STR Regulations in Rockford

[Nithin Mathai]

Good morning BiggerPockets Fam, 

I am looking into possibly buying a property in Rockford, Illinois to use as a short term rental. I haven't had any luck reaching the zoning department at city hall. By any chance, does someone here know the short term regulations...permitting, business license, zoning, etc.? Thank you in advance! 

[Michael Baum]

Man, there is nothing on the Rockford site that even mentions STRs. @Nithin Mathai, I will say I had a good long read of the Rental Quality Support Ordinance. https://rockfordil.gov/city-de...

That has a lot of info about annoying rentals and a STR could cause any number of violations if the neighbors complain.

I would keep on trying the city to get the skinny on it. You don't want to walk into a minefield.

[Nithin Mathai]

Thank you for the reply! I tried calling again. This time someone actually picked up but they had no idea about short term rental regulations. He directed me to their website which doesn’t say a lot. One thing it did say was it had to be owned or managed by someone living within 120 miles. Unfortunately, that disqualifies me. 

[Henry T.]

I was curious about Rockford because in 2008. Houses going for under 5k, like Detroit. Never thought Rockford could be an STR destination but I'm just a Seattle bumkin. When I called the STR office in Seattle, they never answered either, then finally, it sounded like I just got somebody out of bed. A sleepy slow Hellllllllloooo. They passed the law but never funded the employees I guess. Must live within 120 miles huh? Trust me, in Rockford no one will care or be able to enforce it. You'll find the sole city council member working under his truck across from the boarded up Snuggly Bear Tavern. Sorry, don't mean to be a wise axx, Rokford has a special place in my heart.