IAR GAD Howard Handler

The city of Highland Park in Lake County has just adopted a rental registration ordinance on select rental properties – single-family homes and rental units with their own, unique entrance to their specific unit. Very often, the Illinois Association of REALTORS® (IAR) and local REALTOR® associations strongly oppose many municipal rental regulation schemes. Often, they are overly burdensome, costly, and deprive property owners and tenants of their rights and privacy. In the case of Highland Park, though, IAR and the North Shore-Barrington Association of REALTORS® (NSBAR) did not offer any substantial opposition to the ordinance.

As far as rental regulation ordinances go, this particular ordinance is as simple and basic as it gets. By and large, it mainly requires that Highland Park rental property owners of the aforementioned types of property submit annual paperwork to the city detailing the ownership and contact information for the property in an effort to improve communications between property owners and the city. The ordinance does not include licensing, building inspections, police scrutiny, mandatory classroom training, crime-free lease addendums, and the like that we see plaguing other municipal ordinances.

NSBAR and IAR were there at the beginning, meeting with city elected officials and staff, to discuss our concerns and suggestions with the city. A number of our suggestions were incorporated into the ordinance, and we worked hard to help ensure onerous requirements were kept out of the ordinance.

“Meeting with city officials early was an important step to help ensure the city achieved its goals without unduly burdening property owners and tenants,” expressed REALTOR® Ron Abrams, a Highland Park resident, landlord and principal with Silver Property Group. “A special thanks goes to Mayor Nancy Rotering, the city council, and city staff for their thoughtful, inclusive dialogue.”