damage beyond normal wear and tear and reasonable to restore the leased premises to the same condition at the time the lease began. Effective July 31, 2018.