It’s almost time for Streator landlords to renew their rental home and apartment registrations. The city council’s not ready to take renewals though. City Engineer Jeremy Palm says there are still almost 200 owners of 368 units who haven’t registered at all.
The city started the registration three years ago to get a handle of landlords who let their rental units get run down. Building Inspector Joe Scarbeary says he’s seen some with no smoke detectors and with mold. City Manager David Plyman says the city would rather get landlords to make improvements than let homes be neglected to the point that they’re demolished. Sometimes when landlords are neglectful for very long, the city ends up paying to solve the problem.