With Freeze On Rental Licenses In Country Club Hills, Would-Be Landlord Losing About $1,600 A Month

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Alexandra Edmonds-Banks dotted her i's and crossed her t's to find the perfect tenant, but the south suburban landlord is stuck juggling two mortgages.

Bankruptcy is on the horizon all because of a rental roadblock CBS 2 told you was causing problems months ago.

Morning Insider Lauren Victory follows up.

Signed lease in hand, her property was clean and clear, or so Alexandra Edmonds-Banks thought.

"I've done everything that they've asked me to do," she said.

Rental seminar by Country Clubs Hills Police? Check.

"I had to have the inspection. The guy came out and told me everything they wanted done. I did all that. I had to have the hot water tank and furnace certified. So I did all that," she said.

Check off background screening and other paperwork, too.

The only thing missing? A rental license from the Village.

Edmons-Banks said she's losing about $1,600 every month, because her tenant wasn't allowed to move in, after Country Clubs Hills pressed pause on processing new rental licenses in July.

"So the only option is to let my house sit, and maybe lose it in foreclosure, because I can't make the mortgage; or go against their rules, and then I'm fined $500 a day," Edmonds-Banks said.

She is not the only one facing this dilemma. In fact, she reached out to CBS 2 after we profiled another frustrated would-be landlord in the same neighborhood.

"We're losing hand over fist on this place," landlord Alyssa Sowles said in November.

Sowles has been fighting the rental license freeze in Country Club Hills through the summer, fall, and winter.

"When you start breaking it all out, we've spent well over probably $25,000 in the last two years," on renovations, utilities, and more, she said in November.

We wondered when will the moratorium end, and why is it even in place?

Country Club Hills Mayor James Ford preferred to talk off-camera, telling CBS 2 the freeze comes down to money. He needs it to pay first responders, not the administrator who handles first-time renters' licenses.

That person was apparently laid off to save money until further notice.

So where is Edmonds-Banks now?

"Nowhere," she said. Except in debt.

Edmonds-Banks said she paid at least $150 in various fees before hitting the rental roadblock.

The mayor said he instructed the Village to stop collecting money from would-be landlords and said Edmonds-Banks would get a refund.

Other cities with rental license requirements include Aurora, Elgin, and Chicago Heights.