Illinois Amends Several Real Estate Provisions
Illinois has recently made several changes to various real estate provisions.
Arrearage Payments
Illinois has added a provision regarding arrearage payments to its Residential Mortgage License Act. This provision is effective as of January 1, 2018.
The new provision states that licensees are prohibited from refusing to accept payments by mortgagors who are in arrears more than one month. Any payments made shall be applied to the unpaid balance in accordance with the licensee’s mortgage with the mortgagor.
Foreclosure
Illinois has modified two of its provisions regarding foreclosure sales, under the Illinois Counties Code and the Mortgage Foreclosure Article of the Code of Civil Procedure. Both provisions are effective immediately.
Illinois Counties Code
The first foreclosure modification affects three sections of the Illinois Counties Code. The language of Sections 4-5001, 4-12001, and 4-12001.1 has been altered so that references to “action of forcible entry and detainer” and “action for possession of property” now read “eviction action.”
Illinois Code of Civil Procedure
Another modification affects two sections of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure. First, Section 15-1504.1 has been amended to extend its inoperative date from January 1, 2018 to January 1, 2020.
Secondly, Section 15-1507.1 has been amended to extend its inoperative date from January 1, 2017 to January 1, 2020. The repeal date of this section has been changed from March 2, 2017 to March 2, 20202. Also added to this section is a provision stating that all actions regarding the taking and remittance of fees pursuant to this section prior to its effective date are ratified, validated, and confirmed.
County Recorder Fee Schedule
Illinois has amended provisions regarding fee schedules under the Counties Code. These provisions are effective immediately.
Section 3-5018.1, regarding predictable fee schedules, has been added to the Counties Code. Under this section, counties are required to adopt and implement a predictable fee schedule by January 1, 2019. These fee schedules shall eliminate surcharges or fees based on individual attributes of a standard document to be recorded. The new provision lists some of these prohibited attributes, including page count; number, length, or type of legal descriptions; and number of common addresses. This section also defines standard and nonstandard documents.
This provision also sets out the flat recording fees allowable for each classification of standard document. All standard documents must fall into one of the following classifications at the time of recording: deeds, leases, mortgages, easements, and miscellaneous.
Condominium Property Act
Illinois has modified several provisions under the Condominium Property Act. These provisions are effective as of January 1, 2018.
A new provision has been added to Section 1-20 of the Act. The provision states that if community instruments require approval of any mortgagee or lienholder, and such a person receives a request for approval, said person is deemed to have approved unless he or she sends a negative response to the requesting party within sixty days. Requests shall be sent via certified mail.
Several new provisions have also been added to Section 1-45 of the Act. One adopted provision requires that associations consisting of one hundred or more units use “generally accepted accounting principles” when fulfilling accounting obligations under the Act.
Another new provision under Section 1-45 states that at the end of an association’s fiscal year, any surplus of funds may be disposed of by the board of managers at its discretion. The provision then sets out various ways in which the board can choose to dispose of the funds.
A provision has been added to define the term “commercial purpose” as used in Section 1-45 of the Act. A subsequent provision goes on to state that all members of an association have the right to inspect and make copies of association records for purposes relating to the association. Exercising this right for commercial purposes is prohibited.
Elizabeth Dailey, JD, is a Regulatory Compliance Director with CLA. She is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire and earned her juris doctor at New England Law. She is admitted to the Massachusetts Bar.
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