IL HB5180

Court files for all residential eviction actions are automatically impounded upon commencement, replacing the previous discretionary sealing process.

Courts may unimpound files only if judgment is entered for the landlord, except in cases involving non-payment of rent, lease violations in condominiums, when parties agree to keep impounded, when justice interests outweigh public interest, or when complaint lacks material lease violation allegations.

Residential eviction cases filed 7 or more years before this Act's passage must have their court files impounded regardless of case outcome; tenants can file motions to impound files from cases filed less than 7 years ago that were not initially impounded.

Impounded files are accessible only to case parties, their counsel, prospective counsel, public employees processing evictions, and rental assistance processors; scholarly, educational, journalistic, and governmental bodies may access files by court motion with party identifying information remaining protected.

Persons disseminating impounded or sealed files for commercial purposes face civil penalties of $2,000 or twice actual damages (whichever is greater) plus attorney's fees; tenants are not required to disclose sealed or impounded eviction records to prospective landlords.