Rental Property Inspections Resume

After having been suspended for more than a year, rental property inspections for the City of Fairbury have resumed. Fairbury City Administrator Robert Messbarger to FJN, “Yes, the Rental Inspection Program has started back up.” The COVID-19 pandemic impacted numerous government operations. One of these are rental properties inspections. Because of the highly contagious nature of the virus, the City of Fairbury attempted to minimize contact between homeowners and inspectors by delaying the inspection of rental properties. The rental process requires that owners who wish to rent a property must submit an application for a Certificate of Occupancy and pay a fee. According to the City’s website, “As of April 1, 2015 no person shall rent, lease or occupy any rental dwelling or rental dwelling unit that does not have a Certificate of Occupancy under the rental ordinance from the City. The Certificate of Occupancy is not transferable between landlords or rental units and shall be valid for 12 months following its date of issuance.” Prior to the pandemic, inspection were performed by Davis Home Inspections, which is owned by Fairbury City Councilperson Kelly Davis. According to the agreement with the city, Davis Inspections is paid on a per unit inspection, so there has been no cost to the city while the inspections have remained undone. This agreement expired August 31, 2020 and has not been renewed. Instead, Messbarger said, “Inspections are performed by the City’s Code Enforcement.” Fairbury’s Code Enforcement Officer is Daniel Lufkin.

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