Rental Housing Inspections

[U R my Helix]

Rental housing inspection fees have been in the news a lot lately but I don't see a topic started on this. Several proposals have been floated lately (see OWH article 03/02/2019) "Three plans are offered for rental inspections" LINK

I did a little review on the $125 per unit proposal, it may be financially feasible for the city to implement but is it right? I certainly can see landlords adding an admin fee on every lease if this goes into effect.

[Dundeemaha]

Great to see these numbers. I think they absolutely should adopt one of these resolutions, I'm not really overly concerned about which because the core of the issue seems dealt with in each.

I really wonder if the very loud group of landlords opposing this represent the majority or if others just don't take the time to speak up. The way I see it, the slumlords I'm competing against as a responsible owner are pocketing the depreciation costs I'm spending to maintain my units. This essentially gives them an advantage in a market with not only a lack of information for tenants but also a high switching cost.

[Bob from Omaha]

Here is the link to the Landlord Registration program where I live in Michigan. It's Oak Park, an older city just north of Detroit. It's a well-written ordinance and that's coming from a former landlord in Omaha. At every inspection the tenant is asked if there is anything that needs attention. Yes, the tenant could face retaliation by the landlord when the lease is up by not renewing the lease. On the other hand, the tenant can notify the city at any time of violations during the lease period. What it does is level the playing field by putting teeth into the regulations. I know of a situation where the city tagged a house for not being inspected and wouldn't let the landlord rerent the house until there was an inspection. As I said it's a well written program.

http://www.oakparkmi.gov/departments/technical_and_planning/rental.php

[Coyote]

There is a resolution before the City Council this week.

[U R my Helix]

In a semi related topic.
Landlords who paid inspection fees in Council Bluffs have started receiving their refund checks in the mail today because of a settlement order. Property owners who paid the city inspection fees between January 2010 to January 2015 are receiving $3.408564734 back for every unit they paid. This is because the city collected more in fees then they paid out for inspections and most were just self inspections that the city charged the property owner for.

It equates to a 20% rebate and they are sending W-9 forms out, so the owners getting back over $600 now have to pay taxes on the refund.

[Bob from Omaha]

Council passed a resolution requiring inspection every 10 years? Mayor to veto.

Every 10 years. If that's the case don't bother. As I said here in Oak Park, Michigan it's every 2 years except if there is a change in tenant, then it must be done before the new one moves in. That's as it should be. Every 10 years is way too long. And this is coming from a former landlord of over 350 apartments in Omaha. Did the landlords write the resolution? They're whining about having to pay...bull. It's a cost of doing business just like taxes, which by the way are far more expensive. Inspect on every tenant turnover or every 2 years, whichever comes first. Charge $120 per inspection. That's $5 a month unless you have higher turnover. Oh, and give me a break. 10 years....

[iamjacobm]

Well, no veto.

https://www.wowt.com/content/news/Compr ... 16521.html

Council previously agreed on the free I and lord registration and the need to inspect non-compliant units with code violations, which will take effect January 1, 2020.

Gray's amendment will change the effective date to inspect all remaining properties beginning in 2022.

The Planning Department will develop the process to stagger the inspections. Over the 10-year period, every registered single family rental unit will be inspected once, and a 15% sampling of all multi-family units will be inspected once during the 10-year period. If inspectors find code violations during the inspection, owners/landlords will have the opportunity to make repairs under current code. If unresolved code violations remain during follow-up inspections, the property will then be inspected annually.

"This compromise will allow our initial focus over the next two years to focus on the non-compliant landlords with unresolved code violations," said Mayor Stothert.

