Danville City Zoning Code

CHAPTER 163

RENTAL HOUSING REGISTRATION

§ 163.01 INTRODUCTION; PURPOSE.

The purpose of this chapter is to improve the livability and value of the city’s rental housing stock and to promote revitalization of the city’s neighborhoods. Studies have shown that rental housing, if left unregulated, tends to generate a disproportionately higher level of code violations and code enforcement problems that can ultimately lead to blight and crime within a neighborhood. Identifying and inspecting rental housing and requiring compliance with the city’s structures and property codes will help reduce housing deterioration and blight in the city’s neighborhoods and will promote revitalization.

(Ord. 9467, passed 2-6-24)

§ 163.02 DEFINITIONS.

(A) General guidelines. The city’s property maintenance code, as adopted in Chapter 167, shall be the source of definitions for words and phrases appearing in this chapter to the extent those words and phrases are not defined below. If a definition of a word or phrase in this chapter conflicts with the property maintenance code’s definition of that word or phrase, the definition in this chapter shall control. References to the singular version of a word shall include the plural version of that word and reference to one gender shall include the other gender.

(B) Definitions. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.

“APPLICATION.” One or more forms created by the city for owners to use when registering or renewing certificates for one or more rental dwellings. "APPLICATION" also includes the city’s rental registration portal, the link for which can be found on the city’s website.

“CERTIFICATE.” A writing issued by the city that demonstrates that an owner has registered or renewed the registration of one or more rental dwellings pursuant to this chapter.

“CITY.” The City of Danville, Illinois.

“CODE” and “CODES.” The city’s zoning code (Chapter 150 ), building code (Chapter 151 ), plumbing code (Chapter 152 ), electricity code (Chapter 153 ), mechanical code (Chapter 154 ), property maintenance code (Chapter 167 ), and all other ordinances adopted by the city that in any way relate to or govern the use, maintenance and repair of real property and structures located thereon.

“CODE OFFICIAL.” Those individuals that the city has charged with enforcing city property-related codes. “CODE OFFICIAL” includes the building code, plumbing code, electricity code, mechanical code, property maintenance code, and all other property maintenance code compliance inspectors and their designees. “CODE OFFICIAL” shall also include city police officers when they enforce or are called upon to enforce the aforesaid codes.

“DANGEROUS AND/OR UNSAFE.” The presence of a code violation at or within a rental dwelling that presents an immediate or near-term threat to human life, health or physical safety of any individual person.

“DCC.” The Danville City Code of ordinances adopted by the City of Danville City Council.

"EMERGENCY." Any event to include but not be limited to an interruption or breakdown of any power, water or heating system.

"IMMEDIATE FAMILY." The parents, children and siblings of the owner.

“LOCAL REPRESENTATIVE.” A person who has been designated on the owner’s application who has sufficient authority to act on behalf of the owner concerning the registered rental dwelling including its compliance with all the city’s codes and other ordinances.

“MAYOR.” The person holding office of and serving as the Mayor for the City of Danville, Illinois.

“OWNER.” Any person having legal or equitable rights, title and interest in or to real estate located within the City of Danville corporate boundaries upon which one or more residential rental dwellings are located and operated or that are intended to be operated as residential rental dwellings. For purposes of this chapter, “OWNER” shall include an individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, estate administrator or executor, trustee of a trust, association, or any other entity that is legally authorized to transact business within the State of Illinois. “OWNER” shall not include a person that only has a right to occupy a rental dwelling.

"PUNITIVE OR RETALIATORY ACTION." Any action commenced after a tenant complaint or tenant consent to a city inspection or a city initiated inspection of a tenant dwelling inflicted or intended as punishment.

“REGISTRATION.” To submit an application to the city for the purpose of receiving a certificate from the city that permits the owner to lease, whether pursuant to a written lease agreement or a month-to-month tenancy, the one or more rental dwellings identified on the certificate or a list attached thereto. “REGISTRATION” shall also mean the renewal of one or more rental registration certificates.

