STERLING — The Sterling City Council‘s updated version of the city’s proposed residential rental housing code, if approved, could include a rental property registry and inspection program.

The updated City of Sterling Residential Rental Housing Code draft proposal answers several previously unanswered questions, such as what constitutes inadequate heating, lighting and ventilation? It also includes a proposed budget for the rental inspection program and a detailed property maintenance checklist that would be used by inspectors to enforce “minimal standards” for rental properties.

City officials have said the code and inspection program are necessary to bring neglectful landlords and tenants to heel.

“In the last five years, we’ve condemned more building structures than ever before,” Sterling Building and Zoning Superintendent Amanda Schmidt said. “I don’t know what’s happened, but the conditions have gotten worse.”

However, rental property owners, including Rock Falls Mayor and President of the Sauk Valley Landlords Association Rod Kleckler, have voiced concerns that the ordinance and its vague language would unfairly burden good landlords and tenants.

“How is this going to stop what you see,” Kleckler asked. “Those people that have those deplorable conditions and who rent those out to people, the only way they’re going to stop doing that is for you to take those properties away.”

The rental housing code proposal

According to an updated draft of the proposed code, owners would have to register their rental properties with the city and provide their contact information and pertinent information about those properties.

Owners who live at least 50 miles outside of the city would also have to provide contact information for a designated agent at least 18 years of age and who lives or maintains a physical office within 50 miles of the city to order repairs or services.

Owners would have to register their rental units on or before the date the unit is leased and pay a registration fee. Units already under lease would have 180 days from the date the ordinance is adopted to register, and failing to register on time could result in late fees.

Rental units would undergo an initial inspection, with subsequent inspections to follow depending on initial findings. However, if the unit is occupied, the tenant has the right to refuse the initial inspection, and the owner can refuse if the unit is unoccupied. The city could still inspect units with alleged violations by obtaining an administrative warrant, or if the owner or occupants request one.

If the owner or tenant does refuse inspection, the proposed draft ordinance goes on to state that “in support of an application for an administrative warrant, the City may offer, and request that the court consider the following factors, along with such other matters that the court deems relevant, in its determination as to whether a warrant should be issued,” including:

• Eyewitness reports of violations
• Citizen complaints
• Permanent resident complaints
• Plain view violation or violations
• Violations apparent from city records or from other reliable sources
• Deterioration of the property, including, but not limited to, observed exterior violations or conditions demonstrating or suggesting inadequate overall property maintenance
• The age of the property
• The nature of any reported or plain view violation, including, but not limited to, potential effects on the health or safety of occupants of the public
• Conditions of similar properties in the area
• Whether or not any prior inspections have been conducted, and, if so, the amount of time elapsed since any prior inspection

Although owners and tenants have the right to refuse these inspections, Neeley Erickson, governmental affairs director for IllinoisREALTORS, argued that the vague language provides the city a method for sidestepping those refusals.

“So, if another property was dilapidated, that automatically means it qualifies for support for an administrative warrant,” Erickson said. “It’s extremely subjective.”

Inspection notices would include the time and date of inspection, the name and agency of those conducting the inspection, the purpose of the inspection and information on the owner and occupant’s right to object to it, and owners would be notified before the inspection date.

Following inspection, rental units would be graded and receive one of the following classifications:

• Class A: The residential rental unit is in excellent condition and has no violations of applicable city codes requiring reinspection. These units would be inspected every four years.
• Class B: The residential rental unit has minor violations of applicable city codes requiring reinspection, but the violations do not pose an immediate threat of danger to the life, health and safety of the occupants of the unit. These units would be reinspected every two years.
• Class C: The residential rental unit has multiple or significant violations of applicable city codes requiring reinspection, but the violations do not pose an immediate threat of danger to the life, health or safety of the occupants of the unit. These units would be reinspected yearly.
• Class D: The residential rental unit has serious health and safety violations that pose a threat to the health and safety of the occupants or of the public. The Building Official/Inspector shall not issue a Conditional Certificate of Occupancy and may issue a condemnation order. These units would be inspected again in 60 days and occupancy would not be allowed.

Exempt property types would include owner-occupied, single-family homes and portions of owner-occupied multi-family buildings, licensed nursing home facilities, hotels, motels and other lodging that rents for 30 days or less, not including short-term rentals like Airbnb. Properties owned by government agencies or public housing authorities would also be exempt, provided they are subject to inspection by other agencies.

The City Council also reviewed a proposed budget for the rental inspection program during Monday’s meeting, including $76,009 for personnel pay and $70,050 for materials and services, which includes a truck for the rental inspector, two desktop computers, a computer dock for the truck and an iWorQ software module to help manage the program. However, Schmidt said this is just a “rough budget” and would need further review.

“You should take the $150,000 that you want to put into a program and hire yourself a good attorney that is going to go out there and take every one of these substandard properties to court and get a demolition order and start tearing them down,” Kleckler said during the meeting.

The first version of the residential rental housing code was discussed on Oct. 21, 2024, at a Sterling City Council meeting, where Erickson said the ordinance “is not ready to go” and cautioned that without making changes, it could violate state statutes.

Erickson attended Monday’s City Council meeting and said that despite the council stating in October that her group had provided good comments on the original draft, the city did not share their updated draft proposal with them and never returned her group’s inquiries for further collaboration.

“What your ordinance does is it creates a licensing system,” Neeley said. “You can already go in and inspect these properties. If you have concerns about life, health and safety standards, you can already do this. This program just adds a fee structure and affects those who are not problem property owners in your community. We strongly encourage you to rethink who your targeted enforcement should be against. The ordinance is too broad, it’s too costly and will harm the very residents it seeks to protect.”

