Council to vote on rental-unit inspection program, puts financial burden on landlords who have substandard housing

The Cape Girardeau City Council will vote today on a measure that would establish a new, rental-housing inspection program that puts the financial burden on landlords who have substandard units.

City staff earlier this year proposed a different inspection plan that sparked opposition from local landlords.

The new plan was designed after discussions with the Cape Area Landlord Association, city officials said.

The city currently conducts inspections of rental property on a complaint basis.

The proposed ordinance would replace that approach with one that allows city inspectors to begin scheduled compliance inspections without having to wait for a complaint.

Alex McElroy, director of development services for the city, said the move would allow the city to do about 1,350 inspections annually. The city currently inspects about 700 rental units a year.

Ward 1 Councilman Joseph Uzoaru, who is a landlord, said earlier this year city staff told him the current system doesn’t work because some people are unwilling to report code violations.

The new plan allows the city to initiate inspections.

Under this plan, McElroy said he expects the city’s inspectors could check every rental house or apartment building within less than three years. The city, however, would not be able to inspect every unit in a building in that time frame.

Cape Girardeau has 776 landlords, about 2,900 rental buildings and nearly 7,000 licensed rental units, McElroy said.

Initial plans had called for charging a fee for every inspection. But Cape Area Landlord Association members objected, arguing the city should charge a fee for second and subsequent inspections in cases where problems were found with rental units rather than charging all landlords a routine inspection fee.

Landlord and CALA board member Robert Blasiney welcomed the revised approach.

“That is what our thoughts were all along,” said Blasiney, who manages more than 200 rental units. “I think it is a very good compromise.”

He said he and other landlords support rental inspections in an effort to address substandard housing.

“We think there is a need for it,” he said.

Under the new plan, the city would not charge landlords for the routine inspection, but would levy a $65 fee for each subsequent inspection associated with housing-code violations, McElroy said.

City staff also initially proposed lowering the rental licensing fee in exchange for levying a $65 fee on every inspection, except for unfounded complaints.

The revised plan would keep the current licensing-fee system. Landlords with one to five rental units would pay an annual $50 fee, while landlords with six or more units would pay a $100 fee, McElroy said.

David Soto, whose company manages rental properties, said the inspection plan is designed to find “problem properties.”

Like Blasiney, he said the latest plan is a compromise.

Under the plan, McElroy said city inspectors would look at a landlord’s properties as a whole. If a landlord, for example, owned 10 apartment buildings, the city would inspect several units in several of the buildings. If they proved in compliance, the city would move on to another landlord’s properties during that round of inspections.

Mayor Harry Rediger said the new measure would strengthen the inspection process and “improve the housing stock” in the community.

Earlier this year, city staff talked about the need to make the inspection system more self-supporting.

Rental-license fees generate less than $48,000 annually, while operating costs total more than $100,000, McElroy said in May.

As a result, the city has subsidized the operation with money from the general fund.

McElroy said the new plan won’t make the inspection program self-sufficient. But he and Rediger said the goal is to clean up substandard housing rather than generate revenue.

Rediger said he supports the new plan, which he said was developed with input from landlords.

“I feel really good about it,” the mayor said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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