[U R my Helix]

Here are snippets from the KC. MO. Ordinance that went into effect in January 2019. KCMO lonk

KC MO ORDINANCE NO. 180248 residential rental inspection ordinance
(a) Initial Application Fee. A fee of twenty ($20.00) dollars for each rental property….
(b) Rental Property Annual Permit Fee. A fee of twenty ($20.00) dollars per rental unit is due annually.
(c) Inspection Fee. No fee shall be assessed for an initial inspection of a rental unit a re-inspection fee of $150.00 shall be assessed for the re-inspection of the first rental unit; a $100 re-inspection fee shall be assessed at the time of the re-inspection for every additional unit requiring re-inspection.
(e) Late Fee. A Late Fee equal to 10% of the amount due shall be assessed per month for fees not paid when due.
(g) Reinstatement Fees. For properties that have had a permit suspended following action taken by a provision of this Article, a $300 reinstatement fee shall be assessed to reinstate the permit.
(h) CPI Adjustments. The Director shall have the authority to annually adjust all fees …

Sec. 34-848. Complaint by tenants; Retaliation Prohibited (you may not charge tenant to recapture inspection costs or annual fees.)
(3) No person shall charge or demand reimbursement of any fees arising from this Article, including late fees, annual permit review fees and reinspection fees, to a tenant. The passing of fees from an owner or permit holder to a tenant shall be considered retaliation.

Sec. 34-864. Authorities; Penalties.
(b) Any person convicted of a violation of any provision of this chapter shall be punished for that violation by a fine of not more than $1,000.00, or by imprisonment of not more than 180 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each day on which a violation occurs is a separate violation.

[nebugeater]

Here are snippets from the KC. MO. Ordinance that went into effect in January 2019. KCMO lonk

KC MO ORDINANCE NO. 180248 residential rental inspection ordinance
(a) Initial Application Fee. A fee of twenty ($20.00) dollars for each rental property….
(b) Rental Property Annual Permit Fee. A fee of twenty ($20.00) dollars per rental unit is due annually.
(c) Inspection Fee. No fee shall be assessed for an initial inspection of a rental unit a re-inspection fee of $150.00 shall be assessed for the re-inspection of the first rental unit; a $100 re-inspection fee shall be assessed at the time of the re-inspection for every additional unit requiring re-inspection.
(e) Late Fee. A Late Fee equal to 10% of the amount due shall be assessed per month for fees not paid when due.
(g) Reinstatement Fees. For properties that have had a permit suspended following action taken by a provision of this Article, a $300 reinstatement fee shall be assessed to reinstate the permit.
(h) CPI Adjustments. The Director shall have the authority to annually adjust all fees …

Sec. 34-848. Complaint by tenants; Retaliation Prohibited (you may not charge tenant to recapture inspection costs or annual fees.)
(3) No person shall charge or demand reimbursement of any fees arising from this Article, including late fees, annual permit review fees and reinspection fees, to a tenant. The passing of fees from an owner or permit holder to a tenant shall be considered retaliation.

Sec. 34-864. Authorities; Penalties.
(b) Any person convicted of a violation of any provision of this chapter shall be punished for that violation by a fine of not more than $1,000.00, or by imprisonment of not more than 180 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each day on which a violation occurs is a separate violation.

You can say the fees can’t be passed on but the landlaord is not going to loose money. The cost will be built into future rent structures. May not be I I stand day one with existing leases but it will be paid for by the renter in fairly short order

[U R my Helix]

Just as an fyi for those who enjoy maps and stats. The city has created a map of the sites that are on the Omaha Rental Property Registry. It breaks them out by Condo, Duplex, Multi-Family and Single Family rentals. Map Link

The Home page for the rental registry LINK features this nice photo of what the city must imagine a typical rental property to look like.

[ita]

Just as an fyi for those who enjoy maps and stats. The city has created a map of the sites that are on the Omaha Rental Property Registry. It breaks them out by Condo, Duplex, Multi-Family and Single Family rentals. Map Link

The Home page for the rental registry LINK features this nice photo of what the city must imagine a typical rental property to look like.

Thanks for the link. There are some bad rentals in the city, particularly SFH's, but that example house looks like nothing in Omaha just from a architectural standpoint.