Federal judge halts Glen Ellyn’s ban on short-term house rentals

A federal judge has temporarily blocked Glen Ellyn from enforcing a ban on short-term rental properties in the village.

Last month, Glen Ellyn trustees passed an ordinance prohibiting the operation and advertisement of short-term rental properties. In response, the owners of a five-bedroom home that has hosted guests through internet-based short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo filed a federal lawsuit asking a judge to declare the village’s ban void and unenforceable.

“We're not some huge real estate investment company,” said Melissa Footlick, who with her husband are the sole members of Blakelick Properties, a limited liability company that owns the home. “The revenue and income that we generate from this property goes to pay for our daughter's preschool and take care of our family.”

U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman has granted their request for a temporary restraining order — a decision Footlick called “reassuring.”

A village attorney declined to comment Tuesday, citing the pending litigation.

“We are obviously pleased with the result, and we look forward to a hearing on the merits regarding the village’s unconstitutional ban on short-term rentals,” said attorney Shorge Sato, who represents the house’s owners.

Since March 2022, the Arboretum Road property has been used as a short-term rental house. Footlick and her husband are originally from Kansas and maintain their primary residence there.

At the time of their purchase, the property was located in an unincorporated area of DuPage County. It was later annexed into Glen Ellyn’s boundaries.

The village has received noise and traffic complaints concerning at least two short-term rental properties, according to a memo attached to a village board workshop agenda in March.

The lawsuit, however, argues that the ordinance violates Blakelick’s constitutional rights under the 1st, 5th and 14th amendments, as well as under the “contracts clause” of the U.S. Constitution, and that it also violates the federal Fair Housing Act. The owners in the suit claim that the ordinance would force them to cancel future bookings, put them at risk of losing their status as a “Superhost” on Airbnb, and that without immediate relief, they would have to sell the property at a loss.

“We've gone above and beyond to ensure that we are being good neighbors in terms of screening guests and having very strict rules,” Footlick said. “I've turned down countless requests from people to book our home for baby showers, wedding showers, rehearsal dinners, weddings, birthday parties because we don't want to be a disruption to our neighbors.”

The lawsuit argues the village violated the Fifth Amendment with an improper “regulatory taking” of private property.

In her order and opinion, the judge wrote that the owners are “likely to succeed on the merits” of the regulatory taking claim because the ordinance would prevent them from economically utilizing the property in a feasible manner and interfere with their investment-backed expectations.

Blakelick is also seeking a preliminary injunction. The village is due to file a response to that motion by May 22. Blakelick then has seven days to reply to that.

The village’s ordinance declares short-term rentals to be a “public nuisance.”

The lawsuit claims the village did not give Blakelick any prior notice that it was considering adopting a blanket short-term rental ban, nor did it give Blakelick any opportunity to be heard or to respond to accusations that its business activities constituted a “public nuisance.”

The owners had guests booked through the end of 2025.