“RENTAL DWELLING.” A residential dwelling that is not owner-occupied that the owner rents or leases to one or more tenants. “RENTAL DWELLING” shall also mean a residential property on which a residential structure sits that is being sold on contract whereby the buyer will acquire all rights, title interest in and to the said property upon making the number of payments provided in a contract between the contract seller and the contract buyer, regardless of whether such writing has been recorded in any recorder’s office.

“RENTAL REGISTRATION PERIOD.” The period between December 1 and January 31.

“TENANT.” Any one or more individuals who lawfully occupy a rental dwelling pursuant to a lawful arrangement with the owner of the rental dwelling whether that arrangement is documented in a written lease or other writing or is pursuant to a month-to-month tenancy relationship. For purposes of this chapter an individual who is occupying a rental dwelling pursuant to a contract to purchase the rental dwelling over time shall be deemed to be a “TENANT”, not an “OWNER.”

“UNINHABITABLE.” A code violation with at or in a rental dwelling that interferes with a tenant’s peaceful enjoyment of the rental dwelling but which does not necessarily render that rental dwelling dangerous and/or unsafe.

(Ord. 9467, passed 2-6-24; Am. Ord. 9538, passed 5-6-25)

§ 163.03 SCOPE OF CHAPTER.

This chapter applies to any rental dwelling and its accessory elements located within the City of Danville corporate boundaries and that are owned by one or more persons and leased to one or more tenants as a rental dwelling, with the following exceptions:

(A) Adult care facility, as defined in § 118.070 and as licensed with the city pursuant to § 118.071 and other nursing homes, and assisted living facilities.

(B) Hotels and motels, as defined in § 118.050 and as licensed with the city pursuant to § 118.050.

(Ord. 9467, passed 2-6-24)

§ 163.04 REGISTRATION OF RENTAL DWELLINGS.

(A) Rental registration required.

(1) Rental registration. It shall be unlawful for any person to own and operate one or more rental dwellings within the City of Danville corporate boundaries without having first obtained a certificate for each owned and operated rental dwelling. In the absence of a then current certificate, no rental dwelling may be occupied except by the owner and/or the owner’s immediate family.

(2) Registration renewal. The owner shall keep the one or more certificates current by annually renewing them.

(3) Owner’s responsibility to renew registration. The owner shall be responsible for registering and maintaining the registration of each rental dwelling regardless of whether the city sends the owner any notice or other reminder to do so.

(B) Tenant information. Owners shall be obligated to provide the city with information about their respective tenants upon request by the city.

(C) Rental registration period. Owners shall register and thereafter renew their certificates on or before January 31 of each year. If an owner or local representative renews a certificate any time after January 31, that renewal certificate shall automatically expire on the following January 31. Further, any renewal of one or more certificates after January 31 shall be deemed late and subject to a late fee as provided in § 163.99(B).

(D) Registration application. An application to register one or more rental dwellings shall be submitted on a form provided by the city or through the city’s electronic portal for rental registration that can be found on the city’s website. Each application shall include the following:

(1) Owner’s name.

(2) Owner’s business address, landline or cellular telephone number, and e-mail address, if any.

(3) Number of rental dwellings being registered and/or renewed.

(4) The street number and name for each rental dwelling being registered.

(5) In the case of a building that includes two or more rental dwellings (e.g., a duplex, triplex, apartment building), the number of rental dwellings in the said building and the address of the building.

(6) The name, address, landline or cellular telephone number, and e-mail address of the owner’s local representative, if any, for each rental dwelling. If an owner has engaged one local representative for all the owner’s rental dwellings, the owner need provide the information regarding the local representative only once. The owner shall update any changes in the local representative or the current local representative’s contact information.

(7) The name, street address, landline or cellular telephone number, and email address, if any, of the contract buyer, if applicable. (Note, contract buyers shall be deemed tenants for purposes of this chapter.)

(8) Such other information as the city may, from time to time, reasonably request.

(9) If an owner acquires one or more rental dwellings since the prior registration period, the owner shall register the newly acquired property within 30 days of acquisition.

(10) When renewing a certificate, the owner need only update the information provided in the most recent prior registration or renewal, as the case may be.

(11) Upon receipt of a rental registration certificate, whether pursuant to an initial registration or renewal thereof, the owner shall be deemed to have consented to the interior inspection(s) of the one or more rental dwellings noted on the certificate as provided in this section.

