Regulating the condition and operation of rental housing by local governments is a major challenge facing landlords across the United States, particularly those communities experiencing social and economic distress. In recent years, along with widespread foreclosures and loss of property values, many municipalities have seen increasing numbers of single-family homes go from owner-occupancy to absentee ownership and rental occupancy. While the stock of sound, well-managed single-family rental properties can be a valuable community asset and most landlords are responsible owners, that is not always the case. Many rental properties in some Illinois villages and cities are neither sound nor well-managed and may have a destabilizing effect on their surroundings
The responsibility for making sure that landlords maintain and manage their properties well falls to local governments, which has the authority to enforce codes and take a variety of other actions under the legal powers municipalities are granted to regulate property. The goal of these regulations is not to drive landlords away or to punish them, but to raise the quality bar for rental housing in the community, and ensure to the extent possible that landlords who own property in the municipality are responsible stewards of their properties, working with the municipality to ensure that neighborhoods remain safe and clean.
In this section of the forum, we are attempting to gather each municipality's rules regarding rental housing. By no means the information is complete and we rely on our members to help us keep up with ever-changing regulations.
Please help us keep the information up to date and accurate by reporting all updates and corrections in the comment section of each municipality.