You Can't Put a For-Sale Sign in Your Elmwood Park Yard Until the Village Has Inspected the House. More Than 70 Chicagoland Towns Have Their Own Version.

Here is a rule most people find out about three weeks before closing, usually from a paralegal: in a big share of Chicagoland suburbs, the village gets a look at your house, and a check from you, before you're allowed to sell it.

Elmwood Park is the cleanest example. Its village code says that when an owner offers a home for sale, they have to notify the Code Administration Department first, and no open house or for-sale sign may go up until the village has done its property-maintenance inspection. If the inspector finds problems, the village won't release the transfer stamps you need to close until the problems are fixed, or until the buyer signs a village form agreeing to fix them instead. The village's own transfer-stamp sheet adds that smoke and carbon monoxide detectors must be in place before any stamp is released, foreclosures and short sales included, "no exceptions."

That's one town. By my count from two industry lists (Illinois REALTORS' municipal inspection chart and First American Title's transfer-stamp listing, both updated in 2024), more than 70 Chicago-area municipalities require some kind of inspection, certificate or village sign-off before a home sale can close, and roughly 60 charge a per-$1,000 transfer tax on top. The rules are different in every one of them.

This post sorts it out in plain English: what the three separate requirements actually are, what they cost town by town, the fine print that trips people up, and what to do about it whether you're the seller or the buyer.

One caveat up front: fees and procedures change whenever a village board feels like it, and the two lists I'm working from don't always agree with each other (Illinois REALTORS has Berkeley's inspection at $300; First American has it at $350). Treat every number below as "the last published figure," and confirm with the village before you rely on it.

Three different things people lump together as "the village stuff"

1. The transfer stamp. This is a tax. The village charges a set amount per $1,000 of sale price, prints a stamp, and the deed can't be recorded without it. Sometimes the seller pays, sometimes the buyer, sometimes both.

2. The point-of-sale inspection. This is a code check. A village inspector walks the house against a property-maintenance checklist. Pass, and you get a certificate of compliance (or an occupancy certificate, or the deed literally stamped "passed"). Fail, and you get a repair list. In most of these towns the stamp in item 1 doesn't get released until item 2 is resolved.

3. The clearance items. Paid-up bills and sign-offs. Nearly every town wants a final water-meter reading and a paid final bill, and many want every dollar owed to the village settled (parking tickets included, in Berwyn's case). Some add a narrow inspection of one thing: the sewer connection, the sump pump discharge, or the zoning of the building.

Everybody in Illinois pays the state and county piece regardless of town: $1.00 per $1,000 to the State of Illinois and $0.50 per $1,000 to the county, both seller-paid. On a $400,000 sale that's $600, and it's the same in Winnetka and Harvey. The municipal layer is where the towns go their own way.

Part 1: The transfer tax, town by town

Under Illinois law a municipality can't add or raise a real estate transfer tax without a binding referendum, which is why Evanston's tiered rates went to voters in 2018 and why Chicago's proposed graduated increase went to voters in March 2024 (it failed). So these numbers move slowly. But they move, and the range across Chicagoland is enormous. Here's what the same $400,000 sale costs in municipal stamps depending on where the house sits.

Town	Rate per $1,000	Who pays	On a $400,000 sale
Chicago	$10.50 ($7.50 buyer + $3.00 seller)	Both	$3,000 buyer + $1,200 seller
Berwyn	$10.00	Seller	$4,000
Cicero	$10.00	Seller	$4,000
Harwood Heights	$10.00	Buyer	$4,000
Oak Park	$8.00	Seller	$3,200
Calumet City	$8.00	Split 50/50	$1,600 each
Bolingbrook	$7.50	Split 50/50	$1,500 each
Hillside	$7.50	Buyer	$3,000
Evanston	$5.00 up to $1.5M; $7.00 from $1.5M to $5M; $9.00 above $5M	Seller	$2,000
Bellwood	$5.00 if stamps are obtained before closing; $10.00 if obtained after	Seller	$2,000 (or $4,000)
Highland Park, Oak Lawn, Park Forest, Burbank, Dolton, Evergreen Park, Glenwood, Stickney, Country Club Hills, Calumet Park, McCook	$5.00	Seller	$2,000
North Chicago, Mettawa, Burnham	$5.00	Buyer	$2,000
Harvey	$5.00, plus a $60 buyer fee	Split	$1,000 each + $60
Lake Forest	$4.00	Buyer	$1,600
Maywood, Chicago Heights, Stone Park	$4.00	Seller	$1,600
Romeoville	$3.50	Buyer	$1,400
Alsip	$3.50	Seller	$1,400
Skokie, Morton Grove, Glen Ellyn, Glendale Heights, Hoffman Estates, Streamwood, Hanover Park, Carol Stream, Elk Grove Village, Buffalo Grove, Rolling Meadows, Bartlett, Aurora, Joliet	$3.00	Seller	$1,200
Naperville, Wilmette, Niles, Mount Prospect, Lincolnshire, Oswego, Channahon	$3.00	Buyer	$1,200
Addison, Wheaton	$2.50	Buyer	$1,000
Woodridge	$2.50	Seller	$1,000
Park Ridge, Des Plaines	$2.00	Seller	$800
Elmhurst	$1.50	Seller	$600
Schaumburg, River Forest, University Park	$1.00	Seller	$400
Arlington Heights, Glenview, Northbrook, Winnetka, Glencoe, Hinsdale, Western Springs, Downers Grove, Lombard, Lisle, Orland Park, Tinley Park, Palatine, Wheeling, Lemont, Mokena, New Lenox, Plainfield, Homewood, Flossmoor, Elgin	None	—	$0

