Bannockburn village trustees voted last week to require real estate buyers to pay for pre-sale inspections for real estate transactions.

Their action came despite the objection of Illinois REALTORS®, represented by local REALTOR® Jamie Gordon, a broker for @properties in Bannockburn, as the village tries to identify, correct and pay for problems with its storm water and wastewater systems. The revised ordinance says the village will provide compliance certificates after inspections are completed for storm water and sewage management as well as “general development regulations” to protect and promote public health and safety.

Gordon acknowledged the village’s problems with rainwater and sanitary sewers but said the changes to the village’s compliance inspection program were too broad. She asked the trustees to limit the scope of the inspections to storm water and wastewater systems.

“Municipal inspections present huge hurdles for us (REALTORS), homeowners and home buyers,” Gordon said. “At their best, they take a lot of time and energy to get completed. At their worst, they cancel home sales, put forward inconsistent standards and can conflict with the inspections completed by mortgage lenders.”

The ordinance states that consumers who fail to get the property inspections before completing their real estate purchases will face fines of $750 a day, with some allowances. The Bannockburn village manager is responsible for notifying buyers of inspection violations.

Local Governmental Affairs Director Joe Roth praised Gordon for representing the interests of REALTORS® and consumers. “Jamie was fully on board with this. She represented us well,” he said. “Long term, the more REALTORS® show up and engage in situations like this, the better off we’ll be. Jamie is the epitome of the kind of members we’re looking for.”

Gordon is the State Legislative Contact for state Rep. Bob Morgan of Highwood, IL.