BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (AP) – The Bloomington City Council will consider a proposal to penalize landlords who repeatedly violate city housing codes.
The Pantagraph reports the review comes after one landlord racked up nearly 800 code violations at six rental properties. One of those buildings was destroyed by fire earlier this year.
The city created an administrative court for code violations in 2015, and has largely focused on getting landlords to fix problems rather than penalizing them.
Officials say it’s a balancing act because they want rental units to be safe, but shutting down problem buildings could leave renters homeless.
Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner says the council needs to take another look at the issue and chronic offenders. Renner says, “We need to come after them and we need to come after them hard.”
