Berwyn, IL Short-Term Rentals: Repeat Violator Strikes (2026)

Section 879C.99(A) applies to any owner, guest or other person found to have violated any provision of Chapter 879C, and calls the violation an offense punishable on a three-step ladder. The fine for a first violation is $200. The fine for a second violation is $500. The fine for a third or subsequent violation is $750. The ladder counts by violation, so a host who repeats the same breach climbs the same rungs as one who breaks different rules.

Subsection (B) speeds the climb: each day a provision of the chapter is found to have been violated constitutes a separate violation subject to the fine schedule. A rental found over its occupancy cap or unlicensed for a stretch of days can reach the $750 tier within a single enforcement action, since day two is a second violation and day three a third.

Subsection (C) says fines are debts due and owing to the city, which the city can collect by any means allowed by law, including filing a lien against the subject property. That lien reach matters to an owner, because the debt attaches to the real estate. Subsection (D) states that the fines do not limit a court of competent jurisdiction or an administrative hearing officer from imposing other penalties or remedies provided by law, and that an owner found in violation can be subject to revocation, suspension or nonrenewal of the license.

The standards being enforced include the license requirement in Section 879C.02, the 24-hour minimum and 182-day maximum in Section 879C.05(B), the $500,000 insurance proof in Section 879C.05(D), the guest register in Section 879C.05(F) and the occupancy table in Section 879C.06. The chapter came in through Ordinance 23-27, passed 12-12-2023.