Elk Grove Village sets new rules for landlords

Landlords with single-family homes in Elk Grove Village will have to get a rental license.

Trustees Tuesday night unanimously approved the new rule in an effort to crack down on absentee landlords, and regulate overcrowding.

Starting in September, landlords for single-family housing only will have to obtain a rental license for $20. The landlord will have to submit his or her name, the name of tenants, including phone numbers.

In Elk Grove Village, there are 450 rental homes.

Mayor Craig Johnson said there have been some problems with upkeep of property and overcrowding. Johnson said the new rules will allow the village to monitor absentee landlords neglecting their property.

"Those are the guys we want to start cracking down on if we can, because they're not good neighbors," Johnson said.

Trustee Sam Lissner, who led the committee that drafted the new rule, said the rental licenses will enable better communication between village officials and landlords -- and will help alleviate complaints that neighbors have.

"It's just strictly to identify the owners (and) renters for the neighbors," Lissner said.

Trustee Nancy Czarnik questioned whether this information would be available to the public, saying she worried it could get the village more involved than necessary in neighbor squabbles.

"There are people who just don't agree with each other," Czarnik said.

George Knickerbocker, village attorney, said Elk Grove officials wouldn't necessarily have to make the rental licenses public.

If someone does make a request for the rental information, the village has "flexibility because we make decisions on that" under the state Freedom of Information Act, Knickerbocker said.

Other suburbs already require rental licenses, including Schaumburg, Palatine and Des Plaines.