Illinois Compiled Statutes
Responsible Property Transfer
Act of 1988
765 ILCS 90
This is no longer law -- it was rescinded in 2003
(765 ILCS 90/)
(765 ILCS 90/1)
Sec. 1. Short title. This Act shall be known and may be cited as
the Responsible Property Transfer Act of 1988.
(Source: P.A. 85-1228.)
(765 ILCS 90/2)
Sec. 2. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to ensure that parties
involved in certain real estate transactions are made aware of the
existing environmental liabilities associated with ownership of such
properties, as well as the past use and environmental status of such
properties. It is also the purpose of this Act to ensure that the
interest of the People of the State is protected by providing a
mechanism whereby parties to a real estate transaction are advised of
the environmental condition of such property and thus are encouraged to
act in a responsible manner so as to fulfill the purpose and intent of
existing environmental laws.
(Source: P.A. 85-1228.)
(765 ILCS 90/3)
Sec. 3. Definitions. As used in this Act:
- "Disclosure document" means a document containing the information prescribed in Section 5 of this Act and used to communicate information between the parties to a real property transaction.
- "Facility" means all buildings, equipment, structures and other stationary items which are located on a single site.
- "Lender" means any financial institution, insurance company, corporation, partnership, person or other entity which advances funds secured by an interest in real property or collateral assignment of beneficial interest in an Illinois land trust holding title to real property.
- "Parties to the real property transfer" means, as applicable, the transferor, transferee and any lender.
- "Real property" means any specific and identifiable parcel of
land, including improvements thereon, located within the State of
Illinois which has not been subject to bonding or other financial
assurances released by the appropriate governmental agency after
compliance with applicable State environmental laws, and which:
- contains one or more facilities which are subject to reporting under Section 312 of the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986, and federal regulations promulgated thereunder; or
- has underground storage tanks which require notification under Section 9002 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6991). For the purposes of this Act, however, "real property" does not include single family residences, multiple-unit residences, residential condominiums, or other residential property unless the property has underground storage tanks as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection.
- "Specific and identifiable parcel of land" means a portion of real property containing facilities which may be identified by the address provided on reporting forms used to report under Section 312 of the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986, and federal regulations promulgated thereunder, or by boundary lines which are provided on such property's applicable Illinois Environmental Protection Agency permit applications. If only a portion of a real property is transferred, then this Act shall only apply to such portion actually being transferred.
- "Transfer" means any conveyance of an interest in real property
by:
- deed or other instrument of conveyance; or
- a lease of real property whose term, when considering all options which may be exercised, exceeds 40 years; or
- an assignment of more than 25% of the beneficial interest in an Illinois land trust; or
- a mortgage, trust deed, or collateral assignment of a beneficial interest in an Illinois land trust. However, "transfer" does not include the following: deeds or trust documents or mortgages or trust deeds or collateral assignments of a beneficial interest in an Illinois land trust which, without additional consideration, confirm, correct, modify or supplement a document previously recorded; deeds or other instruments of transfer, conveyance, merger, or consolidation whereby part or all of an Illinois land trustee's land trust business is transferred to (by purchase or otherwise) or conveyed, merged, or consolidated with another land trustee under Section 3-3 of the Corporate Fiduciary Act; tax deeds; deeds or trust documents of release of property which is security for a debt or other obligation; deeds of partition; conveyances occurring as a result of a foreclosure of a mortgage, trust deed, or other lien on real property; a Uniform Commercial Code sale or other foreclosure of a collateral assignment of a beneficial interest in an Illinois land trust; advances by a lender secured by a previously recorded mortgage, trust deed, or a collateral assignment of a beneficial interest in an Illinois land trust including, without limitation, such advances under line of credit loans and construction loans; modifications, supplements and amendments to existing mortgages, trust deeds, and collateral assignments of beneficial interests in Illinois land trusts which with or without additional consideration do not involve the advancement of additional funds by the lender; easements; and conveyances of an interest in minerals, oil or gas.
