Peoria, IL Rental Property Rules: Rental Inspection Programs (2026)

Unlike some Illinois college-adjacent municipalities (Champaign, Urbana, Bloomington-Normal, DeKalb), Peoria has not implemented a mandatory cyclical rental housing inspection program where every rental unit is physically inspected on a fixed schedule. The City's framework instead has three layers. First, every non-owner-occupied rental property and every property vacant for 6 months or more must register annually under the Residential Property Registration Program (renewal by February 28; $75 single-family or first multi-family unit plus $20 per additional unit). As part of registration, the City makes available a Property Owner/Tenant Self-Inspection Form that owners are expected to use to document compliance with the Peoria Property Maintenance Code (Code of Ordinances Chapter 5, Article VI, adopting the International Property Maintenance Code with local amendments). Second, Peoria Inspections and Code Enforcement responds to complaints from tenants, neighbors, postal carriers, utility workers, and other reporters; once a complaint is filed, an inspector can enter common areas, examine the exterior, and request consent (or seek an administrative search warrant) to enter the dwelling unit. Third, properties designated as chronic nuisance properties under the City's nuisance abatement framework, foreclosure registry properties, and short-term rentals with verified complaint records may be subject to additional targeted inspections. Inspections check items such as functioning smoke alarms (Illinois Smoke Detector Act, 425 ILCS 60/), carbon monoxide detectors (430 ILCS 135/), heating capacity, plumbing, structural integrity, weatherproofing, sanitation, infestation, and the absence of unpermitted occupancy. Findings are documented and escalated to the Peoria Administrative Hearing Officer for civil citation if not corrected within the time the inspector sets in the violation notice.