Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law on May 13, 2022, the first major overhaul of the Residential Real Property Disclosure Act (the “Act”) since its enactment in 1994. Over the span of 30-plus years since the original effective date of the Act, developments in electronic communication, new statutes, and real-world practical experience all generated the need for a thorough review. In his July Illinois Bar Journal article, “Material Defects,” Michael J. Rooney, a key drafter of the legislation, provides an in-depth walk-through of the Act’s finer points.

“Broadly speaking,” Rooney writes, “the proposed revisions fell into one or more of several categories. First, the original statute did not provide for electronic delivery of the disclosure report. Today, nearly all such reports are delivered electronically. Second, in the 30 years following the original Act, other new statutes had been passed by the legislature and signed into law and those new provisions required amendment of the original Act. Third, practical experience resulted in misinterpretations of the Act that the committee thought required resolving. And, finally, there were some instances where the statute itself was less than a model of clarity and consistency in its use of terminology.”

Read the July Illinois Bar Journal article, "Material Defects."