In the News
Pioneer Press, January 4, 2007
A total of 99 new laws took effect Monday, including laws cracking down on sex offenders, increasing safeguards for consumers against mortgage fraud and identity theft, and strengthening homeowner protections in eminent domain cases.
Most homes and apartment units in Illinois are now required to have carbon monoxide detectors under the state's new Carbon Monoxide Alarm Protection Act. Several new laws are designed to give law enforcement agencies more tools to protect Illinois families from sexual offenders. Legislation sponsored by State Sen. Don Harmon, D-39th, of Oak Park, strengthens the Sexual Violent Persons Act, providing additional safeguards to ensure dangerous sexual predators aren't released back into society. The new law requires the Illinois Department of Corrections to notify the convicting state's attorney's office six months before a violent sexual offender's release from prison to determine if the offender should be committed to a treatment center. Legislation sponsored by State Rep. JoAnn Osmond, R-62nd, of Antioch, and Sen. Bill Peterson, R-26th, of Long Grove, prohibits sex offenders and those convicted of identity theft from changing their names. Other new laws will require sexual predators to be on Global Positioning System (GPS) monitoring during their parole term, provide stricter guidelines for sex offenders who live near child-care facilities, and place additional restrictions on the ability of sex offenders to get drivers licenses. Meanwhile, property owners rights would be strengthened under the new Equity in Eminent Domain Act sponsored by State Sen. Susan Garrett, D-29th, of Lake Forest. The act seeks to better clarify and protect property owners when local governments use condemnation to acquire property for economic development such as downtown revitalization, or public uses such as building a new library. It also establishes guidelines for property owners to recoup relocation costs and in some cases attorneys fees when properties are acquired through eminent domain. Garrett said in the past individuals or businesses whose properties were being taken through condemnation often were at a disadvantage. "Never before have we had the rules and regulations of eminent domain spelled out for all parties involved," she said. "This will be a first."
Other new laws target identity theft and mortgage fraud. The Mortgage Rescue Fraud Protection Act, sponsored by Sen. Jacqueline Collins, D-16th, of Chicago, and Rep. Marlow Colvin, D-33rd, of Chicago, seeks to protect homeowners who are in foreclosure or default from the fraudulent actions of unscrupulous "mortgage rescue" companies. Another law sponsored by State Rep. Kathy Ryg, D-59th, of Vernon Hills, and State Sen. Terry Link, D-30th, of Waukegan, requires that any deed or document which transfers property must be notarized as a protection against identity theft and mortgage fraud.
Another new law allows consumers to place a security freeze on their credit reports, prohibiting credit bureaus from releasing those reports without their permission and making it harder for impostors to open a credit line in their name.
"Illinois has some of the toughest laws in the nation to protect consumers from identity theft and mortgage fraud, and these latest laws are an example of our state's continued leadership in consumer protection," said Steve Wrone, consumer policy adviser for the Illinois Attorney General's Office.