Read that top row again. The buyer of a $400,000 Chicago two-flat writes a $3,000 check to the city for the privilege of buying it. The buyer of the same-priced house in Arlington Heights writes $0. Neither is right or wrong; it's just a line item that a lot of people don't see until the closing disclosure.

The small print on stamps

• Flat fees instead of a rate: Bedford Park and Countryside charge a flat $50, Franklin Park $80 for a single dwelling, East Hazel Crest $25. Robbins charges $100 per PIN. In Riverside, River Grove and Riverdale, the "stamp" is literally the inspection fee.

• Exempt transfers still cost money. Moving a house into your own trust, or to a family member for no money, usually needs an "exempt stamp," and towns charge for it: $100 in Evanston, Berwyn and Chicago Heights, $50 in Dolton, Calumet Park and Harwood Heights, $35 in Elmwood Park.

• Rebates for staying in town. Burbank rebates its transfer tax to sellers of a primary residence who buy another primary residence in Burbank within a window of three months before to twelve months after the sale. Chicago Heights offers a refund to sellers who buy another home in Chicago Heights within 18 months. First American's list flags Elmhurst, Carol Stream, Des Plaines, Elk Grove Village and Glen Ellyn as towns where the seller "may be eligible for a refund," and Channahon for buyers. If you're moving across town, ask.

• Your mailing address is not your municipality. Plenty of homes with Lockport, New Lenox or Plainfield mailing addresses sit inside neighboring villages that do charge a tax. Melrose Park's 60164 zip is largely unincorporated Leyden Township. Des Plaines addresses numbered over 4000 are mostly unincorporated. Unincorporated Chicago Heights has no transfer tax while the city does. The PIN decides, not the envelope.

Part 2: The point-of-sale inspection

This is the part that actually stalls closings. Here's the sequence in a typical inspection town: you (or your agent) file a sale-notification or inspection application, pay the fee, and book a date. The lead time matters: Berwyn, Cicero, Norridge and Northlake want the request 30 days before closing; Harwood Heights says three to four weeks; Hazel Crest and Markham say three weeks; Berkeley does its home and sewer inspections on Mondays only and tells sellers to apply "several weeks" out. An inspector then walks the house. Pass, and the village issues a certificate of compliance that the title company needs to release the stamp. Fail, and you get a written list.

What are they looking for? Every village has its own checklist, but North Chicago publishes a representative one. It covers things like visible structural wood with no sagging or decay, older Pushmatic electrical panels (which need a licensed electrician's report), no knob-and-tube wiring or exposed splices, minimum spacing of outlets, sump pumps that discharge outside rather than into the sanitary sewer, and proper bonding of the gas piping. Missing smoke and CO detectors are the single most common failure everywhere.

