Cicero, IL Rental Inspections: Tenant Complaint Process (2026)

and at least 63 degrees overnight. Subsection (c) makes clear that no violation exists at all until a complaint about lack of heat reaches the department of health or its designee; the town does not proactively enforce the heat minimums. Once a complaint comes in, the building department dispatches a building inspector who must take readings with a standard Fahrenheit thermometer (or another the health department approves) in at least two opposite parts of a room, positioned four to six feet above the floor and at least four feet from any exterior door or window, to confirm the actual temperature.

If that reading shows a violation, the director of code enforcement gives verbal notice first, then follows with written notice by certified mail to the person owning or controlling the property. Section 46-331(e) lets the town relocate any tenant who wants to leave a non-compliant building, without needing to notify the landlord first, to a town shelter or, when shelters are full, a hotel or motel, with the landlord billed for that relocation cost on top of the fine. Breakdowns repaired with due diligence, fuel shortages, strikes or a tenant's own conduct are built-in defenses under subsection (f).