Evanston Considers Adopting “Just Cause Eviction” Provisions
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It’s been discussed in Chicago for years. It’s already been enacted in other cities and states, including Seattle, Washington D.C. and New Jersey, just to name a few. Now, Just Cause Eviction is being actively considered in Evanston and could be enacted by their City Council later this year. If this happens, it will open the door to similar ordinances across Illinois.
The pros and cons in the Just Cause Eviction debate are well known to housing providers. Tenants’ rights organizations argue rents have increased too fast and rental housing is too scarce, giving property owners an unfair advantage in the sometimes fraught relationship between tenants and owners. Housing providers argue Just Cause Eviction protections are simply a transfer of ownership rights from the actual owners to tenants without any compensating cost or responsibility.
Just Cause Eviction is being actively considered in Evanston and could be enacted by their City Council later this year.
Just Cause Eviction provisions, such as extended notice periods, restrictions on when a housing provider can and cannot offer a lease renewal, and requirements that tenants be compensated upon non-renewal, all limit the ability of housing providers to exercise control over their properties, manage their properties effectively and earn a reasonable return on their investments.
These conflicting views came to a head at a Housing and Community Development Committee meeting on Tuesday, June 20 at the Evanston Civic Center. The purpose of the meeting was to air out these divergent viewpoints. A number of prominent Evanston housing providers were in attendance, including Bill Schermerhorn (Schermerhorn and Company Property Management) and Aron Bornstein (BMI Bornstein LLC); all were staunchly opposed to the Just Cause Eviction protections currently being proposed as updates to Evanston’s Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance (RLTO).
In an email to NBOA Members, Mr. Bornstein noted that many more building owners attended the June 20th meeting than tenant advocates, and that the building owners had ample opportunity to express their views and concerns about the laundry list of possible changes to the Evanston RLTO. But, Mr. Bornstein also stated that the objections of housing providers may not be sufficient to avoid passage of some form of Just Cause Eviction protections, judging by the reactions of the city officials at the June 20th meeting. In his email, Mr. Bornstein states, “the Committee [appears to have] the votes and intends on passing some form of Just Cause. The only questions are when they move it forward, and how bad will it be.”
Since Evanston has not yet drafted language to amend the city’s RLTO ordinance, we cannot state what these changes will say. However, Evanston did put together an Agenda and Notice for the June 20th meeting that included a wide-ranging list of possible changes that could be included in any proposed Ordinance. Some of the specific changes to the Evanston RLTO currently under consideration include:
- Limit move-in fees, application fees and administrative fees to actual costs incurred by housing providers.
- Prevent Renaming of Security Deposits: “[housing providers] may not avoid coverage of security deposits by labeling the fee or charges as anything other than a security deposit.” (Clearly, the lobbyists for Tenant-Rep Attorneys have the attention of the Evanston City Council.)
- Limit Late Fees.
- Implement a uniform “period to cure” of ten days for both tenants and housing providers.
- Implement graduated notice based on length of tenancy and amount of rent increase:
- 60 days for up to two year tenancy; 120 days for tenants in residency more than two years.
- 60 days for 0%-5% rent increase; 90 days for 6% to 10% rent increase; 120 days for 11% or greater rent increase.
- Bolster tenants’ right to organize.
With regard specifically to Just Cause Eviction provisions, the following items address these concerns:
- Define Fair Reasons for Non-Renewal (would only apply to buildings with six or more units):
- “Just Cause” would include:
- Nonpayment of rent
- Material noncompliance/lease violation
- Occupancy by owner/relative
- Sale of building
- Gut rehab
- “Just Cause” would exclude:
- Language barriers
- Cultural differences
- Interpersonal inconveniences
- Disability or requests for accommodations
- Family status
- In “excluded” eviction actions, housing providers would be required to provide Relocation Assistance for “tenants forced to move due to sale of the property, rehab or major rent increase.” Although Evanston does not currently have a fixed view on what this compensation should look like, the Agenda does specifically reference the City of Chicago proposal to require 3X monthly rent in payment to tenant for any excluded eviction actions or in cases where rent increases by more than 15%.
No vote was taken at the June 20th meeting and a second meeting will likely be held on Tuesday, July 18. It is likely that the proposal will then advance to the Evanston City Council which will craft language to amend the RLTO and vote on whether or not to adopt these changes.
As the list of potential changes demonstrates, adoption of any or all of these requirements would significantly alter the relationship between tenants and housing providers and materially impact the financial feasibility of owning and operating rental properties in Evanston.
Needless to say, this is just a first step toward the real prize for housing advocates – adoption of Just Cause Eviction protections in Chicago – the state’s largest city and most important economic engine.
The objections of housing providers may not be sufficient to avoid passage of some form of Just Cause Eviction protections, judging by the reactions of the city officials at the June 20th meeting.
None of this is good news for housing providers. While there is still some time to fight this proposal in Evanston, the window is closing. If this legislation passes, the consequences will be dire, not just for housing providers, but indeed for all citizens of Illinois.
One aside in this discussion that should not be overlooked. One of the leading proponents of the proposed Evanston Just Cause legislation is Alderman Devon Reid who has, himself, twice been evicted, most recently by none other than our own Marty Max, past President of RPBG. According to Evanston Now, Mr. Reid was first evicted from his apartment at 429 Custer Avenue in 2020 when he was serving as Evanston City Clerk with a reported annual income of $64,120. The eviction action was brought by his housing provider at that time, Hunter Properties.
Needless to say, this is just a first step toward the real prize for housing advocates – adoption of Just Cause Eviction protections in Chicago.
Two years later, it was Marty Max and his company MLC Properties that had to go through eviction proceedings. Before letting Mr. Reid sign a lease, Marty did a background check on his prospective tenant, as any good housing provider would, but did not find any record of previous evictions. Marty surmises that the record of the earlier eviction was sealed – standard practice during the COVID-19 pandemic years and something that many tenant advocacy groups have argued should be made permanent. This was unfortunate since Mr. Reid promptly stopped paying, racking up $9,000 in unpaid rent before Marty was able to complete the eviction. These funds were never recouped.
It is probably worth noting that it is often the unintended consequences of well-meaning legislation that can be the real legacy of any such legislation that makes it into law. It is not a stretch to predict that the proposed changes to Evanston’s RLTO (and likely copycat legislation in Chicago and elsewhere in Illinois) will thoroughly alter the financial feasibility of owning and operating rental apartments in the Chicago region and across the state.
The predictable result is that housing costs will only rise further and faster as owning and operating housing becomes more difficult and expensive. It will also allow tenants with bad intentions and knowledge of how to game the system – yes, we’re looking at you, Alderman Reid – to take advantage of these new protections and create even bigger headaches and financial losses for their housing providers. Over time, this will benefit exactly no one – renter and owner alike.
