Officials remind landlords to register rentals; city outlines penalties and enforcement routes

City code enforcement and legal staff used Mayor's Night Out to outline Hammond's rental-registration requirements, enforcement tools and how residents can report suspected violations.

Bill Lueder, head of code enforcement, explained the city's registration timeline: "If you're gonna transfer your property over from owner occupied to rental...once you enter that lease agreement, you have 30 days to come down to the city, fill out the registration form, pay your $5, and get the property listed. Then that property has to be listed every year by April 15." Lueder said the nominal $5 fee is set to encourage compliance, but a missed registration can trigger a $500 late fee.

Kevin Smith, corporation counsel, described enforcement and appeal paths: "If you are a landlord and you miss the deadline but you've never had trouble before, you can appeal to the Board of Works...a lot of times, if it's your first offense, they'll waive the late fee." Smith added that repeated noncompliance can lead to civil judgments recorded against property titles.

Mayor and staff also addressed residents' concerns about fraudulent homestead claims. The mayor acknowledged the practice is illegal and said the city frequently removes improper homestead exemptions at the county level when it identifies them. Officials urged residents to report suspected illegal rentals or tax-exemption abuse using Hammond's 311 app; Scott Miller, chief of staff, said 311 routes requests promptly to the responsible department.