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Trustees review rental‑registration framework; EDC supports data collection but not annual in‑unit inspections
Summary
Staff proposed a rental‑registration ordinance to collect owner contact data and perform safety inspections; the Economic Development Commission supported registration for data but objected to mandatory annual in‑unit inspections and fees. Trustees asked staff to research peer programs and return with a refined, phased inspection and fee proposal.
Village staff presented a draft rental‑registration framework intended to improve the village’s data about rental property ownership and to strengthen life‑safety enforcement.
Staff said Brookfield has roughly 1,500 rental units across single‑family and multi‑unit properties and proposed a program with registration, administrative fees to recover inspection costs, annual inspections of common areas and in‑unit inspections on a three‑year cycle, with new developments exempt for three years after certificate of occupancy.
The Economic Development Commission (EDC) reviewed the proposal and agreed with the need for a complete registry but expressed concern about annual in‑unit inspections, the staffing burden of inspecting hundreds of units, and the risk that owners or tenants might react negatively to intrusive inspections or added fees. The EDC recommended collecting owner contact data on an annual basis but opposed charging fees or imposing annual in‑unit inspections without further study.
Trustees engaged in a detailed discussion about focusing inspections on common areas and life‑safety items (stairwells, egress, shared mechanical rooms), phasing inspections with a multi‑year rotation, and preserving tenant protections. Staff said registration would provide a clear owner contact for enforcement and that registration would include authority to enter a unit after a documented tenant complaint; trustees asked staff to gather comparative data from Oak Park, North Riverside and Riverside about the incidence of life‑safety violations found via common‑area checks versus in‑unit inspections and to return with a revised recommendation at the next meeting.
