2-Feb-20 – Now that marijuana consumption is legal in Chicago and Illinois, does the new law allow renters to light up a joint in their apartment, forget their troubles, and enjoy getting high?

“Nothing in the new Illinois law says that landlords are required to allow tenants or visitors to use cannabis on or in their property,” reports the Domu Landlord Newsletter. “Because one of the most common ways of consuming cannabis is by smoking it, landlords who’ve already implemented a smoking ban for their apartments may consider the same guidelines when it comes to smoking cannabis in the apartment.”

Here is the text of a sample Non-Smoking Rider used by one North Side landlord...

The landlord’s rules coincide with an expansive non-smoking city ordinance. On December 7, 2005, the Chicago City Council passed a comprehensive clean air ordinance. The ordinance went into effect on January 16, 2006, and was expanded on July 1, 2008.

Consequences for violating the landlord’s no-smoking policy may include smoking fines of $100 for the first offense, $250 for the second offense, and $500 for the third offense.

What about medical marijuana?

Can a renter use medical cannabis in his or her apartment? Domu says the answer is no, but there are caveats.

“Non-smoking areas can be enforced in an apartment building, including residential unit interiors, so that might limit the forms of consumption for medical cannabis in Chicago apartments,” Domu notes.

However, there are other ways of consuming medical cannabis that don’t involve smoking, such as ingestibles or tinctures. Those cannot be prohibited in apartments if the tenant holds a valid prescription.

Landlords can no longer screen for criminal history

All Cook County landlords should revisit their tenant-screening process following the passage of the Just Housing Ordinance that went into effect on December 31, 2019, Domu advises.

Prior to passage of the new law, Cook County landlords could ask applicants to disclose their criminal history before taking an apartment rental application. Landlords could refuse to show or lease an apartment for rent solely based on an applicant’s criminal record.

According to civil rights advocates who lobbied for the ordinance, blanket housing discrimination based on an applicant’s criminal history leads to greater recidivism, homelessness, and family instability, and is unfair to potential tenants who do not pose a risk to personal safety or property. However, the ordinance does not require landlords to rent an apartment to sex offenders.

Credit scores will rise and fall

Credit scores for as many as 40 million Americans are about to change because of the growth of personal loans, credit experts say.

“Credit scores could drop by 20 points or more for millions of Americans, while scores also could rise by an equal number of people,” said Joanne Gaskin (left), vice president of scores and analytics at FICO, the company at the heart of the credit scoring system.

With more than $300 billion owed, personal loans are growing faster than any other consumer debt category. Many of these loans promise to lower the borrower’s interest rate by consolidating credit card debt into a single loan.

For the first time, FICO is breaking out personal loans as a distinct category to determine whether borrowers use them responsibly.

Let’s assume you pay off all your credit cards with one personal loan. Under the old system, your credit score might go up. But under the new approach, FICO will look back over a period of time – as far as two years – to see whether you’ve used the loan to reduce your high interest credit card debt – or whether you’re using plastic as much as before, running up new revolving balances and falling deeper into debt.

A 20-point swing could mean you don’t qualify for that new apartment if the landlord requires a 700 FICO score and you only have 680. If a lender requires a 740-point credit score to obtain a conventional mortgage, you could get rejected or charged a higher interest rate if your score is only 720.