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Home My WebLink AboutCAP 2009-12-14 Item 2A - Update - Rental Housing Licensing and InspectionTO: City of Tukwila INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM Mayor Haggerton Community Affairs and Parks Committee FROM: Jack Pace, DCD Directo DATE: December 14, 2009 SUBJECT: Rental Housing Licensing and Inspection Jim Haggerton, Mayor ISSUE Should the City require a license and mandatory inspection for all rental dwelling units? BACKGROUND As part of 2008 program goals, the City Council asked that we develop a proposal for a rental housing inspection program. Staff presented an overview of this proposal to Community Affairs and Parks Committee on August 11, 2008. Recent studies confirm that there are more renters than homeowners in Tukwila, more multi family units than single family units, and nearly 40% of renter occupied housing units are rated as "needs maintenance "deteriorated or "dilapidated Code Enforcement staff frequently responds to complaints from tenants regarding conditions inside their rental units. Most of the tenants in substandard housing in Tukwila are non native English speakers, are unaware of their rights as tenants, fear retaliation from the landlord through eviction, or have been unsuccessful in dealing with the landlord to abate violations. The committee requested that we return with a draft ordinance, program details, suggested fee schedule, and an outreach program. Budgetary concerns and other code enforcement activities, have delayed our return until now. Staff wanted to provide you with this update in preparation for the 2010 work plan. DISCUSSION At the meeting on August 11, 2008, Council recommended that staff prepare a plan to: Require all rental dwelling units to obtain an annual business license Implement a periodic inspection of rentals (every 3 -5 years) Inspect 20% of dwelling units in multi family complexes, randomly selected by the City. Inspect 100% of condominium units which are rented Inspect 100% of single family rental dwelling units and accessory units if rented. Establish a fee schedule which would cover the costs of this program 1 2 Community Affairs and Parks Committee Rental Housing Licensing and Inspection briefing December 14, 2009 Page 2 Implementation Schedule and Phased Roll Out: There are approximately 4000 rental dwelling units in the City of Tukwila. Implementing a broad program of licensing and inspections will require that we roll out in phases. Staff is recommending: Establishing a mid -year (July 1 -June 30) license year to lessen conflicts with the City's regular business license schedule. Starting the program mid -2011 or later to provide more time for training, acquisition of software, developing processes and materials, public education, hiring and training staff. Phasing the roll -out over three years: o 2011: 20% of units in multi family complexes (approx. 650 d.u.) o 2012: 20% of duplex, triplex, fourplexes and 100% condos (approx. 250 d.u.) o 2013: 100% of single family and ADU's (approx. 700 d.u.) Issuing "provisional" licenses for the first year of the program, allowing 12 months to obtain satisfactory inspections. Inspection Details: Inspections of a representative sampling of the units on a three year cycle could be accomplished by one inspector. Phasing the roll out over three years will naturally spread out the inspection schedule and give staff the time to "work out the kinks" in our system. Staff recommends: Business licenses be issued annually and require an inspection every three years. Inspect 20% of all multi family units (duplex and larger). Failure of half of these units would require inspection of an additional 20% of the units up to 100% of multi family units. Units to be randomly chosen by the City. Inspect 100% of condos, single family rentals, and ADUs which are rented. Landlord can choose to use city inspectors (no additional fee), or hire private certified inspector meeting certain qualifications. Items to be inspected are given a point value. Violations in excess of a certain number of points constitute a "failure" and the landlord would be given 30 days to make the necessary repairs and call for a re- inspection. Certain inspection items constitute an automatic failure (i.e. no source of heat, no water, lack of emergency egress, etc). If repairs are satisfactory, the license is issued. If the re- inspection again fails, the license will not be issued and the unit would not be available for rent until the repairs are completed and pass inspection. If a failed unit is occupied, the tenant will be required to move. Inspections which are conducted by the City after the initial and one re- inspection would be charged to the landlord at the current inspector hourly rate, one hour minimum. The inspection criterion is based on the requirements of the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC), the City's adopted housing code. Inspectors will be looking C:lwindata \RentalLicensing 12- 14- 09.doc Community Affairs and Parks Committee Rental Housing Licensing and Inspection briefing December 14, 2009 Page 3 for basic habitability standards to be met: hot and cold water, heat, no obvious leaks, adequate locks, functional smoke detectors, means of egress, functional appliances, adequate ventilation, no obvious structural damage, and other items against a checklist based on the IPMC. Staff will provide the landlord with a list of the items to be inspected, to allow them to prepare for the inspection. Costs: The anticipated cost of this program will include equipment, supplies, and staff for issuing, inspecting and tracking business licenses. Staff will provide cost estimates once all aspects of the program have been decided upon. Fees: The intention of the new program is to be revenue neutral. The total license fee should be proportional to the number of rental dwelling units at the location. Staff suggests that the fees be established at a flat per unit annual rate which includes one initial inspection and one re- inspection, if necessary. Staff also suggests a fee reduction incentive for voluntarily and actively fulfilling the requirements of the City's Crime Free Multi- Housing program. Outreach Program: In order to identify and address concerns of landlords, tenants, advocacy groups, and the general public, staff will conduct an outreach and public education program to give stakeholders an opportunity to review the proposal. We will utilize multiple methods to contact landlords, tenants and other interested parties to ensure that a balanced approach is achieved. After the ordinance is adopted, staff will host additional public meetings aimed at landlords and tenants, with information about the specifics of the law, implementation timeline, costs and fees, and other final details. Enforcement: For this program to be effective there must be consequences for violations. in some cases, units will fail inspections, repairs will not be completed, the business license will not be issued, and tenants, if any, will be required to vacate the unit. Because this will be a business license process, non compliance must follow the business license enforcement process, which does not include "relocation assistance An alternative approach would be to administer the rental housing license through an appendix to the IPMC. In that case, failure of the inspection and failure to correct the deficiencies would mean declaring the unit "unfit for occupancy triggering our Unfit Building process, which leads to relocation assistance. W:ICode Enforce\Code Enforcement Documents\Kathy\Rental Housing Licensing12009 -12 -14 CAP memo.doc 3 4 Community Affairs and Parks Committee Rental Housing Licensing and Inspection briefing December 14, 2009 Page 4 RECOMMENDATION Staff is currently working with AWC on pending legislation for the next session regarding rental housing licensing and inspection programs. If the committee concurs, staff can present an updated overview to the Committee of the Whole in the first or second quarter 2010 pending the results of the legislative decisions. Next Steps: Stakeholder meeting with landlords, tenants and other interested individuals to review proposal and develop ordinance details 2 or 3 quarter. Present draft ordinance to Council 3 quarter 2010 Adoption of ordinance 4th quarter 2010 Target phased implementation of program beginning July 2011. W:\Code EnforcelCode Enforcement Documents\Kathy\Rental Housing Licensing12009 -12 -14 CAP memo.doc