Thornton, Ill., Mun. Code ch. 7-11 § 7-11-3

[ 11-20-2017 ] A. Purpose. It is the purpose of this chapter to assure that rental housing in the Village is decent, safe and sanitary and is so operated and maintained as not to become a nuisance to the neighborhood or to become an influence that fosters blight and deterioration or creates a disincentive to reinvestment in the community. The operation of rental residential properties is a business enterprise that entails certain responsibilities. Operators are responsible to take such reasonable steps as are necessary to assure that the citizens of the Village who occupy such units may pursue the quiet enjoyment of the normal activities of life in surroundings that are: safe, secure and sanitary; free from noise, nuisances or annoyances; free from unreasonable fears about safety of persons and security of property, and suitable for raising children. B. Responsibilities of owners and occupants. No owner or other person shall occupy or let another person occupy any building unless it and the premises are clean, sanitary, fit for human occupancy, and comply with all applicable legal requirements of the State of Illinois and the Village of Thornton, including the following requirements. C. Maintenance of shared or public areas. Every owner of a building shall maintain in a clean, sanitary and safe condition the shared or public areas of the building and premises thereof. D. Maintenance of occupied areas. All occupants of a building shall maintain in a clean, sanitary and safe condition that part or those parts of the building and premises thereof that they occupy and control. E. One family per dwelling unit. Not more than one family, except for temporary guests, shall occupy a dwelling unit. F. License required. No person, corporation or other entity shall operate one- and two-family rental dwelling units and multiple-family dwelling units unless he or she or it holds a current, unrevoked operating license issued by the enforcement authority of the Village of Thornton, in his or her or its name, for the specifically named or identified one- and two-family rental dwelling unit or units or multiple-family dwelling units. G. License term. Licenses will be issued for a time period according to the license type as indicated in Diagram I. All licenses may be reviewed at any time after the beginning of the license term to determine whether the property continues to have the appropriate type license. All licenses expire on April 30, unless sooner revoked. Diagram I Licensing Category Licensing Period Minimum Inspection Frequency Plans Type I 2 years Minimum 1 time in 2 years, upon request, or as needed as determined by Village Type II 1 year Minimum 1 time per year, upon request, or as needed as determined by Village Type III provisional 6 months Minimum every 6 months, upon request, or as needed as determined by Village, or as otherwise specified by mitigation plan Mitigation plan required H. New licenses. Properties that have legally not been required to have a rental license due to new construction or a change from owner-occupied to rental will qualify for a Type II license. Properties found operating without a valid rental license from the Village or failing to meet Village Code requirements or that have been the subject of enforcement actions, such as criminal prosecution or civil penalties for violation of this chapter, will only qualify for a Type III license. I. License renewals. All rental properties are subject to review and may be required to apply and qualify for a different license type based on the level of compliance with Village codes and applicable regulations. J. Failure to meet license category requirements. At any time during a license period, if a rental property does not meet or exceed the criteria established for the current license type, the license may be brought forth to the Village Administrator for consideration of license suspension, revocation, and/or license type review. K. Type IV provisional licenses. Rental properties under Type IV provisional licensing must meet the requirements set forth in § 7-11-3CC . L. License category criteria. License type will be determined on the basis of established criteria based on property inspections, police incidents and property code and nuisance violations. M. Period of license. Every operating license shall be issued for a period based on the type of license issued according to Diagram I. Said license is transferable to a new person, corporation or other entity on notification to the enforcement authority of intent to transfer, prior to the actual transfer, and any such license so transferred shall remain in effect until its renewal or termination date, provided the transferee meets the requirements of this chapter. N. Licensing authorized. The Village enforcement authority is hereby authorized, upon application on forms provided by the enforcement authority, to issue a new operating license or to renew an existing operating license, in the name of the owner, operator or agent thereof, for the operation of one- and two-family rental dwelling units or multiple-family dwelling units on presentation by the applicant of a certificate of compliance issued by the enforcement authority, showing compliance with the health, safety and maintenance standards set forth in this chapter and dated less than 180 days prior to the date of application. O. Inspection and application fees. The following fees must be paid in full at the time of application for the operating license. In the event that more than one reinspection is required, there will be an additional fee of $50 per inspection. 1. For single-family and multifamily units not to exceed two units: $100 per unit. 2. For multi-unit buildings with three or more units: $100 for the building and $35 per unit inspected. P. Renewal of existing license. Renewal of existing operating licenses must take place at least 60 days prior to the expiration date of said license, and all inspection and application fees shall be paid. A renewal application made after the expiration date shall be charged a late fee of $100. Any renewal application without the required certificate of compliance shall be charged a $25 per unit expediting fee in addition to the regular inspection and application fee. Q. Residency/registered agent. No license shall be issued or renewed for a nonresident applicant unless such applicant designates, in writing, on the application form, the name of a registered agent in the State of Illinois, Counties of Cook, Will, or DuPage, or Lake County, Indiana, for the receipt of service of any notices or correspondence issued pursuant to the enforcement of this chapter and for service of process pursuant to this chapter. An applicant shall be considered to be nonresident when absent from the Village of Thornton for 30 days or more. R. Display of license. Each license issued under this chapter must be available for inspection on request by any officer of the Village of Thornton, tenant or renter, or potential renter or tenant. S. Record of repair or changes. Any holder of an operating license issued pursuant to this chapter shall keep or cause to be kept a written record in the form of a list showing the date and nature of all repairs, alterations or changes in equipment or systems related to the provisions of this chapter or to any rules or regulations pertaining thereto, and of all corrections made as a result of inspections made by the Housing Inspector. Such record shall be made available to the