(E) Rental registration certificate. The city shall issue a certificate for each rental dwelling registered. In those cases where an owner registers multiple rental dwellings, the city may elect to issue a single certificate that either lists all the rental dwellings registered on the face of the certification or which attaches to the certificate one or more pages listing the rental dwellings so registered.

(F) Registration and renewal fees. The annual fee for registering a rental dwelling and for renewing a certificate shall be $30 each rental dwelling.

(Ord. 9467, passed 2-6-24; Am. Ord. 9538, passed 5-6-25)

§ 163.05 RESPONSE TIME; LOCAL REPRESENTATIVE.

(A) Response time. An owner or the local representative, if any, shall be required to respond to and meet with the code official within four hours of being notified of the need for such meeting due to an emergency situation. If the need for such meeting involves a non-emergency situation, the owner shall be available to meet within 24 hours of having been notified of the need to meet. Any owner who cannot meet these response time obligations shall retain a local representative that can meet these requirements.

(B) Local representative authority. In addition to such other responsibilities and authority an owner grants to their local representative, the local representative shall have full authority to address and deal with emergencies and non-emergencies involving the owner’s one or more rental dwellings. Such authority shall include authorizing:

(1) Maintenance and repair of the owner’s one or more rental dwellings so that they remain in compliance with city codes;

(2) Vacating the tenant(s) from one or more rental dwellings where conditions exist within the rental dwelling that make the rental dwelling either uninhabitable or dangerous and unsafe.(Ord. 9467, passed 2-6-24; Am. Ord. 9538, passed 5-6-25)

§ 163.06 CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP.

(A) Upon any change in ownership of a rental dwelling, the new owner shall be required to apply for and obtain a new certificate within 30 days of completing the acquisition of the rental dwelling. The new owner shall comply with the registration requirements provided in § 163.04 of this chapter. There shall be no proration of the rental registration fee due to a change in ownership.

(B) A “CHANGE IN OWNERSHIP” means a voluntary or involuntary lawful transfer by deed, court order, court decree, will, or trust of all rights, title and interest in and to real estate on which one or more rental dwellings are located. The subleasing or assignment of a lease by a tenant to a subtenant shall not constitute a change of ownership.

(Ord. 9467, passed 2-6-24)

§ 163.07 INSPECTIONS; CODE VIOLATIONS.

(A) Rental dwelling list. The city shall maintain a list of all registered rental dwellings that may include the address of each rental dwelling, the owner’s name, the owner’s contact information, and the local representative’s contact information, if any.

(B) Consent to inspections. Upon receipt of a rental registration certificate, whether pursuant to an initial registration or renewal thereof, the owner shall be deemed to have consented to exterior and interior inspection(s) of the one or more rental dwellings noted on the certificate as provided in this section. Interior inspections shall be on the advance notice by the code official set on a date and time no later than 14 calendar days from the date of the code official’s notification to the owner or local representative of such inspection. The code official shall have the authority to conduct an inspection of the rental dwelling in the absence of the owner’s or local representative’s consent if the tenant has granted such consent.

(C) Cyclical inspections. The code official shall establish a cyclical inspection schedule for all registered rental dwellings that provides for each rental dwelling to be subjected to interior inspection.

(D) Complaints from persons other than tenants. The code official’s receipt of a complaint from a person other than a tenant regarding the exterior of a rental dwelling shall be grounds for the code official to undertake an inspection of said exterior and the property on which the rental dwelling sits so long as the code official does not enter upon the said property unless the tenant, owner, or local representative gives consent to enter. The code official shall proceed pursuant to the city ordinance.

(E) Tenant complaints. The code official shall have the authority to inspect the exterior and interior of any rental dwelling upon a complaint from the tenant of the rental dwelling as provided in § 163.08 of this chapter.

(F) Inspections generally.

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this § 163.07, for any inspection conducted pursuant to this § 163.07, the code official shall provide written notice to the tenant as well as the owner or the local representative. The notice of inspection shall state a date and time for the inspection that shall be no more than 14 calendar days from the date when the notice is sent to the aforesaid persons.

