Ald. David Orr (49th) said he would welcome amendments to his tenants`
rights bill from a landlord lobby group, but said he still would push for a committee vote this week rather than wait for a complete compromise to be reached.
The proposed ordinance, which attempts to balance tenants rights with those of the landlords, was introduced last week to the Chicago City Council`s Committee on Buildings.
Ald. Fred Roti (1st), chairman of the committee, will hold hearings on the measure Monday and take testimony from several witnesses, including representatives of the Chicago Board of Realtors.
”The main goal is to maintain property better in the City of Chicago,”
said Orr, who has pushed for the ordinance since 1982. ”I think it would be real nice if they (amendments) were included.”
Roti said it would be possible to listen to testimony Monday and give Orr, real estate officials and the corporation counsel another week to reach a compromise. There would still be enough time for a vote at the next council meeting Aug. 28, Roti said.
Orr added it also would be possible to pass the ordinance in committee and add amendments before it reached the floor of the council. As to the targeted date of passage, Orr said, ”I would like to see this passed into law as soon as politically possible.”
The alderman, an ally of Mayor Harold Washington, said that he could have pushed the measure through the council, but chose to take time to improve the ordinance.
A major sticking point for the Board of Realtors is the ”repair and deduct” clause in the ordinance. Under the current proposal, tenants have the right to make certain repairs and deduct the cost from their rent.
This section of the ordinance was scaled back from the original proposal, which allowed tenants to do the repairs themselves and pool resources for larger repairs. But the landlords group still has problems with the clause.
