Thursday, March 23, 2006
Officials plan more meetings to address the rental inspection issue.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- Landlords in the city have expressed discontent with the city's rental inspection program, so council is putting together a new program with landlord input.
Members of the health and safety committee headed by Council Michael Costarella met with landlords and various city officials Wednesday in an effort to begin work on the new legislation. Costarella did tell landlords some of what may appear in the new legislation.
According to the current ordinance, landlords are charged an annual registration fee of $12 per unit, and an annual inspection fee of $50 for the first rental unit with an additional $10 for each additional unit. Those landlords needing to address violations and in need of additional inspections will be charged $50 per reinspection.
Each unit, according to the ordinance, must be inspected inside and out at least once a year.
Landlords have complained about the intrusion of an annual inside inspection and the cost associated with the program.
Legislation's goals
Costarella told those landlords in attendance Wednesday that the goals of the new legislation will be to prevent and reverse blight in the city, reduce costs to those owning rental property in the city and eliminate the mandatory annual inside inspection. He said the legislation will also work to eliminate the difference in treatment between rental and owner-occupied homes.
The city has no annual inspections for homes occupied by the owner. Inspections and code violations for rentals and owner-occupied homes are handled by two separate departments.
Issues with rental properties are handled by the rental inspection department under the umbrella of the city health department, while issues with owner-occupied dwellings are handled by the zoning department. Both departments operate under the same set of codes and regulations.
James Dobson, city health commissioner, said the rental inspection department was initially intended to fall under the umbrella of the zoning department, but was moved to the health department because the zoning department did not get the program off the ground.
Officials said citations issued by the zoning department move so far through the system, then, for whatever reason, are not followed through.
Putting programs together
Costarella said officials are looking at ways to pull the two enforcement programs together under one umbrella. He said pulling the two together would mean all property violations here would be treated equally.
The potential new legislation suggested by Costarella would require landlords to pay one flat registration fee per unit per year, which would include two external inspections. If no violations are found on the first external inspection, officials would check the exterior of the building again in six months with no inside inspection. Costarella said research has shown that all landlords with inside violations also had outside violations.
If a violation is found during either of the two yearly inspections, the owner is given time to make repairs and schedule an inside/outside inspection. The landlord could eventually be cited into court if the violations are not corrected.
Under the potential legislation the interior of a rental unit would only be inspected if there is an outside violation or between tenants. The landlord would be charged a fee if the inside is inspected based on an outside violation. The landlord is also charged an occupancy change inspection fee annually, which includes an inspection each time a tenant moves out.
Some landlords said the inspection between tenants would give them a written record proving the property was in good order when the tenant moved in in case there is damage when the tenant moves out.
Officials plan more meetings to address the rental inspection issue, but have not set a date for those meetings.
jgoodwin@vindy.com