(2) The nature and scope of each such inspection shall be limited to the provisions in the city’s codes.

(3) For each rental dwelling inspected, the code official shall determine whether the rental dwelling has any condition that renders it uninhabitable or dangerous and/or unsafe.

(4) Upon completion of any inspection, the code official shall prepare a written inspection report, which shall be mailed to the owner or the local representative and the tenant. The report shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following:

(a) Address of the rental dwelling inspected;

(b) Owner’s name;

(d) Date of inspection;

(e) Description of all code violations observed or a statement that no code violations were observed;

(f) A code citation for each identified violation; and

(g) A date to reinstate code violation abatement compliance.

(5) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this § 163.07, the city shall retain the right to regularly and periodically conduct inspections of the exteriors of rental dwellings and the properties on which they are located pursuant to the city’s overall enforcement of the city’s property maintenance code (Chapter 167) so long as the code inspector does not enter onto the said property in the absence of the owner’s, local representative’s or tenant’s consent.

(Ord. 9467, passed 2-6-24; Am. Ord. 9538, passed 5-6-25)

§ 163.08 TENANT COMPLAINTS.

(A) A tenant may file a written complaint with the city regarding a code violation that the tenant knows or reasonably believes exists in the interior or on the exterior of the rental dwelling that negatively impacts the habitability or dangerousness and/or safety of the rental dwelling. The tenant shall use a form provided by the city or the city’s website.

(B) Tenant complaints shall include the following:

(1) Tenant’s full name.

(2) Address of the tenant’s rental dwelling.

(3) Tenant’s landline, if any, or cellular telephone number.

(4) Tenant’s e-mail address, if any.

(5) A description of the condition and its location on the rental property and/or in the rental dwelling, as the case may be.

(6) The name of the owner or the owner’s local representative, if any.

(7) Such other information as the tenant deems appropriate.

(8) Such additional information as the city may require.

(9) The date when the tenant submits the tenant complaint.

(10) A statement whether the owner or the local representative has given the tenant a notice of or a summons and complaint for eviction or a notice to quit the premises (e.g., a five-day notice, ten-day notice or 30-day notice) and the date when the tenant received such notice or summons and complaint.

(11) The tenant’s signature that also acknowledges that the tenant grants consent for the code official to enter upon the rental property and inside the rental dwelling.

(1) Any action taken by an owner or local representative against a tenant after the date the tenant submitted a complaint to the city may be deemed prima facie evidence that the owner retaliated against the tenant for filing their complaint with the city.

(2) Nothing in subsection (C)(1) shall be deemed or construed as prohibiting an owner from giving a tenant a lawful five-day or a ten-day notice to vacate the rental dwelling for breach of a written lease; a lawful 30-day notice to quit the rental dwelling pursuant to a month-to-month tenancy; or serving the tenant with a lawful eviction summons and complaint. However, the owner may still be subject to a penalty if it is determined that the owner took such action in retaliation for a tenant filing a tenant complaint about the rental dwelling with the city.

(D) Upon receipt of a good faith tenant complaint, the code official shall contact the tenant to arrange a mutually acceptable date and time when the code official can inspect the rental dwelling and/or the property on which it is located to ascertain the nature and severity of the one or more conditions described in the tenant’s complaint. The code official shall note any code violations found during such inspection.

(1) Upon completion of the aforesaid inspection, the code official shall prepare a report of the code official’s findings during the inspection. The report shall include:

(a) The address of the rental dwelling;

(b) Whether or not any code violation(s) were found during such inspection;

(d) A reference to the ordinance and each code section violated;

(e) One or more pictures of each violation observed;

(f) A date or dates, depending on the nature of each violation, by which the owner shall have the violation(s) abated;

(g) A date when the code official shall return to the rental dwelling for a re-inspection to determine if the violation(s) have been abated;

(h) A statement that failure to abate any violation(s) may result in the city initiating proceedings pursuant to Chapter 42;

(i) If the code official does not observe any code violation(s) in the rental dwelling or on the property on which it is located, the report shall so acknowledge; and

(j) The code official’s signature and date of the inspection report.