Fees and lead times at a glance (single-family home)

Town	Inspection fee	Lead time and quirks
North Riverside	$405 (Illinois REALTORS chart)	Buyer must sign the inspection report in front of a notary at village hall
Berkeley	$350 (First American) / $300 (Illinois REALTORS)	Home and sewer inspections, Mondays only, apply weeks ahead
Riverside	$325 (house or duplex, +$25 per extra unit)	Survey required; schedule 10 days out
Forest Park	$325 house / $225 condo	Additional inspection fees may follow after the first visit
Lyons	$250	Village form transfers repair responsibility to the buyer if needed
Northlake	$250	Order 30 days out; survey, MLS sheet and disclosure report required for stamps
University Park	$250	Application 10 days before closing; plus $1/$1,000 stamp
Robbins	$240	Plus $100 stamp per PIN; stamps issued Tuesday and Thursday, 10 to 2
Westchester	$225	Compliance inspection, application online
Dolton	$200	Plus $5/$1,000 stamp and $50 fee; roof certification required; as-is sales need an escrow
Riverdale	$200 (house or two-flat)	Termite inspection required; final water readings only on Wednesdays
Indian Head Park	$200	—
Posen	$180 (+$95 per unit multifamily)	Buyer must supply an as-is letter if it fails
Bellwood	$175	Allow 7 days; stamp doubles if obtained after closing
Calumet City	$150	Plus $8/$1,000 split stamp; pick up stamps 48 hours before closing
Harvey	$150	Submit 72 hours before closing
Melrose Park	$150	Certificate of compliance filed 10 days out; new water meter on foreclosures
Markham	$125 plus $100 application per PIN	Request 3 weeks out
Justice	$120	—
Cicero	$100 (+$100 processing on as-is sales)	Schedule 30 days out; village hall is closed Fridays; plus $10/$1,000 stamp
Broadview	$100, plus a $175 certificate-of-compliance stamp	14 days out; report valid 30 days; certificate of occupancy required
Calumet Park	$100	If it fails, a $2,500 escrow bond and as-is affidavit are required
Chicago Heights	$100	Plus $4/$1,000 stamp; refund if you buy again in town within 18 months
Countryside	$100	Plus $50 flat stamp; 24-hour notice
Evergreen Park	$100, plus $50 zoning compliance	Book 3 days before closing; good for 90 days; as-is requires an attorney letter promising a permit within 30 days
Franklin Park	$100	No for-sale sign until the pre-sale application is filed; survey no older than 6 months
Glendale Heights	$100	21 days out, with survey
Blue Island, Glenwood, Hazel Crest, Lynwood, Norridge, Park Forest, Stickney, Ford Heights	$100	Norridge: 30 days out, deed stamped "passed." Park Forest: before closing if owner-occupied, after closing if it'll be a rental. Stickney: 2 weeks out, notarized buyer letter
West Chicago	$100 plus 12 cents per square foot	A 2,000 sq ft house runs $340
Maywood	$90	Plus $4/$1,000 stamp
Matteson, Sauk Village, Dixmoor	$75	Matteson: $125 if the house has fire sprinklers; certificate of occupancy required
Highwood	$55	Survey required
Berwyn	$50	30 days out; plat of survey and the MLS listing with photo required; parking tickets must be paid; plus $10/$1,000 stamp
Harwood Heights	$50	3 to 4 weeks out; plus $10/$1,000 buyer-paid stamp
Hillside	$50	Survey required; plus $7.50/$1,000 buyer-paid stamp
Country Club Hills	$50	Plus a $25 permit for the for-sale sign; certificate of occupancy valid 3 months
Hometown, Monee, North Chicago, Olympia Fields, Palos Hills, Phoenix, Chicago Ridge, Summit, Stone Park (per flat)	$50	Palos Hills: 2 weeks out
Steger	$50 per unit (good for a year)	An inside water meter must be swapped for an outside one, $100
Elmwood Park	No fee	Inspection before any sign or open house
Bedford Park	No fee	Plus $50 flat stamp
Round Lake Beach / Heights / Park	$60 / $100 / $75	Occupancy inspection and permit

A few more belong on the list without a clean fee to print: South Chicago Heights and Richton Park price the inspection by property type, River Grove wants the application filed at the time of listing, and McCook simply says a residential inspection is required.

The narrow ones: one thing, not the whole house

A different group of towns, mostly north and west, doesn't inspect the house. They inspect one specific thing, usually related to water. Addison requires a sewer inspection and a Certificate of Sewer Compliance (no fee, call two weeks ahead). Elmhurst requires a sump pump inspection (no fee). Glen Ellyn's $50 "clearwater" inspection and Villa Park's $50 inspection both exist to catch sump pumps and downspouts illegally tied into the sanitary sewer. Lake Forest charges $150 for a home sewer inspection. Oak Lawn and Hickory Hills require a sewer inspection. Bannockburn's $100 "transfer compliance inspection" is limited to sewer connections. These are quick, but they can still fail you if the previous owner ran the sump into the wrong pipe.

