What the 606 Law Means for Landlords

Let's talk about everyone's new favorite topic. The 606 waiver of tenant right of first refusal block program.

So the first question we're getting is who does this impact? You know, do I have to worry about this? And the answer is, you do if you have a building located in this area. Do we wish it was easier to figure out which area? You were in, absolutely, but the city is not that easy to work with. You actually have to print out and look at the various boundaries of the area to determine if you're in that. Bounded on the north end by Addison, on the west side by Pulaski and Kostner, all the way south by Hirsch and Division, and all the way as far east as Western.

if you have a tenant occupied building in that area, you've got a problem you've got to deal with, which is you have to deal with all of the aspects of this program. Now, what are, what is this program? What does this mean? Well, you can't even list, you can't even list the property until you've given notice to all of your tenants. That's right. You can't even list it until you've given notice to all your tenants. And most likely, 60 days after you give that notice. Now, when you give that notice, you can also, because the city has it in their form, get a waiver of right of first refusal from the tenant, but you can't ask for it. You can have it on the form, but you cannot ask for it. Now, if you're lucky and you get all the waiver of rights of first refusal, suddenly you're out of the predicament that you're in, which is the city is trying desperately to ensure these tenants can remain at the places that they rent from.

Now, if they waive the right of first refusal, you then graduate yourself out of the program. Very hard to do, but possible. So the city wants to make sure that tenants who have the ability or have the right to buy the property can buy the property. Now, if you notify them that you're selling the property, 60 days go by, now you can list the property. Now you've got a situation where an offer comes in. Now you have to offer the tenants again the right of first refusal. Can they match this offer? They then can be asked at that point for the waiver of their right of first refusal, which if you can get it, you've just graduated yourself out of the program. The city's been pretty communicative about this, maybe not as fast as we want them to be, but pretty communicative. And the key to this is everyone out there is like, I got to get with a law firm or an agent who knows what they're doing. No one knows what they're doing.

Know what? This program started March 1st. We are now at mid to late April. Maybe the first transactions in this program are closing. But the key is you live and learn. You handhold with your attorney, hopefully our law firm, and we can walk you through the process as best as we can. It's not going to be easy. It's not a flat rate deal. It will be an hourly fee. These are more intricate. They're more detailed. They're more nuanced. but we can get you through it. So if you find yourself, Mr. Agent, in an area where you have, or Mrs. Agent, in an area where you have a investor who has a building in this area, please contact us. We can help you navigate the entire process and do it legally with protection to ensure your owner is not gonna get chastised or fined by the city of Chicago, because the fines are big for doing the wrong thing.

So call us at the David Frank Law Group. If you have a building in that area, we can help you walk you through it and help you navigate these rough seas.