- "Transferee" means a buyer, trustee under a trust deed (except for purposes of Section 6), mortgagee (except for purposes of Section 6), grantee or lessee of real property, or an assignee (except a collateral assignee for purposes of Section 6) of a greater than 25% interest in an Illinois land trust, or in the case of a transfer to the trustee of an Illinois land trust, the owners of the beneficial interest of the land trust.
- "Transferor" means a seller, grantor, mortgagor under a mortgage or trust deed, or lessor of real property, an assignor of a greater than 25% interest, collateral or otherwise, in an Illinois land trust or, in the case of a transfer by the trustee of an Illinois land trust, the owners of the beneficial interest of the land trust.
(765 ILCS 90/4)
Sec. 4. Duty to disclose.
- For all transfers of real property subject to this Act which occur after January 1, 1990, the transferor shall, within 30 days following execution of a written contract, if any, for the transfer of the property, but not later than 30 days prior to the transfer of real property subject to this Act, deliver to the transferee, if any, and to the lender, if any, a disclosure document. In any transfer which involves multiple transactions including, without limitation, deed and mortgage, sale and leaseback, separate mortgages of fee title and leasehold estate, or creation of a land trust and collateral assignment of the beneficial interest thereunder to secure a loan, the execution of a single disclosure document, in the form provided for in Section 5, by the primary transferor with timely delivery thereof to each transferee and lender involved in the transfer shall satisfy the duty to disclose required by this Section. Such disclosure document shall be in the form and contain the information required in Section 5 of this Act.
- The parties to the transfer of real property subject to this Act may waive the time period specified in subsection (a) of this Section 4 if all such parties indicate in writing that they are aware of the purpose and intent of the disclosure document. Notwithstanding the waiver provision contained in this subsection (b) the disclosure document provided for in Section 5 must be delivered to all parties to the real property transfer on or before the date of transfer of the real property.
- If the disclosure document reveals environmental defects in the real property which were previously unknown to the parties to the real property transfer or if the transferor fails to comply with subsection (a) of this Section and fails to obtain a waiver and provide the disclosure as provided for in subsection (b), then any of the parties to the real property transfer may at their discretion, within 10 days after demand for or receipt of the disclosure document, void any obligation to accept a transfer or finance a transfer which has yet to be closed or finalized; provided, however, that nothing contained herein shall be deemed to release a party to the real property transfer from the obligation to pay or reimburse the lender for fees, costs, and expenses.
- A failure by any party to the real property transfer to comply with any provision of this Act shall not invalidate in any manner or affect the lien or the priority of any mortgage, trust deed, or collateral assignment of beneficial interest in an Illinois land trust. (Source: P.A. 86-679.)
(765 ILCS 90/5)
Sec. 5. Form and content of Disclosure Document.
(a) The disclosure document required under Section 4 of this Act
shall consist of the following form:
FOR TRANSFER OF REAL PROPERTY
For Use By County
Recorder's Office
The following information is County
provided pursuant to the Date
Responsible Property Doc. No.
Transfer Act of 1988 Vol.
Seller:....................... Page
Buyer:........................ Rec'd by:
Document No.:.................
I. PROPERTY IDENTIFICATION:
A. Address of property:.................................
Street City or Village Township
Permanent Real Estate Index No.:.....................
B. Legal Description:
Section......... Township......... Range...........
Enter or attach current legal description in
this area:
Prepared by:................ Return to:................
name name
................ ................
address address
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transferors and transferees of real property are advised that their ownership or other control of such property may render them liable for any environmental clean-up costs whether or not they caused or contributed to the presence of environmental problems associated with the property.
C. Property Characteristics:
Lot Size.................. Acreage..................
Check all types of improvement and
uses that pertain to the property:
...... Apartment building (6 units or less)
...... Commercial apartment (over 6 units)
...... Store, office, commercial building
...... Industrial building
...... Farm, with buildings
...... Other (specify)
II. NATURE OF TRANSFER:
Yes No
A. (1) Is this a transfer by deed or
other instrument of conveyance? .... ....
