Rosemont advocates for renters' rights

Got a landlord who's lax about cleaning snow and ice off sidewalks, or abuses tenants' rights?

The village of Rosemont is offering renters help dealing with negligent landlords.

The village will be establishing a complaint department in the coming months to help renters of multifamily residences address such issues with their landlord.

There are 904 multifamily housing units in the 2.5-square-mile town. That does not include any village-owned senior housing or apartment buildings for village employees.

All the rental property in town is regulated by the village's crime-free safety program that helps landlords, yet there's no recourse for renters living in substandard conditions, Rosemont acting Mayor Bradley Stephens said.

"If they don't have the wherewithal to fight the landlord, we want to be able to help them do that and to get some positive results," Stephens said.

A majority of the rental housing tenants are Spanish-speaking hotel food service and maintenance workers, who often are intimidated by authority, Stephens said.

"It's just that they are afraid to go and complain about these landlords for fear of being thrown out," Stephens said. "We hear some horror stories. The village of Rosemont heavily relies on a lot of the people that live there. And there's no reason they should have to live like this."