Chicago Suburb Markham Extends Ban on Single-Family Rentals

A suburb south of Chicago is putting pressure on single-family landlords with vacant properties to sell by extending a moratorium on home rentals.

Markham added a year to its single-family rental ban by unanimous vote from the city council last week, CBS News reported.

A test run of the moratorium launched in December and was set to end this month. The extension bans new single-family leases in the city limits. Landlords renting homes prior to the moratorium can still renew tenant leases.

Mayor Roger Agpawa wants single-family home rental rates to drop from 19 percent of all homes in Markham down to 10 percent. The hope is that owners will renovate and place the homes on the market.

City leaders view the initiative as a way to improve the “transient” portion of the housing market, reducing high turnover and vacancy.

“We’ve got a lot of long-term renters here,” Agpawa said. “Well, stay here, and this will never affect you.”

Illinois Realtors lobbied to stop the moratorium extension, arguing the policy infringes on property rights and prevents south suburban Chicago residents from accessing affordable housing.

“Many people can’t get a mortgage, but they’re still able to pay rent, so this is preventing people from accessing housing they can afford in communities they want to live in,” said Nora Gruenberg, government affairs director for Illinois Realtors.

The home ownership rate in Markham is higher than all of Cook County and Illinois, at about 72 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, whose five-year estimate clocks the town’s population at 11,434 and more than 70 percent Black.

Agpawa and other city officials argued the number of rentals increasing in the area puts a squeeze on fire, police and other city services. For now, residents and city officials will find out if the rental freeze brings in new homeowners or creates more vacant homes.

— Eric Weilbacher