(2) Is this a transfer by assignment
of over 25% of beneficial interest
of an Illinois land trust? .... ....
(3) A lease exceeding a term of
40 years? .... ....
(4) A mortgage or collateral
assignment of beneficial
interest? .... ....
B. (1) Identify Transferor:
........................................................
Name and Current Address of Transferor
.......................................................
Name and Address of Trustee if this is a Trust No. transfer of beneficial interest of a land trust. (2) Identify person who has completed this form on behalf of the Transferor and who has knowledge of the information contained in this form:
.......................................................
Name, Position (if any), and address Telephone No.
C. Identify Transferee:
........................................................
Name and Current Address of Transferee
III. NOTIFICATION
Under the Illinois Environmental Protection Act, owners of real property may be held liable for costs related to the release of hazardous substances.
- Section 22.2(f) of the Act states in part:
"Notwithstanding any other provision or rule of law, and subject only to the defenses set forth in subsection (j) of this Section, the following persons shall be liable for all costs of removal or remedial action incurred by the State of Illinois or any unit of local government as a result of a release or substantial threat of a release of a hazardous substance or pesticide:- the owner and operator of a facility or vessel from which
there is a release or substantial threat of release of a hazardous
substance or pesticide;
- any person who at the time of disposal, transport, storage
or treatment of a hazardous substance or pesticide owned or operated
the facility or vessel used for such disposal, transport, treatment
or storage from which there was a release or substantial threat of a
release of any such hazardous substance or pesticide;
- any person who by contract, agreement, or otherwise has arranged with another party or entity for transport, storage, disposal or treatment of hazardous substances or pesticides owned, controlled or possessed by such person at a facility owned or operated by another party or entity from which facility there is a release or substantial threat of a release of such hazardous substances or pesticides; and
- any person who accepts or accepted any hazardous substances or pesticides for transport to disposal, storage or treatment facilities or sites from which there is a release or a substantial threat of a release of a hazardous substance or pesticide."
- the owner and operator of a facility or vessel from which
there is a release or substantial threat of release of a hazardous
substance or pesticide;
- Section 4(q) of the Act states: "The Agency shall have the authority to provide notice to any person who may be liable pursuant to Section 22.2(f) of this Act for a release or a substantial threat of a release of a hazardous substance or pesticide. Such notice shall include the identified response action and an opportunity for such person to perform the response action."
- Section 22.2(k) of the Act states in part: "If any person who is liable for a release or substantial threat of release of a hazardous substance or pesticide fails without sufficient cause to provide removal or remedial action upon or in accordance with a notice and request by the Agency or upon or in accordance with any order of the Board or any court, such person may be liable to the State for punitive damages in an amount at least equal to, and not more than 3 times, the amount of any costs incurred by the State of Illinois as a result of such failure to take such removal or remedial action. The punitive damages imposed by the Board shall be in addition to any costs recovered from such person pursuant to this Section and in addition to any other penalty or relief provided by this Act or any other law."
- Section 57.12(a) of the Act states in part: "Notwithstanding any other provision or rule of law, the owner or operator, or both, of an underground storage tank shall be liable for all costs of investigation, preventive action, corrective action and enforcement action incurred by the State of Illinois resulting from an underground storage tank."
- The text of the statutes set out above is subject to change by amendment. Persons using this form may update it to reflect changes in the text of the statutes cited, but no disclosure statement shall be invalid merely because it sets forth an obsolete or superseded version of such text.
Regulatory Information During Current Ownership
- Has the transferor ever conducted operations on the property
which involved the generation, manufacture, processing, transportation,
treatment, storage or handling of "hazardous substances", as defined by
the Illinois Environmental Protection Act? This question shall not be
applicable for consumer goods stored or handled by a retailer in the
same form, approximate amount, concentration and manner as they are sold
to consumers, provided that such retailer does not engage in any
commercial mixing (other than paint mixing or tinting of consumer sized
containers), finishing, refinishing, servicing, or cleaning operations
on the property.
Yes ......
