Amendment of Municipal Code Titles 2 and 5 by adding new Chapters 2-48 and 5-25 regarding safety and welfare of seniors, including ability to live independently and rights to privacy

Legislation tracker › 20th Ward: Jeanette B. Taylor

• Record number: O2025-0018701
• Type: Ordinance; category: Municipal Code Amendments
• Status: In Committee (Re-Referred)
• Sponsor: Jeanette B. Taylor (20th Ward)
• Co-sponsors (4): Angela Clay (46th Ward), Jeylú B. Gutiérrez (14th Ward), Maria E. Hadden (49th Ward), Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez (33rd Ward)
• Committee: Joint Committee: Housing and Real Estate; Budget and Government Operations
• Submitted Date: Jul 14, 2025
• Introduction Date: Jul 16, 2025
• Official record: Office of the City Clerk

Impact report

Written by AI from the official document. AI can make mistakes; the official document always wins.

This ordinance would create a Senior Bill of Rights giving renters age 60 and older new protections from landlords, and would set up a separate city Department on Aging to enforce it.

Who it affects

• Senior renters (age 60 and older): They would gain rights to visitors and caregivers, privacy, 48 hours' notice before inspections, safe housing, language help, and the right to organize, with legal remedies if landlords break the rules.
• Landlords who rent to seniors: They would have to post and hand out the Senior Tenants Bill of Rights, keep a 24-hour security system and on-site security, run grievance procedures, and pay for temporary housing and moving help when a unit becomes unfit to live in.
• Property managers and building staff: Staff would need emergency first aid training, including CPR, defibrillators, and emergency medications like naloxone and insulin, and property managers could share legal responsibility with landlords for violations.
• Caregivers, aides, and relatives giving in-home care: Landlords could not unreasonably block them from visiting, and landlords would have to make reasonable accommodations for live-in caregivers when asked.
• Tenant organizations: Landlords could not stop them from canvassing, door-knocking, or posting meeting signs in common areas.
• Department of Family and Support Services: Its senior services and Elder Abuse and Neglect Program, including staff, records, funds, and grants, would move to the new Department on Aging.

What changes

• Buildings with senior renters would post a Senior Tenants Bill of Rights poster in the lobby, and each senior would get a paper copy in their own language.
• Seniors would get at least 48 hours' notice before most inspections and could be present and give input.
• Landlords would need a 24-hour security system and on-site security staff, and building staff would be trained in emergency first aid.
• Seniors could file complaints online, anonymously through a drop box, or through a new confidential city hotline.
• Landlords could not raise rent, cut services, refuse to renew, or evict to punish a senior for using these rights.

Money

• If a landlord or property manager breaks the rules, the senior could recover from them the greater of two months' rent or twice their actual damages, plus reasonable attorneys' fees.
• If the rental agreement is ended because of a violation, the landlord must return the security deposit amounts owed and all prepaid rent to the senior.
• Landlords would pay for alternative housing, moving help, storage, and transportation for seniors when a condition makes their unit or common area unfit to live in.
• The Department on Aging could accept gifts and grants from the U.S., the State of Illinois, and other sources and spend them on its programs.

Where: 20th Ward

When: January 1, 2026

Timeline

• Jul 16, 2025: Referred, City Council. The matter was Referred to Committee.
• Sep 15, 2025: Recommended for Re-Referral, Committee on Finance. The matter was recommended for Re-Referral by controlling legislative body.
• Sep 25, 2025: Referred, City Council. The matter was Referred to Committee.

Documents

• O2025-0018701 Re-ref to Joint HRE-BG0.pdf (Committee Letter)
• Final SBOR Ordinance 070925.pdf (Legislation)

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