A law is only as good as its loopholes.
Fortunately some of the unintended consequences of otherwise well-meaning rules are caught before doing too much damage.
Such is the case of the state stepping in to require cities to make exceptions for the disabled and domestic battery victims who otherwise could find themselves on the street, labeled as nuisances.
Gov. Bruce Rauner has signed a law that requires cities to add exceptions to their nuisance property ordinances by Nov. 19 to keep specific classes of people from being evicted.
Illinois leads the nation in the growth of ordinances that allow landlords to evict tenants who are the subject of too many police calls — even when those calls are because they are the victims.
The ordinances are meant to help landlords remove renters who threaten to turn their properties into dens of crime.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and the National Center on Poverty Law estimate there are probably 100 cities across the state that have such ordinances in place. It sent alerts Monday to about four dozen it considers to have the most potential for victimizing victims and those with mental or other disabilities.
Eight cities were specifically mentioned as having ordinances that stipulate frequent calls about domestic violence problems can be grounds for eviction. Among those cities were Alton, Champaign, Rock Island and Urbana. Thirty-four others provide that landlords or tenants can be punished for too many police calls.
In the strictest of cases, landlords would not have the option of allowing a tenant to stay: The city would call the shots.
That’s what happened in one town in Pennsylvania under a similar ordinance, groups said. Police told a woman if she made one more call about problems with an ex-boyfriend, she would be evicted. Later, when a neighbor called authorities because the ex-boyfriend stabbed the woman, she was threatened with being thrown out of her apartment.
Although most of those in Illinois contacted by the ACLU said they can’t recall a time their ordinance has raised any issues, the mere potential for such acts is a dangerous Nanny State extreme.
No one wants to be saddled with a disruptive tenant or neighbor. But there are mechanisms in place already that provide for protection of the rights of both tenant and landlord.
Bad neighbors are not good for a community, but bad ordinances that give excessive powers to government are not good for anyone.
