Rental Registration and Inspection Program

The City of Urbana includes more than 10,000 rental units, comprising almost two-thirds of our housing stock. After an extensive public review and hearing process, the City of Urbana adopted a Rental Registration and Inspection Program.

Purpose of the Rental Registration and Inspection Program

The purpose is to help ensure a safer rental housing stock, protect property values, and improve accountability for rental units. Residents throughout the City lobbied for many years for such a program. Previously, Urbana and Champaign were the only sizable cities in central Illinois without such a program.

The disbanded Mayor’s Neighborhood Safety Task Force assisted in developing the program,  based on a careful review of similar programs in other communities. The Task Force included representation from all City neighborhoods, local rental property owners, managers, and other experts.

Program Requirements

The program requires annual registration and fee payment for all rental properties in the City. Related fees can be viewed in the Schedule of Fees.

The program covers single-family, multi-family, and duplex housing, including properties where the owner is still an occupant, such as room rentals and temporary leases.

The program excludes nursing homes, hotels/motels, housing authority units, and University Certified Housing.

The goal of the City is to complete inspections of all rental properties on a three to five-year cycle. The timing of the inspection will depend upon factors outlined in the ordinance.

Program Effective Dates

The program term will be October 15 to October 14 annually to accommodate the annual leasing calendar.

The current list of rental inspection grades can be found here.

Rental Registration Available Online

The City of Urbana has an online system for rental registration using a cloud-based program called Citizenserve. You can create a CitizenServe portal account here and you can register a rental property here. 

For questions or additional information, please contact the Building Safety Division at 217-384-2443 or buildingsafety [at] urbanaillinois.us (buildingsafety[at]urbanaillinois[dot]us).