Neeley Erickson | talktoyourrealtor.com
Neeley Erickson | talktoyourrealtor.com
At its Dec. 19 meeting, the city council of Freeport considered some changes to the city code regarding property rentals.
The city has had a rental property registration program since 2013 and has amended it several times since. The new changes to this code include requiring an email address from the property owner, allowing the city’s utility billing department to be able to request the lease and rental information, and that requests from the city can be followed up by email communication rather than “written” communication.
These changes were done in an attempt to stop noncompliance of property owners with the rental registration program. The council also increased the late fee for registration from $50 to $100 and the fine for noncompliance with this from $500 to $1,000 in an attempt to maintain compliance and ensure general health and safety.
There was also a public comment made by a representative of Realtors and property owners in the area. Neeley Erickson thanked the council for its steps in enhancing penalties for those who are not following procedures instead of lumping all landlords together. She encouraged the board to continue collaborating with Realtors and landlords in the future to solve any more problems that arise.
“I am here today on behalf of the 1300 members of the Freeport Tri County Realtor chapter of Northwest Illinois Alliance of Realtors,” Government Affairs director Erickson said. “We appreciate the discussion being held tonight regarding the changes to the property rental registration program and support the enhanced penalties for those housing providers not following the city's registration procedures. We are thankful to this Council for not casting a wide net in lumping responsible landlords into additional fees and burdensome regulations. This ordinance is an approach that balances the entrepreneurial spirit of providing rental housing while focusing on problem property owners that are not investing in your community. Realtors strongly encourage the city to fully enforce penalties and be diligent in seeking out offenders to hold them responsible for their choice to disregard this ordinance.”
The council will finalize the resolution at a future meeting.
The council uploaded a livestream of its public meeting on the city’s YouTube channel.
The board also discussed appointments for a variety of positions.
The council will meet again at 6 p.m. on Jan. 17 at City Hall on 314 West Stepenson St..
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