The Illinois Supreme Court announced today an amendment to Order M.R. 30370 which extends the temporary stay on certain residential eviction trials and dispositive motions to September 18. The previous order was set to end on September 1.

Amended Order M.R. 30370 is available on the Court website.

The amended Order also includes provisions that exempt cases where rental assistance is clearly not viable and there is no reason to delay trial. Courts are to generally defer to the rental assistance programs for eligibility determinations, only substituting their own assessments when the matter is clear and free from doubt. The order also permits landlords to challenge the veracity of a tenant’s declaration. This brings the Court’s order in line with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Chrysafis v. Marks.

Currently, the Governor’s moratorium on residential evictions continues to bar the enforcement of certain eviction judgments through September 18, 2021.

The Illinois Judicial Conference’s Court Operations During COVID-19 Task Force (Task Force) recommended these amendments to the Court. The Court and the Illinois Judicial Conference created the Task Force in June 2020 to serve as a rapid response unit to address ongoing challenges to court operations caused by the pandemic. The Chair of the Task Force is J. Timothy Eaton, Partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, and the Vice Chair is Chief Judge Eugene Doherty of the 17th Circuit.