Evanston adds explicit fines to landlord-tenant code in 6'3 vote

The Evanston City Council adopted an amendment to the city's Rental Licensing and Tenant Ordinance on April 13 that adds explicit civil fines for violations and applies the penalties to the entire chapter.

Council Member Nusma introduced the amendment to move penalty language from the retaliatory-conduct subsection so the fine structure would clearly apply across the whole RLTO. After discussion and a recorded roll-call vote on the amendment, the council adopted the change and then passed the revised ordinance (30-026).

Supporters, including council members and tenant organizers, framed the measure as a narrowly targeted enforcement tool to hold repeat or egregious landlords to account. Council Member Isles said the change was necessary because tenants typically look to the RLTO for remedies: "When renters go to look for a remedy, it needs to be obvious and apparent in the RLTO itself."

Opponents warned the city should first fix enforcement capacity and make fuller use of existing penalties before layering in new fines. Council Member Kelly said she worried the change might be performative if the city did not address enforcement shortfalls: "It feels like it could be performative quite frankly because we aren't addressing the issues of enforcement with our city." That caution did not prevent the ordinance's passage.

Vote and effect: the final adoption passed on a 6'3 recorded vote (Yes: Haragaris, Harris, Isles, Nusma, Burns, Davis; No: Rogers, Kelly, Suffford). The ordinance adds an explicit fine range (minimum $100 to a maximum $1,000 per offense) and instructs staff to apply civil penalties where appropriate; the city emphasized it retains discretion to reserve fines for the most serious cases.

Next steps: staff and corporation counsel will publish compliance guidance; council members asked staff to continue outreach to landlord stakeholders and to report back on enforcement capacity and the use of existing penalties.