Erickson went on to criticize poorly defined language within the draft proposal.

“You can’t even define what annual registration is,” Erickson said. “Is it a date? Is it the time that they start the inspection? What is it? Simple things that you can update in the ordinance that would provide more clarity for those who are doing business in your community and providing housing to those who desperately need it to live and work here. Good housing stock should be left alone and not subjected to arbitrary building codes created after its existence.

“The inspection process is too subjective, and it creates an unfunded mandate that will drive up the costs for housing providers for residents, and ultimately reduce the rental affordability and availability in your community.”

Substandard living conditions and vague language

According to the updated draft proposal, substandard conditions include, “Any building or structure or portion thereof used for residential rental purposes shall be deemed and declared to be substandard when it does not comply with the minimum standards of the 2021 International Building Code (IBC), 2021 International Existing Building Code, 2021 International Residential Code, 2021 International Mechanical Code, 2021 NFPA70 Electrical Code, Illinois State Plumbing Code, National Fire Protection Association Life Safety Code, 2021 International Property Maintenance Code, and the 2021 International Fire Code, all as amended and revised.”

However, another key concern Erickson shared during the Oct. 21 City Council meeting is that deeming rental properties that fail to meet the 2021 IBC as “substandard” would “eliminate over half of Sterling’s housing stock because it was not built to those codes.” Sterling’s consulting planner, Dustin Wolff, backed Erickson’s claim during that meeting with study data showing that 78% of Sterling’s housing stock was built before 1980.

However, Sterling Mayor Diana Merdian said the city plans to use the 2021 IBC as a reference and will not be looking to apply every part of those codes in their inspections. Instead, she said they would use a checklist outlining what needs to be met from the codes.

“We used a checklist that we already have on hand for some property maintenance issues that will definitely get expanded,” Schmidt said. “That will go out ahead of time before any inspection is done so the landlord will know exactly what will be looked at and inspected, and they can be ready for it.”

Despite those assurances, the updated draft proposal still gives the city the authority to impose fines and enforce violations of the 2021 IBC that are not included in the city’s final checklist should it choose to do so.

The updated draft proposal goes on to include the following in its definition of “substandard conditions”:

• Lack of an operable flush toilet
• Lack of an operable kitchen sink
• Lack of running water
• Inadequate heating
• Inadequate light/ventilation
• Inadequate electricity
• Lack of operable electrical service, wiring, or fixtures
• Infestation of insects, vermin, or rodents
• Lack of connection to an approved sewage disposal system
• Inadequate garbage and rubbish storage facilities
• Structural hazards, including, but not limited to, the following:
• Deteriorated foundations
• Deteriorated or defective flooring or floor supports
• Deteriorated walls, partitions or other vertical supports that split, lean, list or buckle
• Deteriorated or dilapidated ceilings, rooms, roofs, support structures or other structural members which sag, split, lean or buckle
• Deteriorated fireplaces or chimneys which list, bulge, or are in need of tuckpointing
• Inadequate wiring
• Inadequate plumbing
• Inadequate mechanical equipment, such as furnaces and vents not maintained in a safe and operable condition
• Faulty weather protection, such as defective walls, roofs, windows and doors which admit the elements
• Occupancy by permanent residents that exceeds the maximum occupancy limit for the residential rental unit defined by any applicable code

But what is inadequate wiring and plumbing? While the updated draft proposal does not provide specifics, a Rental Inspection Program FAQ document shared by the city on its website provides the following answers:

• Heating units must be permanent and maintain a minimum of 68 degrees from October through April.
• There should be at least one operable window of approved size per room and lighting must be sufficient to maintain sanitary conditions and safely utilize the space. Bathrooms must have an operable window or ventilation.
• Electrical systems cannot be hazardous to the occupants or structure and there cannot be any exposed wiring. Plumbing fixtures must be properly installed and in working order.

“We’re not looking to say all your shingles have to match,” Schmidt said. “We’re saying your roof isn’t leaking. Your electrical is safe. You don’t have wires hanging out of the wall. We’ve been in houses where you walk in and you can see where there have been electrical issues, where there’s burn marks and they haven’t been taken care of.”

Enforcement

According to the ordinance, owners would not be the only ones subject to accountability.

Tenants would still be responsible for maintaining the general upkeep and sanitary conditions within the rental unit, including removing garbage and not letting it build up. They are also responsible for ensuring the unit remains undamaged and for behaving in a manner that does not create disturbances or nuisances.

Any violations found during the inspection would be provided to the owners and tenants in writing and be subject to a fine. If the violations do not pose a life-safety risk to the occupants, the responsible party would have 30 days to correct them and schedule a reinspection. However, if the violations pose a threat, the city could take action, including seeking a court order.

Some landlords have expressed concerns that supply chain issues could delay access to materials needed to fix violations within the given timeframe. However, Schmidt has said the city will work with landlords on those timeframes provided they can show that they are working to correct the violations.

Schmidt said this is the third time over the past 16 years that the city has tried to pass this ordinance, and if it does not pass this time, many in the current administration are ready to walk away from the issue. If it does pass, she said it will take several months to iron out the program’s kinks before inspections begin.

“I would see it be six months out before our first inspection,” Schmidt said. “I would see some practice inspections just to work out the bugs and see how our checklist works. There’s definitely going to be some bumps in the road. But I think we’re in a good place to finally get this on the books and get moving in the right direction.”

No action was taken during Monday’s City Council meeting and Merdian said further changes could still be made before the final draft proposal is put to a vote, which is tentatively scheduled for the next City Council meeting on Monday, March 17.