Alderman proposes longer advanced warning of rent hikes

Chicago tenants struggling to pay rising rents would have longer advance warning to brace themselves for those increases, if Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1st) has his way.

Moreno represents the fast-gentrifying neighborhoods of Logan Square and Wicker Park heavily impacted by the 606 trail. He wants to implement a sliding-scale of advanced notice that would get longer, the bigger the rent hike.

Thirty days warning would be enough if the increase is less than 5 percent. If the rent hike is between 5 and 10 percent, tenants would get 60 days’ notice. Ninety days’ warning would be required for increases in the 10-to-15 percent range. And if the increase is 15 percent or more, tenants would get 120 days’ notice.

Currently, if a written lease is ending, the owner has to inform the tenant whether it can be renewed.

If the owner offers a renewal with a higher rent, the owner must inform the tenant of the new terms. If the owner is offering to renew on a month-to-month basis but wants higher rent, the owner must also inform the tenant of the new rent.

In both cases, the owner has to deliver that notice within at least 30 days of the increase, but not sooner than 90 days.Moreno said that’s not good enough. Renters squeezed by rising rents that gobble up a higher percentage of their paychecks, need more advance warning.

“It gives predictability to renters so they know sooner, rather than later…so we don’t have situations where [the landlord says], ‘Your rent is going up 50 percent and here’s your 30-day notice if you don’t want to re-sign,’” Moreno said Thursday, one day after introducing the ordinance.

The alderman argued that a longer advanced warning period would help landlords –– not hurt them.

“Evicting someone is a very difficult process…There are stories where people don’t pay their rent, they go through the eviction process and the judge finally says, ‘If you don’t come up with it on this date, you’re out.’ So, they move. The landlord hasn’t gotten any rent for months,” the alderman said.

The Chicago Association of Realtors opposes the “rolling notice,” calling it “another opportunity for property owners –– from mom and pop buildings to large management companies –– to be tripped up” by the City Hall bureaucracy.

Spokesman Brian Bernardoni said Chicago’s landlord- tenants ordinance already includes too many restrictions.

“The ordinance does not allow landlords to contact tenants outside of 90 days. The average marketing time for Chicago apartments right now…is 58 days. Landlords already have a very small window to set a renewal amount and have the tenant sign off as is,” Bernardoni wrote in a text message to the Sun-Times.

“I fear this legislation is not only a contradictory violation, but a major math problem which landlords cannot reasonably solve.”

Bernardoni noted that landlords cannot increase rent “inside of 30 days” anyway. That’s “lumped in with non-renewals.”

“It could force landlords’ hands . . . to automatically give a 30-day notice of non-renewal and terminate with that tenant,” Bernardoni said.