By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
When Bowling Green City Council members voted in 2021 to require rental housing units to be registered and inspected annually, they tried to make it palatable to landlords. That meant the rental program – which many cities charge to implement – came with no fees for Bowling Green landlords.
But recently, city officials have been hearing from tenants being charged up to $75 by their landlords for the inspections.
Council had agreed to not charge a fee for its rental registration and inspection program.
“We wanted to get more buy-in and compliance” from landlords, said City Planning Director Heather Sayler.
The city agreed to let landlords conduct their own inspections. When landlords said the inspection forms were too complicated, the city simplified them. And when landlords said the deadline needed to be extended, it was – twice.
The city has undertaken a lot of work without charging any fees, including creating a software program to make the program more efficient, Sayler said.
“It’s been a huge responsibility,” she said. “We’re just doing the best we can, with little resources, trying to keep the spirit of the ordinance intact.”
With just weeks till the latest deadline for rental housing inspections to be submitted to the city, text messages were sent out to renters from at least one property management company in Bowling Green.
The messages, shared by tenants with City Council members, note the city ordinance passed in May of 2021 requiring rental units to be registered and undergo annual interior inspections, and biennial exterior inspections.
The texts, sent out by Mecca Management, told renters that inspections had to be conducted on their units on a particular day, and that the renters would be charged the cost of the inspection, not to exceed $75.
The messages from Mecca advised tenants to contact their City Council members, mayor, planning department or city attorney with questions or concerns.
Though the Mecca text places the blame for the $75 fee on the city, and tells tenants to contact city officials with concerns or questions, City Council President Mark Hollenbaugh said that the renters he received calls from were not upset with the city.
“All the exchanges have been positive,” he said. “They mostly seemed confused and disoriented” by the text from their landlord. In many cases, the renters just wanted to report they would not be home the day of the inspection – and were unsure why they were directed to call the city about that.
Hollenbaugh said with each caller, he made sure to clear up misconceptions.
“The city is requiring inspections – but we’re not charging your landlords. There’s no processing fee,” he relayed to renters. “It’s frustrating.”
Bowling Green Planning Director Heather Sayler said her office is getting the same phone calls.
“Sometimes they ask if their landlords can legally raise their rent,” Sayler said.
Multiple phone messages were left Friday for Steve Green, liaison to the Northern Ohio Apartment Association and owner of Mecca Management in Bowling Green. Green had been an outspoken opponent of the rental registrations and inspections.
Council member Greg Robinette said the fee being charged by landlords is “an unsurprising consequence” of the required inspections.
During a meeting last Thursday setting goals for 2025, council member Bill Herald said the city’s rental housing program must remain a priority for the city. Though the ordinance was passed in 2021, landlords seem to have been dragging their feet to comply.
“It’s moving at a snail’s pace,” Herald said of the program. “We need to keep an eye on that.”
Council member Jeff Dennis has also heard from renting constituents, displeased with the inspection fee being charged by their landlords.
The concerns reflect Dennis’ arguments when the ordinance was adopted that it would be expensive, inefficient and ineffective.
“We’re seeing some landlords charging as much as $75 (which would be $525,000 each year based on our 7,000 units). That’s far more than it would cost the city to hire full-time employees to conduct this work,” he said.
Dennis said the city could perform inspections more cost effectively, and would be more likely to identify and enforce basic safety regulations of rental units. Squeaky clean self-inspection reports just don’t reflect reality.
“Unsurprisingly, as of a few weeks ago, we’d seen a 100% pass rate. It’s hard to imagine a ‘self-inspection’ program resulting in anything else,” he said.
“When this was passed I said we’d be naïve to think costs would not be passed on to tenants. What I said at the time, and what I maintain today, is that if we’re going to do something that is all but certain to result in higher housing costs, then we better make darn sure our constituents are getting something for it,” Dennis said.
“The city can more efficiently and effectively enforce basic safety regulations,” he said.
Dennis has repeatedly expressed concerns about the city’s lack of fees for the program.
“It costs more to register your bicycle in Bowling Green than your rental unit,” Dennis said in 2021. “In nearly all of the Ohio communities where rental properties are regulated, landlords are charged an annual registration fee.”
Base fees per unit (not including additional fees for inspection) elsewhere in Ohio include: Kent, $100; Oxford, $55; Athens, $150; Rossford $50; and Sandusky, $100.
Back in 2021, Dennis suggested that a city fee of $25 per unit would generate approximately $175,000 annually based on the city’s estimated 7,000 rental units.
“That would be enough to hire full-time inspectors, inspect 100% of our rental units for free (unless a violation is found and subsequent inspections are necessary), proactively enforce exterior code regulations, and have enough left over to invest tens of thousands of dollars in housing and neighborhood improvements every year,” Dennis said.
Sayler reported in August, that with less than two months till the Oct. 1 deadline for rental housing inspection reports to be submitted, fewer than a quarter had been turned in by local landlords. She explained that just over 1,400 of the required 7,172 self-inspection forms had been submitted.
As of last Friday, Sayler said the city had received about 3,900 inspection forms, with the deadline looming. That leaves more than 3,200 unfiled yet.
In August, Hollenbaugh indicated that the city has made several accommodations for landlords in the registration and inspection process.
“I can only speak for myself,” Hollenbaugh said. “But I have no desire to extend this deadline.”
According to Sayler, there is no fine currently in place for landlords who fail to make that deadline. However, those not submitting on time will risk losing the right to perform their own inspections – and will be subject to contracted inspections.
The city ordinance does not allow the city to check the validity of the landlord self-inspections – unless a complaint is made by a renter, or lodged with the Wood County Health Department or Wood County Building Inspection Office.
Requiring tenants to report deficiencies with their rental units can be problematic, Dennis said.
“The most frequent reason cited by those living in substandard conditions for failing to report those conditions and often only speaking on the condition of anonymity is fear of retaliation,” he said. “It’s often the tenants who are living in the worst conditions who have the fewest options and are least able to relocate at the drop of a hat. It is all but guaranteed that the worst issues will continue to go unchecked under a system that relies on those individuals reporting the person who controls their housing.”
