Rental License and Inspection Program

Mount Prospect

Cook County

Mount Prospect’s Rental License and Inspection Program ensures the safety, health, and quality of all rental dwellings through regular property inspections and landlord-tenant education.

Background

In the 1990s, to address the rising costs of police and emergency services, largely due to the high level of calls from an area of the village with a large concentration of multi-unit dwellings, Mount Prospect created an inspection program for multi-family properties.

The Village established a Housing Committee to develop the inspection ordinance. This committee was active as part of a larger committee, called “Visions,” which was charged with updating the property maintenance code with input from residents and property owners, as well as implementing this inspection program.

The Village Board was initially reluctant to adopt an inspection ordinance because board members were concerned that it could diminish the affordable housing options in the village. The Board was also concerned about community opposition, resulting from a lawsuit that was filed against the Village over its landlord-tenant ordinance adopted over 20 years earlier. To address these concerns, the Visions Committee demonstrated that rental housing was being provided at market rates, yet at substandard levels. The Committee produced a video and photographs of the existing conditions and took board members on ride-along inspections of the properties to show the disparities in the quality of housing and rents being charged. As a result, the inspection ordinance was developed with input from both landlords and the Housing Committee.

Adopting the inspection ordinance led to:

  • Clearer and more stringent village codes
  • Increased penalties for noncompliance
  • Increased support from the village attorney’s office
  • Increased access to legal information and rights education for tenants (Mount Prospect’s Dept. of Human Rights and schools distribute educational materials and administer seminars for tenants)
  • Increased communication within local government departments

How It Works

Twenty percent of Mount Prospect’s housing stock is rental housing, the majority of which are buildings containing six or fewer apartments. The Village maintains the safety and quality of its rental housing stock by employing two full-time housing inspectors. The Village created a checklist for property inspections to ensure that inspectors conduct consistent evaluations and allow property owners and managers to prepare for the inspections.

All multifamily buildings with 3 or more units are required to annually complete inspections of the building exterior and interior common spaces; while individual units are inspected on a five-year rotation cycle, as well as on a complaint basis. Unit inspections are performed while tenants are residing in the units, although the landlords may contact village staff and notify them of a vacancy so the village can dispatch an inspector to examine the empty unit. Single-family homes and two-unit dwellings are inspected on a complaint basis.

The village issues a 30-day notification to landlords of planned visits by a building inspector. Landlords are required to provide written notification of interior inspections to their tenants at least 48 hours in advance of the inspection date. If a code violation is cited during an inspection, the inspector will indicate the violations, required remedies, and a compliance deadline (generally 30 days).

Public Involvement

Preceding the inspection ordinance, the Village of Mount Prospect adopted a landlord-tenant ordinance in the 1980s. Modeled after the City of Evanston’s ordinance, Mount Prospect’s landlord-tenant ordinance articulates the rights of landlords and tenants and informs both parties of the village’s regulation authority. The village requires landlords and property owners to provide a copy of these regulations to tenants with their lease. This process ensures all parties are educated regarding their rights and responsibilities.

In the 1990s, the village considered the creation of a special taxing district to help offset the high cost of emergency services. The property owners within the proposed district strongly opposed the proposal, so Village staff began working with them to develop common solutions and ways to reduce crime in the neighborhood. As staff found that many properties were being poorly maintained, they began a partnership with property owners that resulted in the creation of the inspection ordinance.

Mount Prospect’s inspection program is successfully promoted through the village website, newsletters, social media, and word of mouth. As tenants begin to see the improved living standards of their neighbors, they become aware of the services that are available to them through the Village, and they call to report substandard conditions within their buildings. The resource center has also served for residents to report rental housing and tenant’s rights concerns anonymously.

Goal

Ensure better property maintenance and the safety and health of residents of all rental dwellings in Mount Prospect.

Target

All rental dwellings in the village.

Financing

The village collects licensing fees ($40 per unit) totaling roughly $325,000 per year, which was originally used to hire two additional inspectors, a social worker and several police officers. The program supports two full-time inspectors.

Success

Calls for service continue to fall in the village, and there was a 50 percent reduction of crime in the worst areas of the community within the first two years of the inspection program.

Village officials noted a significant decrease in the number of code violations.

One of the most problematic rental buildings in the village, which for years had received complaints of substandard living conditions, was ultimately brought into receivership as a result of inspection violations and sold to a new owner who invested in the rehabilitation of the building.

Lessons Learned

Continuing to build a comprehensive program by expanding rental dwelling licensing to include single-family dwellings, adopting an ordinance to deal with vacant or non-complying structures, and adding a Community Resource Center located in the area of the highest rental populations has helped the community through rough economic times to ensure residents have a safe place to live. The program’s success demonstrates that a full-time inspection staff – operating under a clear, Village Board-approved approach – is critical to providing and improving the quality of rental housing.

Contact Information

Village of Mount Prospect Community Development Department, www.mountprospect.org

This case study was last updated in February 2026.

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