The zoning ones: proving the units are legal

Chicago itself has no point-of-sale inspection. What it has is the Certificate of Zoning Compliance: any sale of a residential building with one to five units (condos and co-ops excluded) needs one, the fee is $120, and it certifies how many dwelling units are legal at that address. The city checks permit records first; if the records can't confirm the unit count, an inspection follows. This is the mechanism that surfaces the unpermitted garden apartment. Add the $50 water certification and Chicago's $10.50 stamp and you have the city's version of "the village stuff."

River Forest does a free zoning inspection at sale. Illinois REALTORS' chart lists Park Ridge as requiring both a home inspection and a zoning inspection, no fee. Waukegan requires a $150 zoning certificate and a $150 "closing letter" listing every fee owed to the city, both to be requested when the property is listed and no less than 30 days before closing. Beach Park charges $25 for a zoning inspection, East Hazel Crest $100 for a letter of zoning compliance, Evergreen Park $50.

The one that flips it onto the buyer

Brookfield doesn't send a village inspector to single-family homes. Instead it requires the buyer to hire a state-licensed home inspector and file a Resale Certificate of Compliance, plus a $10 Municipal Debt Satisfaction Certificate. Same goal, different wallet.

What happens when the house fails

Two paths. Path one: the seller makes the repairs and calls for a re-inspection (which some towns charge for again). Path two, available in most inspection towns: the buyer takes the repairs on in writing. Elmwood Park's code allows it outright. Cicero accepts an escrow agreement in place of the certificate. Dolton requires an escrow for as-is sales. Calumet Park requires a $2,500 escrow bond plus an as-is affidavit. Posen and South Chicago Heights want an as-is letter or affidavit from the buyer. Lyons has a "transfer of compliance responsibility" form. Evergreen Park wants an attorney's letter promising a building permit will be pulled within 30 days of closing. A property-management firm that works these suburbs describes the usual shape: the buyer signs an affidavit to complete the work in a set period, often six months or less, sometimes backed by a surety bond at the buyer's expense.

Who pays for all this is a contract question, not a village question. The village only cares that someone signs. Your attorney and your agent should sort out, before the inspection happens, whether village-required repairs come out of the seller's pocket, the buyer's, or an escrow at closing.

Fine print that surprises even the attorneys

• Bellwood's transfer stamp is $5 per $1,000 if you get it before closing and $10 per $1,000 if you get it after.

• Berkeley inspects on Mondays. Riverdale reads water meters on Wednesdays. Robbins issues stamps on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10 and 2. Cicero's village hall is closed on Fridays.

• Steger makes you replace an inside water meter with an outside one before you sell ($100).

• Riverdale wants a termite inspection. Dolton wants a roof certification.

• Berwyn wants a copy of your MLS listing with the photo. Northlake wants the MLS listing and the seller disclosure report.

• Country Club Hills charges $25 for a permit to put a for-sale sign in your own yard.

• Franklin Park requires a plat of survey no older than six months. Riverside, Hillside, Highwood and Glendale Heights also want a survey.

• Lincolnshire requires someone 18 or older to be present for the final water reading, and the seller must pay the final bill in person before the buyer can purchase the stamp.

• Bolingbrook's debt-clearance letters are valid for five days. Time your closing accordingly.

• Broadview's inspection report expires in 30 days; Norridge's certificate does too. Evergreen Park's is good for 90.

Why towns do this, and why the industry pushes back

Villages will tell you these programs exist to protect buyers and neighbors: they catch the unpermitted basement unit, the sump pump dumping into the sanitary sewer that floods the house next door, the panel that's a fire waiting to happen, the missing CO detector. They also make sure the water bill gets paid before the account changes hands. Chicago's zoning certificate exists specifically because illegal conversions were being sold as legal multi-flats.

The real estate industry's objection is about process, not safety. Illinois REALTORS' policy arm, the Real Property Alliance, says sellers report inspectors who don't show for appointments, standards that shift from visit to visit, demands to redo an entire driveway over a few cracks or replace carpet the buyer didn't want changed, and closings that slip or die. It also raises a Fourth Amendment point: a village code should have a consent provision, and an owner who declines the inspection shouldn't be fined while the village seeks a warrant. That argument got tested in Sauk Village, where Illinois REALTORS and the Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS sued in December 2019 after the village started using private inspectors with unclear standards. The January 2021 settlement required the village to publish its inspection checklists, sign a contract with its inspection company, seek owner consent before inspecting, and create a formal appeal to the community development director.

Both things can be true. A published checklist, a consent step and an appeal process make these programs work the way the villages say they're supposed to; the absence of them is what turns a $100 inspection into a lost buyer.

