Brookfield trustees hear strong opposition to proposed rental-registration ordinance

Summary

Trustees received staff recommendations for a rental-registration program that would create a registry and require periodic inspections; landlords and tenants at a packed meeting warned the proposal would raise costs and invade privacy. The board asked staff to return with costed options, including registration-only and scaled-back inspection models.

Brookfield — The Village of Brookfield Committee of the Whole on Oct. 27 heard a detailed staff presentation on a proposed rental-registration ordinance and lengthy public comment from landlords and tenants who said the plan would impose new costs and intrude on privacy.

Libby Popovic, the village’s economic development director, described staff’s recommended framework: an annual registration, a nominal administrative fee (staff materials and public commenters referenced $125 per building for single-family and 1–4 unit properties and $225 for 5+ unit properties), annual inspections of common areas and rotating interior-unit inspections on a three-year cycle, a three‑year exemption after a certificate of occupancy for new developments, and a proposed effective date of Jan. 1, 2026 with renewals due each March. "We want to balance landlords’ rights against health and public‑safety enforcement and build a reliable ownership database," Popovic said.

The program was developed after the…

Brookfield trustees hear strong opposition to proposed rental-registration ordinance

Summary

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