Unlike its neighboring river cities, Dayton has no residential property inspection program. The Residential Rental License and Safety Inspection program is designed to be complaint-driven and have bi-yearly proactive inspections from code enforcement.
Dayton City Administrator Jay Fossett said the program is to protect tenants, not to punish landlords.
“In speaking with other city managers, it can really help improve properties by doing this program,” Fossett said. “We have a lot of great landlords that take care of their properties and do a great job. They shouldn’t be concerned because they’ll be fine. It’s the ones that are basically renting out unsanitary and unsafe spaces that we’re really concerned about.”
According to Dayton Code Enforcement Director Cassie Patterson, inspections are currently complaint driven or recommended by the police or fire departments.
Code Enforcement is not currently required to inspect all residential rental units in the city.
“We need it,” Patterson said.
She said some landlords don’t realize issues in their units until their tenants move out.
Patterson strongly suggests each landlord visits their units at least twice a year. A recommendation she said was put in the lease that they must check smoke detector batteries twice a year, which will get them into the unit.
“A little leak to somebody is nothing but six months later, the ceilings caving in, and they don’t understand why. We have a lot of young folks in the unit, small children, and it becomes a safety issue,” Patterson said. “Even smoke detectors, some of these big units only have one smoke detector. So that’s a huge issue. I just think we need it. I think every city needs it.
Dayton held the first reading for this ordinance at its city council meeting on Aug. 2.
If approved at the next city council meeting on Sept. 6, the program won’t go into effect until Jan. 1, 2023. According to Fossett, the city hopes to inspect all 1,000 residential rental units over two years, averaging two per day.
Under the program, landlords must pay a $40 inspection fee. The fee will be paid as part of their Dayton rental inspection license. The license will be due on April 15 and must be renewed yearly.
The money that the landlords are paying will go toward the part-time inspector’s salary so that no additional money will come out of the city’s budget.
The property owner will receive a written notice if an inspector finds a violation in the rental unit. The owner will have approximately 30 days to make corrections.
Penalties for violation of the ordinance will pay a fine of no less than $50 per day per violation but not more than $250 per day per violation, up to a maximum of $5,000 per citation, and a property lien of $250 per rental unit.
Rental property owners must register every rental unit they own or operate in the city annually and pay an annual rental license fee for each unit.
