---
type: "Bill"
title: "LANDLORD/TENANT ACT-COMMERCIAL"
description: "Amends the Landlord and Tenant Act. Provides that covenants in commercial leases exempting the lessor from liability for property damage are not void as against public policy. Effective immediately."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "94th"
identifier: "HB 237"
citation: "Illinois HB 237 (94th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 29
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2005-01-14"
last_action: "2005-08-16"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/23cd7617-1b87-493f-80f9-c86fd3e91df4"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=237&GAID=8&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=14456&SessionID=50&GA=94"
source_hash: "ad7a358f6a678e6c9f76bae16cecacf0e5cf54ade63ecc8e3c063203010d1fa5"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-il"]
---

# Illinois HB 237 (94th) — LANDLORD/TENANT ACT-COMMERCIAL

Amends the Landlord and Tenant Act. Provides that covenants in commercial leases exempting the lessor from liability for property damage are not void as against public policy. Effective immediately.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09400HB0237&GA=94&SessionId=50&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=14456&DocNum=237&GAID=8&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09400HB0237eng&GA=94&SessionId=50&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=14456&DocNum=237&GAID=8&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09400HB0237enr&GA=94&SessionId=50&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=14456&DocNum=237&GAID=8&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **106–2** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **58–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Elaine Nekritz — primary (person)
- Pamela J. Althoff — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2005-01-14** Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Elaine Nekritz `filing`
- **2005-01-19** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2005-01-19** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2005-01-26** Assigned to Judiciary I - Civil Law Committee `referral-committee`
- **2005-02-09** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Filed with Clerk by Judiciary I - Civil Law Committee `amendment-introduction`
- **2005-02-09** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Adopted in Judiciary I - Civil Law Committee; by Voice Vote `amendment-passage`
- **2005-02-09** Do Pass as Amended / Short Debate Judiciary I - Civil Law Committee; 013-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2005-02-10** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2005-02-10** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2005-02-10** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2005-02-18** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 106-002-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2005-02-23** Arrive in Senate `introduction`
- **2005-02-23** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading February 24, 2005 `reading-1`
- **2005-03-10** Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Kirk W. Dillard
- **2005-03-15** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2005-03-15** Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2005-04-13** Assigned to Housing & Community Affairs `referral-committee`
- **2005-04-20** Postponed - Housing & Community Affairs
- **2005-04-20** Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Pamela J. Althoff
- **2005-05-04** Do Pass Housing & Community Affairs; 008-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2005-05-04** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading May 5, 2005
- **2005-05-11** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2005-05-11** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading May 12, 2005
- **2005-05-19** Third Reading - Passed; 058-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2005-05-19** Passed Both Houses
- **2005-06-17** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2005-08-16** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2005-08-16** Effective Date August 16, 2005
- **2005-08-16** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 94-0601 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/23cd7617-1b87-493f-80f9-c86fd3e91df4`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).