Two years after Tinley Park introduced a crime-free housing program in rental properties, officials say they are considering expanding it to include single-family and two-flats as well. Currently, only buildings with three or more units are affected.
Brian Maher, village trustee and chair of the Public Safety Committee, said while there was some trepidation about how the program would work at first, it has generally been accepted by property managers in town.
Currently, about 1,800 units at 155 properties are part of the crime-free housing program. Expanding it to all residential rental properties could raise some challenges, Maher said. Smaller rental properties aren’t as easy to identify, and property owners renting a single-family home may be doing so temporarily, unlike someone who manages an apartment or senior-living complex.
“We’re going to look at that and see if it makes sense,” he said.
Maher also said that incidents like the one last month where a renter caused a fire in a single-family home in the 6300 block of Honey Lane, could be subject to closer scrutiny, Maher said. A 45-year-old man was arrested for reconnecting his ComEd power lines illegally, and the next day his home caught fire when he connected a gas generator to his electrical box.
“Those kinds of things the crime-free housing might keep from happening, or at least might give s a little more control over ,” Maher said.
Under the program, tenants are required to sign a lease addendum that says if they or their guests engage in criminal activity on the property, the renter can be evicted. The same is true for anyone who violates a village ordinance three times or more within a six month period.
In the two years of the program, three renters have been asked to vacate their homes after violating the addendum, said Phil Valois, a community officer who oversees the program.
“We don’t have a lot of serious problems at our buildings,” Valois said. “That’s one thing I’m happy to report.”
Two of the instances involved renters who were repeatedly cited for disorderly conduct after disturbing their fellow tenants. The third was a tenant who’s 19-year-old son was arrested for burglarizing three other units in the building.
Before the crime free housing program, Valois said landlords had few ways to get rid of troublesome tenants.
“As long as they were paying their rent, landlords really didn’t have a way to get rid of them until lease time was up for renewal,” he said.
Tinley Park officials implemented the crime-free housing program after seeing the drastic reduction in crime Oak Forest had with its program, Valois said.
“We’re trying to improve quality of life around the apartment buildings. That’s what the whole program is about,” Valois said.
Two years in, he said the program is worth the time and has improved the community by creating better lines of communication between police, landlords and tenants.
Valois fields more calls now about suspicious activity and other issues at some of the property buildings than before, he said.
“I think they have a face now to put with the program,” he said. ”They know to call me.”
Property managers must go through a daylong training session, which have grown into one of the largest successes of the program, Valois said. When landlords began talking about property management at the sessions, they realized they could all benefit from continued communications.
“That was where we started getting the landlords together because prior to that you were The Lone Ranger,” said Tony Abete, a Tinley Park landlord and a director of the Southwest Suburban Landlords’ Association.
Formed last year, the association has about 30 members who mostly manage properties in Tinley Park and Orland Park, and some from Oak Forest and Hazel Crest, said association treasurer Jami Douglas.
She manages about 25 properties around the Chicago area through her business, Future Property Services, Inc., based in Oak Forest, and said the association is a way to educate landlords who may be unfamiliar with best practices in their business.
Before they started the association, Douglas said property managers had few places to turn to ask for advice. Now, the members get together once every two months to listen to speakers on different topics and to consult with one another on common issues.
“The benefit that the landlords are getting from the association is they do have somebody on their side,” she said.
As they attempt to grow their membership, nonmembers are welcome to attend the meetings as well, Douglas said. For more information, visit the association website.