CHICAGO URBAN DAILY
CHICAGO (CHICAGO URBAN DAILY)— Mayor Brandon Johnson scored a narrow but real victory in his push to protect Chicago’s renters, as the City Council’s Housing Committee voted 12-9 to advance his revised Protecting Renters Ordinance.
The win came only after Johnson made big concessions. The mayor dropped the controversial “just cause” provision that would have forced landlords to pay relocation money to tenants evicted through no fault of their own. He also exempted owner-occupied buildings of six units or less, and scrapped an early proposal for $10,000 payouts to tenants facing what the draft called “unconscionable rent increases” — a provision critics warned was a back door to rent control.
What survived: a citywide rental registry with a $20-per-unit annual fee expected to raise about $22 million a year, a new Bureau of Rental Housing Services, a permanent tenant-counsel program, a Renters Bill of Rights, and a ban on junk fees like move-in charges.
But the opposition is not backing down. Zoning Committee Chair Gilbert Villegas pushed a rival plan through his committee the very next day. His version skips the registry fee and the new bureau, using existing staff instead — and calls for cutting red tape on housing permits.
Now both measures head toward the full City Council, where Johnson will need 26 votes to pass his version.
Stay tuned to Chicago Urban Daily as this fight moves to the Council floor.
Reported by Chicago Urban Daily News. Visit chicagourbandailynews.com for updates.
