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1. What is the Residential Quality Support Ordinance All About?

It's about public safety and healthy neighborhoods, not about punishment

• The ordinance allows police officers to manage rental properties that disrupt your quality of life.
• The ordinance allows the City to work with landlords to find solutions for problem tenants.
• The ordinance empowers landlords to be kept informed of problem activity on their property.

It's about your tenant, not your house guest

• The updated ordinance addresses individuals that live in a property that you own that is not your residence.
• The updated "Lets" vs. "Rent" language allows better management of tenants who don't pay rent or have difficulty proving they pay rent.
• The ordinance does not in any way, shape or form question your ability or require you to register to have a house guest or family member who is visiting or lives with you in your own home.

It's about managing problem property, not about big government

• The ordinance contains chronic nuisance enforcement provisions that may be initiated if arrests occur or citations are issued at a property on three separate occasions within a 120-day period.
• The ordinance targets tenants that aren't good neighbors and aren't contributing to your quality of life.
• The revised ordinance is about offering solutions at the request of Rockford Apartment Association (RAA) due to its frustration of the original narrowly focused ordinance and at the request of citizens who are constantly dealing with neighborhood disorder caused by poor behavior.

It's about inclusion, not exclusion

• The City worked with the RAA, at its direction, on the original 2013 ordinance.
• The City met with the RAA last month and, based on feedback, developed a new ordinance and provided it to RAA members for review.
• The new ordinance addresses the challenge RAA landlords indicated the original ordinance prevented them from engaging in actionable and impactful measures to eradicate problem properties.

2. What is the benefit to me?

You will receive automatic emails from the City whenever there is a Police or Fire incident at your rental property. You will also receive an email of a notice of pending inspection for Code Enforcement activities.

3. Why do I have to comply?

As a part of the Residential Quality Support Ordinance, the registry is mandated by law.

4. What needs to be registered?

Any residential rental property within the City limits. A rental registry property is any property on which one or more dwelling units are located that the owner thereof rents, either entirely or in part, to another person for occupancy as a dwelling unit.

5. What if I don’t comply?

Fines ranging from $50 to $750 per day for each property can be imposed.

6. What is the deadline to register?

March 1, 2014.

7. How can I register I don’t have access to a computer?

Friends, family, public libraries and community centers are often good resources for computers with internet access.

8. Where can I get help?

A Step-by-step guide can be found in the Rental Registry Tutorial (PDF)

9. How much does it cost?

There is no cost to use the system.

10. What information do I need to register?

• Property address
• Number of dwelling units
• Name, address, email address, and telephone numbers of the property owner and property manager or custodian.