(a) License required. No person shall rent or lease a dwelling, or any part thereof, to another for residential occupancy without a rental license being issued by the Village Board.
(b) Eligibility. An owner or manager of a rental property is eligible to obtain a rental license upon satisfaction of the following provisions.
(1) Completion of an application form provided by the village.
(2) Payment of license application and inspection fees as provided in subsection (e) below.
(3) No outstanding orders or notices of violations under § 15-5-4 exist.
(4) An inspection of the property has been conducted by the Building Inspector not less than once every three years.
(c) License term and expiration. All rental licenses in the village will expire on the same date. The expiration date for all such licenses will be December 31 of the year 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, and every third year thereafter. Every rental license in effect prior to December 31, 2000 shall expire on that date. Any new license issued after January 1 of the year following expiration shall expire on December 31 of the year 2003, 2006, 2009, and every third year thereafter. Thereafter, every rental unit in compliance with this chapter shall be issued a new license effective January 1 of the year following expiration for a period of three years. Not less than 30 days prior to such expiration, the Village Administrator, Clerk, or highest elected official, as appropriate, shall notify each current licensee by regular mail to the assessment roll address that the rental license will expire on December 31 and may be renewed upon compliance with this chapter.
(d) Inspections required for licensing.
(1) Initial inspections. Under the original Title 15, Chapter 5, every property in the village rented or leased to another prior to June 30, 1997 was required to be inspected and licensed prior to that date. Every property initially rented or leased to another after June 30, 1997 also shall be initially inspected by the Building Inspector and found to be in compliance with this chapter prior to issuance of a rental license or occupancy by a tenant.
(2) Inspections required for license renewal. Every rental license in effect prior to December 31 of a year in which all village rental licenses expire (2000, 2003, 2006, and the like) shall be inspected for compliance with this section prior to August 31 of the year in which such expiration will occur. Properties found to be out of compliance during such renewal inspection(s) shall be brought into compliance prior to issuance of a new license effective January 1 of the following year. The license of a property initially licensed during the year when all licenses are to expire shall expire on December 31 with all other licenses. However, no more than one pre-licensing inspection shall be required during the same year, unless the Building Inspector has any reason to believe that the property may now be out of compliance with this section.
(3) Interim inspections to assure compliance during license period. The need for additional or interim inspections will be left to the discretion of the Building Inspector, except that properties receiving written complaint by a tenant or non-tenant complainant shall be inspected as soon as reasonably possible after receipt of a written complaint to the Building Inspector within ten days of receipt or immediately if danger to the health, safety, and welfare to the tenant seems imminent.
(4) Notification of inspections. The Building Inspector will notify each current licensee, by regular mail to the assessment roll address at least seven business days prior to a regular inspection, or as close thereof as possible prior to an initial or interim inspection. In the event that interim inspections may be required due to an item and/or items designated as critical being found during a routine inspection or inspection requested by a tenant or determined by the Building Inspector to be needed, and if a followup inspection is required to ensure compliance with this chapter, then no additional mid-term inspections fees will be charged except as provided in subsection (e) below.
(e) License fees. Fees required to obtain a rental license shall include:
(1) Application fees. The fee for processing rental license applications will be $5 per dwelling unit for the term of the license, or any part thereof.
(2) Inspection fees.
a. For inspections needed for initial license and renewals. In addition to the application fee, an inspection fee will be charged in the amount of $50 per dwelling unit for the term of the license, or any part thereof.
b. For interim inspections to assure continued compliance during the license period. No fee will be charged for interim inspections required during the license period with the following exceptions:
1. Initial inspection fees for properties licensed after commencement of the village’s normal license period shall be charged pursuant to subsection (e)(2)(a);
2. A fee of $25 will be charged to the landlord for each interim inspection in excess of three during a rental license period, but such charge shall not apply if the inspection finds the unit to be in compliance with this section; and
3. In the event the same tenant or the same non-tenant complainant requests inspections of the same rental unit in excess of three times during a rental license period, all of which are found to be invalid or in compliance, then a fee of $25 will be charged to such complainant for processing the fourth or grater invalid complaint(s).
(f) Indemnify. In the event any subsection, clause, phrase, or portion of this section is for any reason held illegal, invalid, or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct, and independent provision, and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remainder of this section. It is the legislative intent of the Village Board that this section would have been adopted if such illegal provision has not been included or any illegal application had not been made.
(g) Severability. All ordinances or part of ordinances and resolutions in conflict herewith are hereby repealed. This section shall take effect from and after its passage and publication.
(Prior Code, § 15-5-3)