enforcement authority on request to the holder of said license or their registered agent. Notice is hereby given that such record may be used in administrative or judicial proceedings pursuant to this chapter. T. Notice of violation. Whenever, upon inspection of any licensed premises or the records required to be kept under this chapter, a determination by the Housing Inspector or the enforcement authority indicates a violation of the provisions of this chapter occurs, a notice of violation shall be served in accordance with the requirements of this chapter. The notice of violation shall contain a statement of the specific requirement violated, and a provision for the licensee to correct the violation or violations in a reasonable time as determined by the enforcement authority, and a statement that the license is subject to revocation if the corrections do not take place in the time limit stated. U. Reinspection and suspension of the license. At the end of the time allowed for correction of the violation notice or earlier if requested by the license holder, a reinspection of the premises shall take place to determine if the corrections have taken place. If, on inspection, the corrections have not taken place, the enforcement authority shall issue an order suspending the operating license. V. Appeal of suspension order. An appeal to the enforcement authority appealing the suspension of an operating license must be in writing and submitted to the enforcement authority by the license holder or their agent within 10 days of the issue of the suspension order. Failure to correct violations and failure to appeal the suspension as provided herein shall result in the revocation of said license. W. Reinstatement of suspended or revoked license. A suspended or revoked operator's license for the operation of one- and two-family rental dwelling units or multiple-family dwelling units shall be reinstated only on reinspection showing all cited violations have been corrected. X. Conviction. If a license holder or occupant or tenant is found guilty in a court of competent jurisdiction of any violation of the ordinances of the Village of Thornton or the laws of the United States or the State of Illinois in connection with the licensed premises, then the license shall be subject to revocation without further notice. Y. Extremely hazardous conditions. In the event a condition of extreme hazard or imminent danger to the occupants or general public is found to exist on or in licensed premises, the Housing Inspector or the enforcement authority may immediately revoke the license and issue a notice of violation without a time limit to correct the hazardous condition; and order evacuation of the premises if, in the inspector's opinion, evacuation is necessary to protect the occupants. Z. Separate violation. Each item contained in a notice of violation may be considered a separate violation of this chapter, and each day that a violation exists from the date of discovery and the date of correction shall be considered a separate violation of the chapter and subject to the fines set herein. AA. Transfer of cited property. It is unlawful for the owner of any premises who has received compliance orders or upon whom a notice of violation has been served to sell, transfer, mortgage, lease or otherwise dispose of, to another party, the so-cited property until the provisions of the compliance order or notice of violation have been complied with, or until such owner shall furnish to the grantee, mortgagor or lessee a true copy of any compliance or notice of violation, issued by the enforcement authority, or shall furnish to the enforcement authority a signed and notarized statement from the grantee, transferee, mortgagor, or lessee acknowledging the receipt of such compliance order or notice of violation and fully accepting the responsibility without condition for making the corrections or repairs required by such compliance order or notice of violation. BB. Any owner, agent or designee of rented property is required to utilize a nuisance-free lease addendum or have a clause in the lease similar to a nuisance-free lease addendum for any leases executed after October 1, 2006. The Village Clerk shall provide at no cost samples of the nuisance-free lease addendum and shall review any clauses within actual leases with the Village Legal Department to determine if the clause is similar to the nuisance-free lease addendum. The clause is to make criminal activity (not limited to violent criminal activity or drug-related criminal activity engaged by, facilitated by or permitted by the renter, a member of the household, guest or other party under the control of the renter) a lease violation. The landlord shall have authority under that clause to initiate an eviction proceeding as specified in the Illinois Compiled Statutes forcible entry and detainer statutes. Proof of criminal violation shall be by a preponderance of the evidence. CC. Type IV provisional licenses. 1. Rental properties that meet the provisional licensing criteria as described in § 7-11-3 are eligible only for provisional licenses. 2. The Village enforcement authority will provide by registered mail to each licensee a monthly report of any police and fire calls and incidents and applicable property Code violations. 3. Mitigation plan. The applicant for a provisional license must submit for Village enforcement authority review a mitigation plan for the license period. The mitigation plan shall describe steps proposed by the applicant to reduce the number of police and fire calls and/or the property code issues to a level that qualifies for a Type I or II license. The mitigation plan may include such steps as changes in tenant screening procedures, changes in lease terms, security measures, rules and regulations for tenant conduct, security personnel, and time frame to implement all phases of the Crime-Free Housing Program. 4. Village consideration. The application with a proposed mitigation plan will be presented to the Village enforcement authority. After giving the applicant an opportunity to be heard and present evidence, the Village enforcement authority shall approve, disapprove, or approve with conditions the application and the mitigation plan. If the Village enforcement authority disapproves an application and mitigation plan or approves it with conditions, it shall state its reasons for so doing in writing. In evaluating a mitigation plan, the Village enforcement authority will consider, among other things, the facility, its management practices, the nature and seriousness of causes for police and fire incidences and/or property code issues, and the expected effectiveness of measures identified in the plan to reduce the number of police and fire incidences and/or property code violations. In evaluating a mitigation plan submitted by an applicant already under a provisional license, the Village enforcement authority will also consider the effectiveness of measures identified in the applicant's previous mitigation plan and the need for different or additional measures to reduce police and fire incidences and/or property code violations. 5. Compliance with mitigation plan. The licensee shall comply with the mitigation plan as approved or modified by the Village enforcement authority. No later than the 10th day after each calendar month, the licensee shall mail or deliver to the Village enforcement authority a written report describing all steps taken in furtherance of the mitigation plan during the preceding month.