No ......
- Has the transferor ever conducted operations on the property
which involved the processing, storage or handling of petroleum, other
than that which was associated directly with the transferor's vehicle
usage?
Yes ......
No ......
- Has the transferor ever conducted operations on the property
which involved the generation, transportation, storage, treatment or
disposal of "hazardous or special wastes", as defined by the federal
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Illinois Environmental
Protection Act?
Yes ......
No ......
- Are there any of the following specific units (operating or
closed) at the property which are or were used by the transferor to
manage waste, hazardous wastes, hazardous substances or petroleum?
YES NO
Landfill ...... ......
Surface Impoundment ...... ......
Land Treatment ...... ......
Waste Pile ...... ......
Incinerator ...... ......
Storage Tank (Above Ground) ...... ......
Storage Tank (Underground) ...... ......
Container Storage Area ...... ......
Injection Wells ...... ......
Wastewater Treatment Units ...... ......
Septic Tanks ...... ......
Transfer Stations ...... ......
Waste Recycling Operations ...... ......
Waste Treatment Detoxification ...... ......
Other Land Disposal Area ...... ......
If there are "YES" answers to any of the above items and the transfer is other than a mortgage or collateral assignment of beneficial interest, attach a site plan which identifies the location of each unit, such site plan to be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency along with this disclosure document.
- Has the transferor ever held any of the following in regard to
this real property?
a. Permits for discharges of Yes ......
wastewater to waters of the State. No ......
b. Permits for emissions to Yes ......
the atmosphere. No ......
c. Permits for any waste storage, Yes ......
waste treatment or waste disposal No ......
operation.
6. Has the transferor had any wastewater discharges (other than sewage) to a publicly owned treatment works?
Yes ......
No ......
- Has the transferor taken any of the following actions relative
to this property?
a. Prepared a Chemical Safety Yes ......
Contingency Plan pursuant to the No ......
Illinois Chemical Safety Act.
b. Filed an Emergency and Hazardous Yes ......
Chemical Inventory Form pursuant No ......
to the federal Emergency Planning
and Community Right-to-Know Act of
1986.
c. Filed a Toxic Chemical Release Form Yes ......
pursuant to the federal Emergency No ......
Planning and Community Right-to-
Know Act of 1986.
- Has the transferor or any facility on the property or the
property been the subject of any of the following State or federal
governmental actions?
a. Written notification regarding Yes ......
known, suspected or alleged
contamination on or emanating No ......
from the property.
b. Filing an environmental enforcement Yes ......
case with a court or the Pollution
Control Board for which a final No ......
order or consent decree was entered.
c. If item b. was answered by checking Yes ......
Yes, then indicate whether or not
the final order or decree is still No ......
in effect for this property.
9. Environmental Releases During Transferor's Ownership
a. Has any situation occurred at this site which resulted in a reportable "release" of any hazardous substances or petroleum as required under State or federal laws?
Yes ......
No .......
b. Have any hazardous substances or petroleum, which were released, come into direct contact with the ground at this site?
Yes ......
No ......
c. If the answers to questions (a) and (b) are Yes, have any of the following actions or events been associated with a release on the property?
.... Use of a cleanup contractor to remove or treat
materials including soils, pavement or other
surficial materials
.... Assignment of in-house maintenance staff to remove
or treat materials including soils, pavement or
other surficial materials
.... Designation, by the IEPA or the IEMA, of the
release as "significant" under the Illinois
Chemical Safety Act
.... Sampling and analysis of soils
.... Temporary or more long-term monitoring of
groundwater at or near the site
.... Impaired usage of an on-site or nearby water well
because of offensive characteristics of the water
.... Coping with fumes from subsurface storm drains
or inside basements, etc.
.... Signs of substances leaching out of the ground
along the base of slopes or at other low points
on or immediately adjacent to the site
- Is the facility currently operating under a variance granted by
the Illinois Pollution Control Board?
Yes ......
No ......
- Is there any explanation needed for clarification of any of the
above answers or responses?
