Vacant-home owners to pay $700 in fees in Elgin
Owners of vacant residences in Elgin soon will be expected to pay an annual $200 registration fee as well as a one-time $500 inspection fee as the city works to enforce a vacant residential building ordinance passed last November.
The ordinance came as a response to the increasing stock of foreclosed and vacant homes that fall into disrepair, lowering surrounding property values and presenting a danger to the community.
“This is a safety program and this is also a ‘protect our neighborhoods' program,” Corporation Counsel Bill Cogley said.
As per the ordinance, a residence with no code violations that hasn't been declared unsafe or used for criminal activity will only be considered vacant after one year of being unoccupied. If the home is under contract for sale, it is not considered unoccupied. And military personnel are exempt, regardless of the length of their absence for service.
City council members gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a contract with B&F Technical Code Services to do the majority of the enforcement work. Though the contract ultimately was approved unanimously, the vote came after extensive discussion by the council, Cogley and representatives of the Realtor Association of the Fox Valley.
In response to concerns by Kristen Jungels, government affairs director for the association, Cogley said real estate agents would not be asked to pay the fees unless they owned the property. But if a bank or other owner passes on the fees to agents, the city would have no control over that relationship.
Jungels further argued unpaid fees will make it harder to sell vacant homes.
“When you finally get a contract on one of these properties, the very last thing you want to do is hold up a closing,” Jungels said.
But it is at exactly that point when the city can recover unpaid fees, whether they be for overgrown weed removal or water bills. Cogley said he didn't see any reason why owners who fail to pay registration fees should be treated differently from owners with other forms of debt.
B&F will advise property owners of the need to register and conduct inspections and ongoing monitoring, while the city will handle billing and follow up with owners who do not pay. That could mean taking property owners through legal proceedings as a final step.
The payment timeline, according to the ordinance, is that property owners have 15 days to register and pay the $200 fee upon finding out their properties qualify as vacant and then 30 days to pay the $500 inspection fee from the time of the inspection. Cogley said the city will share its data concerning all currently vacant residences with B&F to speed up the initial registration process.