Dayton City Council unanimously passed an ordinance to adopt a residential rental property inspection program at their meeting on Sept. 6.
The program is designed to be complaint-driven and has bi-yearly proactive inspections from code enforcement. It will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2023.
Before this ordinance, the city had no residential property inspection program.
According to Dayton Code Enforcement Director Cassie Patterson, inspections were complaint driven or recommended by the police or fire departments. Code Enforcement was also not required to inspect all residential rental units in the city.
This program is something she said the city needed.
The ordinance states that the city council also believes the ordinance is needed to “ensure that the city’s rental housing stock is properly maintained, and residents of rental properties live in safe and healthy conditions.”
“In speaking with other city managers, it can really help improve properties by doing this program,” Dayton City Administrator Jay Fossett said at the first reading for the ordinance on Aug. 2. “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.”
If an inspector finds conditions in a rental unit that violates the ordinance, the city will hand deliver a notice of the violation, or it will be delivered by mail. The owner will have no more than 30 days to make corrections. The inspector may grant an extension of the 30-day deadline “upon good cause.”
The property will be reinspected after the changes are made.
Patterson and a part-time inspector will conduct inspections.
According to Fossett, the city hopes to inspect all 1,000 residential rental units over two years, averaging two per day.
If violations are not corrected, property owners will be subject to fines.
Penalties for violation of the ordinance will result in 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.
Anyone wishing to contest a violation can file a petition with the City of Dayton Code Enforcement Board within seven business days of receiving a notice from the inspector.
Under the ordinance, landlords cannot lease and rent property without acquiring an occupational license and a rental inspection license from the City of Dayton.
Landlords must also 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 $40 fee will pay for the program so that no additional money will come out of the city’s budget.
