CBA Record Nov-Dec 2019

The Illinois Safe Homes Act: What Landlords & Tenants Need to Know By Blake A. Strautins and Pooja Dosi

A s a landlord of private rental hous- ing, it is important to be aware of the rights that your tenants have if they face dangerous or violent situations at home. And as a tenant, it is important to know your housing rights, particularly concerning your safety or the safety of those in your household. The Safe Homes Act (SHA), 765 ILCS 750/1et seq., initially passed into law in 2007, aims to protect victims of domestic and sexual abuse. Its stated purpose is to “enabl[e] victims of domestic abuse or sexual violence and their families to flee existing dangerous housing in order to leave violent or abusive situations, achieve safety, and minimize the physical and emotional injuries from domestic or sexual violence, and to reduce the devas- tating economic consequences thereof.” SHA Protections The SHA only applies to those living in privately owned rental housing, even if the tenant has a portion of rent paid by a Section 8 voucher or some other form of government assistance. It does not apply to tenants living in public housing. Before the SHA, tenants who were victims of sexual or domestic abuse in their home could not end their lease or change the locks to prevent imminent threats of abuse without facing potentially significant financial penalties. The SHA, however, permits a tenant to vacate the premises and terminate a written or oral lease when the tenant’s physical safety and emotional well-being are in danger due to an abuser. Alternatively, tenants with a written lease may instead opt to change

Changing Locks If the tenant chooses to stay in the home but wants the locks changed, section 20 of the SHA provides that the tenant may request that the landlord change them. This request must be in writing, must state that one or more of the tenants has a reasonable belief that one of the tenants or a member of the tenant’s household is under a credible imminent threat of do- mestic or sexual violence at the premises, and the notice must be from all tenants who have signed the lease as lessees. If the person posing a threat is a lessee, the tenant need not provide written notice from them, provided that the notice is accompanied by a plenary order of pro- tection or a plenary civil no contact order granting the tenant exclusive possession of the premises. If the threat of violence is from a per- son who is not a lessee, the tenant must provide at least one of the following forms of evidence to support the tenant’s claim of domestic or sexual violence: medi- cal, court, or police evidence of sexual violence, or a statement from a victim services employee, domestic violence employee, or rape crisis organization employee from which the tenant has sought services. Once the landlord has received proper notice of a request for change of locks, the landlord must change the locks or provide the tenant with permission to change them within 48 hours. If the landlord fails to do so, the tenant may change the locks without the landlord’s permission. If a landlord takes action to prevent a tenant who has complied with section

the locks to protect themselves from the abuser re-entering the tenant’s home. SHA Requirements To benefit from the SHA’s protection, the tenant—or a member of the tenant’s household—must either (1) face a “cred- ible imminent threat” of domestic or sexual violence at the premises or have been a victim of sexual violence on the premises, and (2) have given the landlord written notice either before the tenant vacates the property, or within three days of vacating the property. The notice must state that the reason for vacating the premises was because of a credible imminent threat of domestic or sexual violence or because of sexual violence against the tenant. If the tenant has been a victim of sexual violence at the property, the tenant must provide the date of the sexual violence and at least one form of evidence to sup- port the claim, along with written notice. Evidence of sexual violence can be in the form of medical, court, or police evidence of sexual violence, or a statement from a victim services employee or rape crisis organization from which the tenant has sought services. The sexual violence must have occurred within 60 days of the date of the tenant giving the landlord written notice. If these procedures are followed, the tenant has an affirmative defense to any action brought by the landlord for recov- ery of rent for breach of the lease, and the tenant will not be responsible for any rent for the period after which the tenant vacates the premises.

32 November/December 2019