(2) The code official shall either mail, by First Class Mail, or personally deliver, the code official's report to the owner or the local representative and the tenant if the tenant is still occupying the rental dwelling.

(3) If, upon reinspection, the code official determines that the owner failed to abate all of the violations described in the code official’s report, the code official may initiate a code violation case against the owner for the violation(s) in the rental dwelling and/or on the property on which that rental dwelling is located pursuant to Chapter 42.

(4) If it is determined that the tenant was served with a five-day or ten-day notice to quit the premises or a 30-day notice of termination of the lease prior to the tenant’s filing a complaint regarding one or more conditions at or in the tenant’s rental dwelling, the city may dismiss the tenant complaint and cancel any scheduled inspection.

(E) If at any time after a tenant initiates a complaint and the tenant refuses to allow an inspection or fails to show up at the scheduled inspection time, the code official may dismiss the complaint without conducting an inspection.

(F) Owners of rental dwellings shall be responsible for all code violation(s) that occur on the rental dwelling property and within the rental dwelling. All disputes between the owner or local representative and tenant regarding liability for any violation(s) are civil matters to be resolved between the owner or local representative and the tenant.

(Ord. 9467, passed 2-6-24; Am. Ord. 9538, passed 5-6-25)

§ 163.09 COPIES OF EVICTION ORDERS.

All owners or their local representatives shall retain a copy of any Circuit Court eviction Order, five-day and ten-day notices to quit the premises, and 30-day notices to vacate the premises in cases of month-to-month tenancies with copies to be made available to the City within five days upon request by the City.

(Ord. 9467, passed 2-6-24; Am. Ord. 9538, passed 5-6-25)

§ 163.10 PROCEDURES FOR TENANT FILING A COMPLAINT AGAINST AN OWNER FOR RETALIATION.

(A) Retaliation complaint by tenant. A tenant may file a complaint against the owner for retaliation with the Legal Division. No complaint may be filed more than 30 days after the occurrence of the alleged retaliation.

(1) A complaint form shall be completed by the tenant filing the complaint. The complaint shall include, but not necessarily limited to, the following:

(a) Name of the owner or local representative.

(b) The details of the alleged retaliation committed by the owner or local representative.

(2) A Rental Inspector will interview the tenant to ensure that all necessary information has been obtained regarding the complaint.

(3) The Rental Inspector will provide the complaint form and his/her interview notes to the city's Legal Counsel to determine whether or not there is sufficient cause to proceed with an investigation of the complaint. If an investigation is warranted, the city's Legal Counsel will follow the process outlined in subsection (B).

(B) Investigation.

(1) The city's Legal Counsel will interview the tenant(s) and any other witnesses.

(2) The city's Legal Counsel will interview the owner or local representative. If the owner or local representative declines to participate in the investigation of the wrongful retaliation complaint, city's Legal Counsel will reference this in its report.

(3) The city's Legal Counsel will obtain any other pertinent information or records concerning the complaint.

(C) Final report. Within seven days after the complaint has been filed, the city's Legal Counsel will prepare a final report which shall include the following:

(1) Summary of statements made by the tenant, owner or local representative, and witnesses;

(2) Any other information concerning the allegations of the complaint; and

(3) A preliminary finding on whether or not retaliation has been committed by the owner or local representative.

(D) Legal Department's determination.

(1) If the city's Legal Counsel finds that the owner did not commit retaliation, the Legal Department shall notify the tenant and owner or legal representative in writing within three days of final determination.

(2) If the city's Legal Counsel finds that the owner or legal representative did commit retaliation and initiates a case against the owner or legal representative in the city's administrative adjudication system, the Legal Department shall notify the tenant and owner or legal representative in writing within three days of final determination. The written statement must include the basis on which such a determination was made.

(Ord. 9538, passed 5-6-25)

§ 163.99 PENALTY.

(A) Failure to register rental dwelling. If the city discovers that an owner is renting a dwelling or any part thereof without ever having obtained a certificate, the owner shall be subject to a $500 fine, payment of the registration fee, and any court costs.

(B) Late renewal penalties.

