Critics of Mayor Brandon Johnson's renter protection ordinance advance competing plan

A day after Mayor Brandon Johnson's revised renter protection ordinance got the backing of a key City Council committee, a group of aldermen advanced a dueling proposal, setting up a potential showdown next week.

However, both sides of the debate left the door open to hammering out a potential compromise in the coming days before either version faces a vote by the full City Council.

Johnson's so-called Protecting Renters Ordinance was approved by the Housing Committee on Wednesday in a 12-9 vote. On Thursday, the Zoning Committee voted 12-6 to back the Fair and Accountable Illinois Rental Ordinance sponsored by a group of the mayor's City Council opponents.

Zoning Committee chairman Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th), who is also chief sponsor of the FAIR Ordinance, said he worried that the mayor's proposal would increase costs on landlords, who would then push those costs onto renters. However,

However, he suggested there was room for the two sides to reach a compromise before either version is brought up for a vote before the full City Council at its next meeting on Wednesday.

"Everyone here in the City Council as a whole has the same goal: protecting renters, increasing housing, and making the city more affordable," he said at the start of Thursday's Zoning Committee meeting. "We should all work together to pursue policies that protect residents while also encouraging investment, new construction, and more housing choices. The goal should be simple: more housing, more choices, and a Chicago where families can afford to live and businesses can continue to invest."

Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th), a mayor ally who chairs the Housing Committee that backed Johnson's proposal, also raised the possibility of negotiating a compromise between the two competing proposals.

"I am optimistic that we, as City Council members, can really work on the best interests of the city and those who are looking up to us in a time of a serious affordability crisis," he said. "Open arms today. The city needs us to work together. You have my commitment. You have my commitment. Let's not put competing ordinances."

Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th), who initially backed Johnson during the 2023 election but has become an outspoken critic of the mayor, said he hopes the two sides can reach an agreement rather than relying on parliamentary maneuvers to try to stall both of the competing proposals next week.

"It would be better to have the parties sit down and resolve those differences ASAP," Vasquez said. "I would urge anybody involved to just figure out how to resolve this thing before we get to even this Council meeting."

Johnson's tenant rights proposal passed on Wednesday only after he made a major concession by dropping a key provision opposed by landlords.

Johnson's original Protecting Renters Ordinance banned landlords from charging tenants move-in fees or other so-called "junk fees," created a citywide rental registry funded by new fees on landlords, introduced a new "tenant bill of rights," and created a new city Bureau of Rental Housing Services within the Department of Housing funded by new fees on landlords.

It also required landlords to provide just cause for evictions and pay thousands of dollars in relocation assistance to tenants whose leases weren't renewed for any reason other than failure to pay rent, a serious breach of their lease, or a tenant's refusal to renew their lease.

Earlier this month, Johnson scaled back the relocation assistance requirements, including exemptions for owner-occupied buildings with six or fewer units, but the mayor's office has since dropped the just cause and relocation assistance requirements entirely.

Both proposals would require landlords to register with the city and set up new offices within the city government to enforce new protections for renters.

While Villegas said he was glad to see the mayor drop the just cause and relocation assistance provisions from his proposal, the alderman said he believes Johnson's plan would still impose too many new costs on landlords.

The mayor's proposal would require most landlords to pay between $20 and $60 per unit, depending on the size of the building, to fund the new Bureau of Rental Housing Services. Johnson administration officials estimated that would raise $22 million a year to fund the new bureau.

Villegas' proposal would instead create a new Office of Rental Housing within the Chicago Department of Buildings. While it does not include a funding mechanism for that new office, Villegas said he plans to introduce a separate measure to double the $700 annual fee mortgage holders pay when they foreclose on a property.

While the mayor's proposal would ban move-in fees, and other so-called "junk fees," Villegas' version would allow landlords to charge tenants various fees in addition to rent, so long as they are disclosed and itemized in writing in advance and are "reasonably related to an actual cost incurred by the landlord."

Villegas' proposal also would cap security deposits for rented units at no more than a month and a half of rent.