GADs keep focus on streamlining inspection programs
Mike Scobey
Director of Local Advocacy
Several of our local Governmental Affairs Directors (GADs) have been dealing with inspection issues in municipalities throughout Illinois in 2021. Whether it’s attempting to reform existing point of sale home inspection programs or amending proposals on rental inspections, the GADs are looking out for the interests of REALTORS®, owners, buyers and sellers. Inspection requirements can be a thorny issue. While we prefer that municipalities stay away from real estate transactions and from examining residences, we understand the public policy objective of property maintenance. Cities do have a compelling interest in making sure that properties are habitable and safe. While there are several ways to achieve this without systematic inspection programs, several municipalities have chosen that route. This year, we’ve dealt with issues in the following towns: u Park Forest and Round Lake Beach. Reforms in the home inspection process have taken place this year. Also, in a bit of good news, Evergreen Park plans to stop doing point of sale inspections. (See Park Forest and Evergreen Park sidebar.)
u Joliet is considering inspections of single-family homes that are rented out. u In some Metro-East municipalities, discussions are ongoing about possible improvements in inspection procedures. u Fire safety-related issues continue to come up in Chicago, with some urging additional inspections of rental properties. u Niles eliminated its point-of-sale home inspection requirement. As we negotiate on these kinds of proposals, we work to ensure that these programs are as unintrusive as possible. We strongly encourage any municipal inspection ordinances to include the following provisions: u Timeframe requirements on the municipality to make sure that inspections are done in a timely manner and do not substantially interfere with transactions. u Reasonable inspection fees. If fees are imposed, the amounts should reasonably reflect the cost to conduct the actual inspection. In other words, the revenue from such fees should not
REALTOR® advocacy leads Park Forest to change home inspection ordinance About four years ago, local REALTORS® voiced frustration about the village of Park Forest’s mandatory home inspection process. Because clients were unable to see the results of the inspections before closings, home buyers sometimes waited weeks or months before necessary repairs were made, according to Illinois REALTORS® Local Governmental Affairs Director Tom Joseph. As a result, some REALTORS® were put into non-disclosure situations. Even after REALTORS® expressed their 30
www.IllinoisRealtors.org
concerns, village staff members and some trustees opposed changes. Illinois REALTORS® and the Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS® (MORe) kept fighting on the issue and it wasn’t until after a new mayor and new trustees were elected that the village voted unanimously to change the home inspection ordinance, effective Oct. 1, 2021. The amended village ordinance will allow owner occupied sellers to get home inspections and results prior to closings and allows the inspections to
stand for 180 days, says Joseph. Park Forest is about 30 miles south of downtown Chicago, in Will and Cook counties. The population is nearly 22,000. It was founded in 1948 to provide housing for GIs returning from World War II.
Evergreen Park ends inspections
As of August, the village of Evergreen Park (Cook County) will no longer require point of sale inspections of homes. At the start of the COVID pandemic, the village halted these inspections.