........................................................................
........................................................................
........................................................................
........................................................................
- Provide the following information about the previous owner or
any entity or person the transferor leased the site to or otherwise
contracted with for the management of the site or real property:
Name: ......................................
......................................
Type of business/ ...............................
or property usage ...............................
...............................
- If the transferor has knowledge, indicate whether the following
existed under prior ownerships, leaseholds granted by the transferor,
other contracts for management or use of the facilities or real
property:
YES NO
Landfill ...... ......
Surface Impoundment ...... ......
Land Treatment ...... ......
Waste Pile ...... ......
Incinerator ...... ......
Storage Tank (Above Ground) ...... ......
Storage Tank (Underground) ...... ......
Container Storage Area ...... ......
Injection Wells ...... ......
Wastewater Treatment Units ...... ......
Septic Tanks ...... ......
Transfer Stations ...... ......
Waste Recycling Operations ...... ......
Waste Treatment Detoxification ...... ......
Other Land Disposal Area ...... ......
- Based on my inquiry of those persons directly responsible for
gathering the information, I certify that the information submitted is,
to the best of my knowledge and belief, true and accurate.
............................
signature
............................
type or print name
TRANSFEROR OR TRANSFERORS
(or on behalf of Transferor)
- This form was delivered to me with all elements completed on
(insert date).
...........................
signature
...........................
type or print name
TRANSFEREE OR TRANSFEREES
(or on behalf of Transferee)
- This form was delivered to me with all elements completed on
(insert date).
...........................
signature
.............................
type or print name
LENDER
(765 ILCS 90/6)
Sec. 6. Duty to Record. Within 30 days after the date any real
property subject to the provisions of this Act is transferred, or, upon
recording of the deed, other instrument of conveyance, lease, mortgage
or assignment of the beneficial interest in an Illinois land trust,
whichever occurs first, the disclosure document, as required pursuant to
Section 4 of this Act, shall be recorded in the office of the recorder
of the county in which such property is located, and within 30 days
after the date any real property subject to the provisions of this Act
is transferred, a copy thereof shall be filed with the Environmental
Protection Agency. In the case of real property transferred pursuant to
item (1), (2) or (3) of subsection (g) of Section 3, the disclosure
document and attached site plan, if required, shall be filed with the
Environmental Protection Agency. Upon receipt of a certified disclosure
document the County Recorder of Deeds shall accept and record such
document. Responsibility for the recordation thereof rests equally upon
the transferor and the transferee of such property. Such recorded
disclosure statement shall be available for public inspection and
reproduction under the same conditions as any other document so
recorded.
(Source: P.A. 86-679.)
(765 ILCS 90/7)
Sec. 7. Enforcement.
- Any person failing to comply with the
provisions of Section 4 of this Act shall be liable for civil penalties
not to exceed $1,000 for said violation and $1,000 for each day during
which such violations continue.
- Any person or transferor who with actual knowledge makes any
false statement, representation, or certification under Section 5 of
this Act shall be liable for civil penalties not to exceed $10,000 for
said violation and $10,000 for each day such violations continue.
- Persons who fail to record a disclosure document as required
under Section 6 of this Act shall be jointly and severally liable for
civil penalties not to exceed $10,000. In the event a party to a real
property transfer is in violation of Section 4 of this Act, then there
shall be no cause of action against the transferee, under Section 6 of
this Act.
- The State's Attorney of the county in which the violation occurred, or the Attorney General, may at the request of the Environmental Protection Agency, a citizen of that county or on his own motion, institute a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction to recover penalties and to compel compliance with provisions of this Act.
- Any person who suffers damage by reason of a violation of this
Act by any other person may bring an action against such person. The
court, in its discretion, may award monetary damages as the court deems
proper. In any such action, the court may award in addition to the
damages provided for in this Section, reasonable attorneys' fees and
costs to the prevailing party provided however that no action may be
taken against the transferee for failure to comply with Section 6 of
this Act in the event a party to a real property transfer is in
violation of Section 4 of this Act.