(1) If an owner renews one or more certificates after January 31 of any rental registration period, the owner shall be subject to a late renewal penalty of $50 per rental dwelling. The owner shall also be required to pay the renewal fee that was unpaid for each rental dwelling for which the penalty is being imposed.

(2) If an owner fails to renew one or more certificates for one full rental registration period, the owner shall be subject to a late renewal penalty of $100 for each rental dwelling. The owner shall also be required to pay a renewal fee for each rental dwelling that was unpaid for which the penalty is being imposed.

(3) If an owner fails to renew one or more certificates for two or more full rental registration periods, the owner shall be subject to a late renewal penalty of $250 for each rental dwelling for each year when the one or more certificates were not renewed. The owner shall also be required to pay a renewal fee for each rental dwelling that was unpaid for which the penalty is being imposed.

(4) An owner shall not be charged with a penalty under this subsection (B) for the failure to renew one or more certificates if the owner can demonstrate by documentation that:

(a) The owner sold the one or more rental dwellings on or before January 31; or

(b) The owner or one or more of the owner’s immediate family members continuously occupied the one or more rental dwellings for at least nine consecutive months; or

(d) The owner can demonstrate that the one or more rental dwellings were taken off the rental market for purposes of restoring or remodeling the one or more rental dwellings and that the one or more rental dwellings have been registered as vacant building pursuant to Chapter 169 of this code.

(1) Any owner or local representative that refuses or fails to meet, and at the request of, the code official to address an emergency, as provided in § 163.05(A), at one or more rental dwellings shall subject the owner to a fine of $750 per rental dwelling affected. If the owner or the local representative continues to refuse the code official’s request to inspect the one or more rental dwellings or the said fine is not paid within 21 days of when it is levied, the mayor shall have the authority to suspend the owner’s one or more certificates for these rental dwellings until the said emergency condition or conditions have been abated.

(2) Any owner or local representative that refuses or fails to meet, and at the request of, the code official to address a non-emergency, as provided in § 163.05(A), at one or more rental dwellings shall subject the owner to a fine of $500 per rental dwelling affected. If the owner or the local representative continues to refuse the code official’s request to inspect the one or more rental dwellings or the said fine is not paid within 21 days of when it is levied, the mayor shall have the authority to suspend the certificate(s) for the owner’s one or more rental dwellings that are or were subject of the non-emergency with such suspension remaining in effect until the said non-emergency condition or conditions are abated.

(3) Prior to the mayor exercising his or her authority to suspend a certificate or issue a fine, the mayor shall confer with the owner or the local representative to discuss the reason for the owner’s or local representative’s failure or refusal to meet with the code official regarding the emergency or non-emergency condition. Upon conclusion of the aforesaid meeting, the mayor may elect to suspend the certificate for the time periods provided in subsections (B)(1) and (2) of this section. During the time period when the one or more certificates have been suspended, the owner shall be prohibited from leasing or renting the one or more rental dwellings that were the subject of the emergency or non-emergency situation, as the case may be and the said rental dwellings shall remain uninhabited. If the owner rents or leases a rental dwelling where the certificate for that dwelling has been suspended, a fine of $2,500 shall be levied against the owner. If the owner fails to pay the said fine within 21 days from the date it was levied, the mayor shall have the authority to revoke the owner’s rental dwelling certificate(s) for the affected rental dwelling(s).

(D) Owner’s wrongful retaliation against a tenant. If an owner is found to have wrongfully retaliated against a tenant because the tenant filed a tenant complaint with the city before the owner issued a five-day or ten-day notice to quit the premises or a 30-day notice that a month-to-month tenant’s lease shall terminate, the owner shall be subject to a fine in the amount between two times the tenant’s rent and $5,000.

(E) Inspections.

(1) If the code official determines that, after completing his or her inspection report, there are sufficient conditions in the rental dwelling to deem the rental dwelling either uninhabitable or dangerous and unsafe, the code official shall have the authority to:

(a) Declare the rental dwelling, and if appropriate, one or more other rental dwellings if the inspected rental dwelling is in a multi-rental dwelling building, either uninhabitable or dangerous and unsafe.

(b) Place one or more placards declaring the one or more rental dwellings as either uninhabitable or dangerous and unsafe.

