(A) Commercial or residential property. All owners, agents, brokers or any individual or legal entity having ownership or control of any commercial or residential property which is offered for sale or rental within the city must notify the City Building Department with notice, 14 days prior to the execution of the first real estate listing agreement or 14 days prior to the public notification of an intent to sell or rent is made or published, whichever shall occur first, on a form provided by the Department.
(B) Residential property. All owners, agents, brokers or any individual or legal entity having ownership or control of any residential property which is offered for sale or rental within the city must notify the City Building Department with notice, 14 days prior to the first real estate listing agreement is executed or 14 days prior to the public notification of an intent to sell or rent is made or published, whichever shall occur first, on a form provided by the Department, including all required attachments.
(C) Inspection for compliance. The notice form shall also constitute the requestor’s invitation for the Building Department to inspect the property (“compliance inspection”) to determine whether such property is in compliance with the following specific requirements, which the Mayor and Aldermen of the City find are related to the public health, safety and welfare:
(1) Compliance with the Property Maintenance Code. All structures shall be in compliance with Chapter 150 of this code and the codes adopted therein; and
(2) Inspection to determine possible illegal conversions. All structures shall be inspected to determine whether they have been illegally converted. For purposes of this division (C)(2), ILLEGALLY CONVERTED means that the property was converted to another or additional use beyond that for which the property was originally permitted, and which: (a) is in violation of the property’s zoning limitations; and (b) is not a legal non-conforming use per Chapter 165 of this code, the city’s zoning ordinance.
(D) Proposed compliance inspection. When the requestor provides notice to the Building Department, the Department will schedule a proposed compliance inspection to be conducted within 28 calendar days of the notice. The notice form shall include the following attachments:
(1) Identification of requestor, copy of driver’s license or state ID;
(2) A notarized intent to sell and/or intent to rent form;
(3) The date and time of the proposed compliance inspection;
(4) A space for the requestor to indicate that the owner and/or tenant either consents to the compliance inspection or refuses to consent; and
(5) If consent is provided, for occupied rental dwellings, the city must also request and obtain the consent of the tenant prior to conducting any inspection.
(E) Inspection procedures.
(1) In the event consent is given or a warrant issued, the Department shall conduct the compliance inspection as provided in divisions (C) and (D) above. Within seven business days after the compliance inspection, the Department shall issue a written notice of violations and repairs, if any, necessary to bring the property into compliance with this section. In the event the inspection reveals a structure which has been illegally converted, the Department shall issue a notice of deconversion specifying the measures which must be taken in order to bring the illegally converted structure into compliance with applicable zoning regulations.
(2) A party issued a notice of repairs as provided for in division (E)(1) above shall proceed to make such repairs. Upon completion of said repairs and notice thereof to the Department, the Department will conduct a reinspection within seven business days thereafter. Upon completion of the follow-up repairs and the completion of any deconversion measures required by the Department, the Department shall issue a certificate of compliance.
(3) In the event the owner disputes the determination of violations and repairs, the owner may file a request for administrative review. An independent administrative hearing officer appointed by the city shall convene an administrative hearing within five business days from the date of appeal. Upon completion of the administrative hearing, the hearing officer will issue a final determination of violations and repairs.
(F) Conditional certificate of compliance; procedures. A requestor or owner who has not completed the repairs identified through the inspection may nevertheless transfer ownership of property if:
(1) (a) The owner or agent:
1. Deposits with the city an amount of money determined by the Building Department to be sufficient to bring the structure into compliance with all city building and zoning ordinances and any applicable housing, fire or property maintenance codes or regulations; or
2. Pays a fine to the city in the amount of $2,500. This exception may only be used once in a 36-month period.
(b) Wholesaling of property within the city must follow the provisions in this chapter, and each and every sale of property, even if an assignment of a real estate contract will require a certificate of compliance. In addition, each and every sale must comply with Illinois State law, including, but not limited to, Public Act 101-0357; and
(c) All high-priority safety violations have been remedied to the satisfaction of the Building Department.
(2) (a) The buyer, conveyee, transferee, assignee or successor in title, ownership or interest (hereinafter “buyer”) has entered into an agreement with the city whereby the buyer agrees to bring the structure into compliance with all applicable code requirements within a period not to exceed 30 calendar days after the closing of the transaction (“closing”).
