A proposed ordinance to require landlords to prove “just cause” for any eviction case came under fire at a joint 5th and 8th ward meeting Thursday evening.
The ordinance, which would effectively turn a one-year lease into a conditional life-time right to occupy a property, is being pushed by Ald. Devon Reid (8th), who was evicted last year for failing to pay his rent.
The ordinance, as proposed, wouldn’t have protected Reid, because non-payment is a “just cause” listed in the ordinance.
But landlord Hugo Rodriguez, a member of the Housing and Community Development Committee, said it would make it extremely difficult and more costly to evict problem tenants.
A landlord would have to prove a “serious breach” or a “deliberate or reckless violation” of the rental agreement to justify the eviction.
County records indicate that for every 1,000 apartments in Evanston only four eviction cases were filed during a 20 month period from October 2021 through May 2023.
Reid said that unfair landlord actions are one of the most common complaints he receives from his constituents, and their concerns need to be addressed.
He also cited what he claimed were unjustified lease non-renewals at the Avidor Evanston senior living apartments in the 2nd Ward.
Reid also defended a provision of the proposed ordinance that would require landlords to pay relocation assistance to tenants under a variety of circumstances.
But Rodriguez said requiring relocation assistance will wind up doing more harm than good to the city’s renters. He said that landlords relocation costs will be passed on to other tenants, and housing affordability “will go out the window.”
Rodriguez has also criticized a provision in the ordinance that would require landlords to offer relocation assistance any time they raised the rent by more than 15%.
He said the city’s legal department believes that provision might run afoul of the state ban on rent control.
The proposed revisions to the city’s landlord tenant ordinance were last discussed at the October meeting of the city’s Housing and Community Development Committee.
It’s not clear when they may come up for a final committee vote that would send them on to the City Council for consideration.
But the committee has scheduled a special meeting for 6:30 p.m. Monday in the council chambers at the civic center.
Landlords will raise rents to offset the losses they’ll incur from problem tenants, and reduce their risks by charging larger front-end security deposits. Say hello to many more premium priced “active senior adult” buildings.
The very people Reid wants to help will be closed out of the rental market. He goes from one bad idea to the the next.
Any fact checking on Reid’s examples of unfair eviction?
Devon Reid has strange ideas about why businesses exist.
Landlords are not renters’ Mom and Dad to overlook a misbehaving (according to house M&D house rules) child, or decide to discipline. Do you not insist your child pay for their immaturity in damaging property or stealing from a local store? Dont steal from landlords. Additionally, Renters are not minors. Owning rental property is a business just like a restaurant or movie theatre, airplane, or school can ‘remove’ you based on ‘company/house’ rules including non-payment and/or your effect on other patrons. Some want-to-be renters should consider application to ‘shelters’, not apartments for responsible adults.
Devon Reid continuing is his role as the bad idea machine. Not to mention unethical: pushing an ordinance that will allow him to remain a tenant in a building where he won’t pay rent. 8th Ward voters : please vote him out in 2025.
Unreasonably narrowing the criteria to evict a tenant feels like a classic example of government overreach. The punitive provisions included in this proposal will be costly for landlords (and, therefore, all tenants) and for the City in terms of enforcement. Landlords should not be required to accommodate problem tenants or be required to pay for them to be relocated. The idea that Evanston’s dysfunctional and inefficient government should be further regulating the shrinking successful business community in this City is laughable.
Thank you to Evanston Now. The committee has scheduled meetings for Tuesday in 2024. I would have no idea that this special meeting was planned for this Monday.
Reid pretends that he is “a man of the people.”
You’re right, he pretends to be a “man of the people”, but really it’s all about him. This would help him never pay rent again……..