(c) Order that the one or more tenants vacate the said one or more rental dwellings either immediately or by a certain specified date at the owner’s expense.

(d) Initiate a case in the city’s administrative adjudication system (Chapter 42) regarding the code violations.

(2) If the code official determines that the tenant notified the owner or local representative in writing that the conditions found by the code official during the tenant complaint inspection before the owner served the tenant with a five-day notice or a ten-day notice to quit the premises or a 30-day notice that a month-to-month tenancy will be vacated, or filed in the circuit court an action to evict the tenant, the city, in addition to any other applicable penalty provided for in this section, shall also have the authority to seek through the adjudication process the imposition of one or more of the following penalties:

(a) Return of the tenant’s security deposit, if any;

(b) Return of the tenant’s advance rental payment, if any;

(c) Reimburse the tenant for the tenant’s actual costs of moving to a new location so long as the move was undertaken by a bona fide moving company licensed in the State of Illinois and the tenant presents the owner or local representative with a copy of a bona fide receipt from said moving company; and/or

(d) Reimburse any utility deposit(s) the tenant incurs in connection with moving to another rental dwelling.

(e) In the alternative to subsections (E)(2)(a), (b), (c), and (d) of this subsection, the owner can tender a $1,500 payment to the tenant on the same day the tenant requests or demands the reimbursements and/or refunds provided in the immediate aforesaid subsections.

(f) If two or more unrelated tenants lawfully occupied the same rental unit, the amounts provided in subsections (a) through (d) (or alternatively (e)) of this subsection shall be tendered to each of those tenants.

(g) Any and all such return and/or reimbursement of moneys shall be made to the tenant within three business days following the tenant's first request or demand for such refund(s) and/or reimbursements.

(3) If the code official, after completing his or her inspection, finds that there are code violations that shall be abated within a specified period of time without the tenant having to vacate the rental dwelling and if the owner or local representative fails to abate those violations within that stated period of time, in addition to any other penalty imposed pursuant to this section, an additional fine of not less than $1,000 can be imposed after finding of liability in the city’s administrative adjudication process provided in Chapter 42.

(F) Other violations of chapter. Unless expressly provided otherwise in this chapter, the penalty for violating any other provision in this chapter shall be a fine in an amount stated below.

(1) No less than $250 but no greater than $1,000 for a first violation at a rental dwelling;

(2) No less than $500 but no more than $2,000 for two violations that occur within a 365-day period at the same rental dwelling; and

(3) No less than $1,000 but no more than $4,000 for any three or more violations that occur within a 365-day period that occur at the same rental dwelling.

(G) Refusal to issue certificate. The City shall refrain from issuing a certificate under the following circumstances:

(1) The rental dwelling is not habitable at the time the owner seeks to register the rental dwelling or renew the certificate therefor.

(2) The owner has not received a certificate of occupancy for the rental dwelling at the time the owner seeks to register the rental dwelling or renew the certificate therefore.

(3) A free-standing rental dwelling has been condemned because it is uninhabitable and/or because it is dangerous and unsafe.

(4) A rental dwelling in a multi-rental dwelling building has been condemned as uninhabitable; or because the entire building has been condemned as uninhabitable; or because another rental dwelling in the building that has been condemned as uninhabitable threatens the habitability of one or more other rental dwellings within the said building.

(5) The owner’s application is incomplete.

(6) The owner has not tendered the registration or certificate renewal fee.

(7) The application for registration or renewal of a certificate contains false or misleading information.

(8) The rental dwelling has been cited on two occasions within a six-month period in the last year for being in violation of one or more codes and where the owner did not abate such violations within the timeframes provided on the notices of violation or citations for violation.

(H) Revocation of certificate. In all events, a certificate may be revoked or suspended at any time the Code Inspector finds that a code violation involving the exterior structure or interior of a rental dwelling presents an immediate threat to human life, health or safety or the safety of property owned by a third person.

(I) Prosecution of violations of this chapter. All violations of this chapter shall be prosecuted through the administrative adjudication process provided in Chapter 42 and in the same manner as the code official prosecutes violations of the city’s property maintenance code (Chapter 167).