Seller checklist

1. Day one, before the sign goes up: confirm which municipality the PIN is actually in and pull that town's current sale requirements. In Elmwood Park and Franklin Park the sign itself is the trigger.

2. Budget the stamp. Sale price divided by 1,000, times the rate. Add $1.50 per $1,000 for state and county.

3. Book the inspection early. Three to four weeks before closing is the safe assumption; some towns are stricter.

4. Pre-fix the usual failures before the inspector arrives: smoke and CO detectors on every level and in bedrooms, GFCI outlets near water, handrails, exposed wiring, sump discharge to the outside, house numbers visible from the street.

5. Gather the paperwork the village wants: a recent plat of survey, the MLS sheet, the disclosure report, proof of paid water and any village debts.

6. Schedule the final water reading inside the window the town specifies (anywhere from 2 to 10 days out).

7. Ask about a rebate if you're buying your next home in the same town.

8. Decide in the contract who pays for village-required repairs and whether an escrow is acceptable, before anyone knows what the list says.

Buyer checklist

1. Know your side of the stamp. In Chicago, Naperville, Wilmette, Niles, Mount Prospect, Lincolnshire, Addison, Wheaton, Harwood Heights, Hillside, Lake Forest, Romeoville, North Chicago, Oswego and Channahon, some or all of the municipal tax is yours. Check page 2 of your Loan Estimate.

2. If you're asked to "assume" repairs, get the village's actual list, price it, and understand the escrow or bond and the deadline you're signing up for. It's a negotiation, not a formality.

3. In Brookfield, the village inspection is your inspection. Hire a licensed inspector and file the resale certificate.

4. Village compliance is not a home inspection. A passed point-of-sale inspection means the house met the village's maintenance code that day. It says nothing about the roof, the furnace or the foundation. Get your own inspection anyway.

5. New water account, new name. Several towns (Country Club Hills, North Riverside, River Grove, Riverdale) require the buyer to sign forms in person before closing.

Where I come in

I've sold in enough of these towns to know which village hall closes on Fridays. When you list with The Rosenberg Group, the village work is part of the job: I identify the requirements on day one, get the inspection on the calendar before the sign goes up, walk the house against the town's checklist ahead of the inspector, and coordinate the stamps, water reading and certificates with your attorney and the title company so none of it lands three weeks before closing.

My listing commission is 1.25%. On a $400,000 sale that's $5,000 for full-service representation: professional photography, a 3D Matterport tour, full online marketing, and the village paperwork handled. If you find your own buyer, my Zero Commission Clause means you pay me nothing. And you can cancel the listing anytime with no lock-in.

If you're thinking about selling, or you're buying in one of these towns and want to know what you're actually on the hook for, get in touch for a free home valuation and a straight answer on what your village will require.

Jason RosenbergThe Rosenberg Group @ Infiniti Properties312.882.9797https://www.jasonrosenbergrealestate.com/

Sources

• Illinois REALTORS, "Municipal requirements involving the inspection of residential property," updated May 2024: illinoisrealtors.org

• First American Title, "Transfer Stamp Requirement Listing," revised November 25, 2024 (hosted by Saturn Title): saturntitle.com

• NewCastle Home Loans, "Real Estate Transfer Tax Calculator, Chicago metro area" (municipal rate list): newcastle.loans

• Village of Elmwood Park Code, Chapter 41A, Article II, Real Estate Property Inspections: ecode360.com

• Village of Elmwood Park, "Real Estate Transfer Stamp Requirements": elmwoodpark.org

• City of Evanston, "Real Estate Transfer Tax": cityofevanston.org

• Attorneys' Title Guaranty Fund, "Real Estate Transfer Ordinances: Evanston": atgf.com

• The Real Deal, "How Evanston's transfer tax hike is going as Chicago considers measure," August 3, 2023: therealdeal.com

• Municipal Code of Chicago, Section 3-33-045, Certificate of zoning compliance: amlegal.com

• City of Chicago, Certificate of Zoning Compliance application (July 2023): chicago.gov

• City of North Chicago, "Sales Inspection Checklist" (May 2021): northchicago.org

• Illinois REALTORS, "REALTORS challenge an inspection program in Sauk Village": illinoisrealtors.org

• Real Property Alliance, "Point of Sale Inspections": realpropertyalliance.org

• GC Realty & Development, "Village Inspections: What You Need To Know": gcrealtyinc.com

• Illinois Department of Revenue, Real Estate Transfer Tax (state and county rates): tax.illinois.gov