By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
As Bowling Green officials study rental housing issues in this city, they are checking out regulations in other communities.
For years, Bowling Green officials have debated the need for a rental registration or inspection program. Other Ohio college towns – like Kent, Oxford and Athens – have mandatory rental inspection and licensing programs. But Bowling Green has preferred to make sure there are services in place that respond to rental problems as they arise.
In December 2017, Bowling Green Independent News researched rental housing programs in some other college cities in Ohio. Here is an excerpt of that story:
Athens, home to Ohio University, conducts annual health and safety inspections on more than 5,600 registered rental units. The percentage of rental housing in Athens is about 75 percent, compared to 60 to 62 percent in Bowling Green.
The Athens inspection program began in 1975 due to concerns about the quality of rental properties, said Rick Sirois, director of code enforcement in Athens.
The inspections cover items like roofs, lighting, windows and locks, handrails, smoke detectors and pest infestation. The costs range from $60 to $100 per unit, depending on the size of the apartment complex. The fees pay for four code inspectors in the city’s zoning code office, who perform the annual rental reviews.
Students can file complaints on properties, with anonymous complaints being accepted. The results of inspections are posted online, Sirois said.
“Our focus is on health and safety,” he said.
As a result of the program, 90 percent of the problems at rentals are fixed while the inspectors are onsite, Sirois said. “We work with the landlords a lot.”
In Oxford, where Miami University is located, all rental units require annual permits. The city website has the approved rental list where people can verify if a property has a valid permit.
Oxford is also heavy on rentals, with an estimated 10,000 students on campus, and another 8,000 students living off campus in a community with an overall population of 22,000.
The mandatory program has been in place for more than 20 years, and started out with in-house inspections. However, Oxford now contracts out with National Inspection Corp. to do the rental inspections. The basic fee starts at $110.
Becky Kolb, of the Oxford community development office, said some of the landlords protested the new housing rules when they first went into effect.
“We have a couple owners who showed some resistance,” she said.
But Kolb feels the program has improved rental housing in the community. “I believe that it has. I think there would be an element of unsafe conditions otherwise.”
The annual inspections in Kent are conducted by the city’s health department. The health commissioner has the authority to condemn any residential unit that fails to comply with the housing code. The inspection fee is $100 per dwelling, plus $5 for each additional bedroom.
The program has been in place since 1979, according to Bridget Susel, the community development director. “We did receive some pushback from landlords,” when the program first began, she said.
The inspection program was recently expanded to include all rentals, not just student rentals, after the city saw an increase in illegal conversions of homes in residential neighborhoods being turned into rentals.
“We did it for the preservation of our residential neighborhoods,” Susel said of the program expansion. “Zoning violations were adversely affecting our residential values.”
Susel said the inspection program has served the city well. “It has resulted in safe and decent housing,” she said.
The complete story can be found at http://bgindependentmedia.org/landlord-and-renter-responsibilities-examined-in-bg/
