(A) All residential rental properties shall be subject to inspection as provided for in Chapter 155. Completion of property inspections required by Chapter 155 shall be a condition to the issuance or renewal of any residential rental license under this chapter.
(B) The owners and designated property agents shall be responsible for informing their tenants of any scheduled inspection or re-inspection of any residential rental property required under Chapter 155, and they shall be responsible for requesting permission from any person whose consent is necessary for village personnel to enter the property if that person is not home at the time of the inspection or re-inspection. All such inspections and re-inspections shall be documented by a written report. In the event that the owner and/or designated property agents dispute the facts contained in any written report of any inspection or re-inspection, or the application of Chapter 155 to those facts, the owner and/or designated property agents may appeal the decision reflected in the written inspection report or re-inspection report by so notifying the Village Manager in writing via regular U.S. Mail addressed to the Village Manger—Inspection Appeal Notice, 1050 W. Romeo Road, Romeoville, Illinois 60446, within seven days of the date of the written inspection or re-inspection report. The Village Manager shall schedule a hearing date within 21 days of the date of the written inspection or reinspection report in writing via regular U.S. Mail addressed to the property owner or property agent at such addresses as they shall have provided to the village in the application(s) made under this chapter. The issues to be reviewed on appeal shall be limited to the factual matters referenced in the written inspection or re-inspection reports, and the application of the provisions of Chapter 155 to those facts. The formal rules of evidence shall not apply at such a hearing, but only evidence relevant to the issues under review shall be received. The Village Manager shall issue a written decision on the appeal within seven days of the date of the hearing. By written agreement, the Village Manager and any property owner or property agent may agree to modify the timing and scheduling of the appeal hearing. The village shall provide notice to both the owner and the tenant, on a form provided by the village, of the owner's and/or tenant's right to refuse consent, as applicable, to the residential licensing inspection and to require the village to obtain an administrative search warrant. If any tenant, occupant, or other person in control and/or possession and whose consent to inspect is necessary concerning a residential rental property or a dwelling unit contained therein fails or refuses to consent to access and entry to the property or dwelling unit under his or her control for any residential licensing inspection required by this chapter, the village may apply to the circuit court for an administrative search warrant. The application for the administrative search warrant shall specify the basis upon which the warrant is being sought and shall include a statement that the inspection shall be limited to a determination whether there are any violations of the minimum property maintenance standards of the village as set forth in Chapters 151 and 155. Nothing set forth herein shall limit the right of an owner or tenant, as applicable, to grant the village access to the dwelling unit.
(Ord. 16-1260, passed 3-2-16)