Bloomington, IL Rental Inspections: Inspection Programs (2026)

Bloomington's rental inspection program exists, in the code's own words, to maintain the City's rental housing stock by enforcement of property maintenance, life safety and health codes through periodic building inspections and annual registration, per Bloomington City Code § 45-201, Sec. 900.1. Every building containing residential rental units, including dormitories and rooming houses, is registered annually with the Department of Economic & Community Development, and Section 900.2(f) sorts buildings into a Rental Inspection Pool based on a prior unacceptable rating, a substantiated complaint history, or recent conversion to rental use.

Buildings in the pool are inspected under Section 900.4 to determine compliance with all applicable codes, and each one comes out rated acceptable or unacceptable. The code official has to send the owner or owner's agent written notice of the inspection date and time at least 15 days ahead under Section 900.5(a), the owner gets up to 10 business days to reschedule, and notices must tell the owner they can refuse the inspection, in which case the City can seek an administrative search warrant; no occupied unit gets inspected without the tenant's consent or a warrant. Inspection results, including any fines for violations not fixed within the time given, go out to the owner within five business days. Owners or agents who miss a scheduled inspection, or whose building goes unregistered, face escalating fines, and a current registration is a precondition for the City issuing any building permit for that property under Section 900.11.