(b) If the buyer enters into such an agreement, a conditional certificate of compliance will issue in order to allow the closing to be completed. The conditional certificate of compliance shall be issued by the Department and shall terminate on the one hundred eighty-first day after closing, and no extensions shall be granted. A buyer who elects to accept the premises, subject to the inspection with existing violations, and who agrees, in order to close, to be responsible as provided herein shall execute a sworn affidavit, satisfactory to the Building Department, which will clearly indicate that the buyer is fully aware of the existing violations as well as the possibility of violations that may have existed but were undiscovered due to lack of access and agrees to accept the requirement and obligation to bring the structure into compliance within 180 days of the closing. The city shall issue a certificate of compliance upon completion of the repairs necessary to bring the dwelling or structure into compliance.
(c) In the event the buyer fails to complete the required repairs and have the repairs verified on reinspection, the Building Department is hereby authorized to pursue enforcement proceedings through the city’s administrative adjudication process or, at his or her discretion, through the Circuit Court of Cook County. The buyer hereby agrees to submit to the jurisdiction and venue of the city’s administrative adjudication process and the Circuit Court of Cook County and to waive service of summons, subject only to the notice requirement as required by law, in order to enable the city to expeditiously obtain an order of compliance with this section.
(d) If reasonable proof that the repairs have been completed is not received by the Building Department within the required period for the repairs to be completed, the city may also issue a citation for violation of this chapter and/or the escrow repair agreement and may also pursue any applicable administrative or judicial remedies to bring the structure and property into compliance with applicable codes and regulations.
(G) Licensed and bonded contractors. No building shall be erected, altered or repaired within the city unless a building permit has been obtained from the Building Department. No person shall begin any work for which a building permit is required or begin any work in preparation for the work until a building permit has been obtained. It shall be the responsibility of all workers and persons furnishing materials to ascertain that a building permit has been properly issued before commencing work or delivery of material. Further, all contractors performing repairs identified in the point-of-sale inspection shall be licensed by the city and bonded and shall make available, upon request, copies of their license(s), verification of their liability insurance, errors and omissions insurance policies and surety bond.
(H) Validity of certificate of compliance. A certificate of compliance issued to the seller shall be valid for 180 days from the date of issuance.
(I) No warranty. In issuing a certificate of compliance or a conditional certificate of compliance, the city and its agents do not make any warranty, representation or statement, nor does it intend to insure or guarantee to either buyer or seller of the property subject to the point-of-sale inspection or any of their designees, agents, representatives, heirs or assigns or any other interested party, including mortgage companies, insurance companies, banks or any other party which may have any interest relative to the property subject to the point-of-sale inspection, nor does the city affirm that there are no additional unnoted violations relative to any other provisions of any of the municipal code of the city or relevant statutes, ordinances, rules and regulations of the County of Cook, the State of Illinois or the United States of America.
(J) Occupancy without certificate unlawful. It shall be unlawful for any person to hereafter occupy by purchase, rental, lease or otherwise, or for any owner or agent thereof to permit the occupation of, any commercial property, or addition thereto, or part thereof, for any purpose until a certificate of compliance or temporary certificate of compliance has been issued by the Building Department.
(K) Separate occupancies; new tenants. Said certificate is required for each and every separate occupancy, and in the case of rental or lease, said certificate is required for each new tenant.
(L) False statements unlawful. It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly make any false statement in the notice of intent to sell or rent property.
(M) Unpaid fines and fees unlawful. It shall be unlawful for any property seller to obtain a certificate of compliance for the sale of commercial or residential property within the city for which there are outstanding fines or fees owed to the city. All outstanding fines and fees must be paid by the seller prior to the city’s issuance of a certificate of compliance.
(Prior Code, § 92.20) (Ord. 91-296, passed 11-26-1991; Ord. 09-048, passed 1-27-2009; Ord. 2017-005, passed 2-27-2017; Ord. 2021-038, passed 9-14-2021; Ord. 2022-021, passed 4-12-2022; Ord. 2024-023, passed 4-23-2024) Penalty, see §
§ 92.99