Mount Prospect Art. XVIII Residential Landlord and Tenant Regulations § 23.1816

A. Inspection Requirements; License Issuance Or Denial:


1. Each multi-family rental structure and each unit within the structure shall be subject to inspection, in accordance with this section, for compliance with all applicable regulations. A license may be denied if the structure or a unit within the structure has been inspected and is not in compliance with applicable regulations or outstanding fees or judgments exist. In such a case, the licensee may apply for a conditional license.


2. Initial and subsequent annual licensing inspections shall be conducted on a regular schedule and include the building exterior, common areas, basement and not less than twenty percent (20%) of the individual dwelling units. All units within the structure shall be inspected every five (5) years unless inspections are required less frequently pursuant to the incentive provisions of this article. However, no multi- family structure which is less than ten (10) years old shall be subject to individual dwelling unit inspections unless there is reasonable suspicion that a violation exists to make such an inspection. The age of the structure shall be established from the date of the original certificate of occupancy or, if not available, by proof otherwise acceptable to the Village.


3. An owner may elect to have inspections conducted on an "as vacant" basis, in which case the Village must be given two (2) weeks' advance notice to schedule an inspection before a vacant unit is to be reoccupied. If a violation, other than a warning condition, is found during such an inspection, then subsections A4 through A9 of this section shall apply and an inspection group's "as vacant" inspection status shall be discontinued until the director is satisfied that all units are in compliance.


4. The owner will be given at least thirty (30) days' notice by regular mail prior to any inspection. Upon receipt of the notice of inspection, the owner shall notify the tenant of the date and time of the inspection on a form provided by the village, by personal service or placing the completed form under or on the door of the unit at least seventy two (72) hours prior to the inspection. The form shall contain a certification that the owner has served such notice. Such notices shall inform the owner and occupant, respectively, of their right to refuse to consent to the inspection and to require the village to obtain an administrative search warrant. The director may establish procedures to assure reasonable notice in certain circumstances, e.g., lack of cooperation by owner, in which case service and posting requirements need not comply with the requirements of this subsection A4.


5. Rental structures, other than multi-family rental structures, shall be subject to inspection in response to complaints regarding noncompliance with applicable regulations. The exterior of such structures shall also be subject to inspection as part of the village's routine property maintenance program. Inspections shall be conducted in accordance with subsections A6 through A9 and A11 of this section.


6. If any owner, property manager, tenant or other person in control of a rental structure fails or refuses to consent to free access and entry to the property for any inspection pursuant to this article, the code official or designee may, upon approval of the village manager, apply to the circuit court for an administrative warrant or other appropriate court order authorizing such inspection. Such an application shall not be a waiver of the village's right to seek other remedies pursuant to this article.


7. The director may establish compliance time periods during which violations must be corrected. A separate time period may be established for correction of warning conditions. Failure to comply with such a time period shall be a violation of this article.


8. If a licensing inspection reveals any violation or warning condition, a compliance time period shall be set by the director. The code official shall serve notice of the violations and/or warning conditions, and the compliance time period on the owner or property manager personally or by regular U.S. mail at the address provided on the most recent license application. The notice shall include the following:


a. Identification of the property;


b. A statement listing the violations and applicable code sections;


c. The time period for compliance;


d. A statement that the owner has a right to request a hearing before the village manager to contest the finding of violations or warning conditions. Said request for a hearing must be received by the village manager within eight (8) days following the date such notice was personally delivered or placed in the mail. If such a request for a hearing is not received within that time period, the code official's determination shall become final.


e. An explanation that all violations and warning conditions must be corrected within the compliance time period, or fees, charges, and liens, as described in section 23.1817 of this article, may result, and the license will be subject to suspension, revocation and nonrenewal.


9. The effective date of a notice of violation shall be the date personally served or when placed in the mail. Once a notice of violation has been served, the owner shall be responsible for all enforcement fees associated with the property until the violations are corrected.


10. The director shall monitor compliance with the notice of violation through periodic tracking and inspection of the repair status. Once a notice of violation has been sent, the owner shall be responsible for all enforcement fees associated with the property.


11. A licensing reinspection will be conducted at the request of the owner(s).


12. If during a licensing inspection or reinspection any dwelling unit is determined to be unfit for human occupancy pursuant to the village's property maintenance code, an additional twenty percent (20%) of the dwelling units in the subject multi-family rental property shall be inspected. If similar violations are observed in the additional dwelling units, the owner's entire multi-family rental property shall be subject to inspection. All additional dwelling units inspected shall be subject to inspection fees per unit as set forth in appendix A, division II of this code.


13. If, during any licensing period the village finds no violations or only warning conditions, then, except as provided below, subsequent inspections shall be made according to the following incentive schedule:


a. An inspection group with twelve (12) or fewer units shall have individual dwelling unit inspections waived for the following license year.


b. An inspection group with thirteen (13) to nineteen (19) units shall have only one unit inspected for the following license year.


c. An inspection group with twenty (20) or more units shall have only five percent (5%) of the units inspected for the following license year.


If, while the incentive schedule is in effect, violations other than warning conditions are discovered, then the incentive schedule shall be terminated and the regular schedule shall immediately be reinstated. The incentive schedule shall remain in effect so long as only minor warning conditions are found and they are corrected in a timely manner.


A change in ownership of an inspection group shall not affect the incentive schedule status of the inspection group.


14. The village inspector shall, prior to entering an occupied apartment, give the property manager or owner a reasonable opportunity to be present during the inspection. Unless otherwise specified in a court order or warrant, the inspector will not inspect or search personal property of the owner or tenant. The inspector, while performing the duties of his/her office, will otherwise fully consider the privacy and dignity of the owner and tenant, and will not enter or open closets, medicine cabinets or the other closed cabinets or lockers unless the inspector has reasonable grounds to believe that to do so would establish evidence of code violations. If a tenant desires to be present for an inspection and it would result in an unusual hardship for that resident to be present during regular village business hours, the inspector shall attempt to conduct the inspection at a time reasonably convenient to the tenant. (Ord. 5745, 6-16-2009; amd. Ord. 5807, 8-3-2010; Ord. 5896, 12-20-2011)