Palatine, IL Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Palatine Village Code § 12-23(23)b rewrites Section [A] 113.1 of the adopted 2021 International Property Maintenance Code, giving the code official authority to act whenever a structure is, in the code official's or the owner's authorized agent's judgment, so deteriorated or dilapidated, or so out of repair, that it has become dangerous, unsafe, insanitary or otherwise unfit for human habitation or occupancy. If it is unreasonable to repair the structure, the code official can order the owner to demolish and remove it; if the structure can be made safe by repairs, the order can instead require repair, boarding up for future repair, or demolition at the owner's option.

The same section reaches construction sites abandoned for more than two years, letting the code official order demolition and removal of any structure where normal construction has stopped for that long. Section 12-23(9) separately amends Section 112.5 so that when the village performs emergency work on an unsafe structure, the village pays the cost up front and the village's legal counsel then sues the owner to recover it. Board-ups are limited under § 12-23(24): they are allowed only on unoccupied buildings made uninhabitable by fire, explosion or an act of God, for 30 days, extendable another 30 days only if a reconstruction or demolition permit has been pulled, and a board-up may never be used on a dangerous, unsafe or abandoned building outside that window.

Notice of a demolition or repair order can be personally delivered, mailed, or posted on the property if the owner cannot be found after diligent effort, per § 12-23(26). An owner aggrieved by such an order may seek an administrative conference with the village manager within 14 days under § 12-130.