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Rental Inspections and Licensing Policy Discussion <br />City Council Review; 2-8-22 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Page 4 <br />− Adding inspection of single-family and duplex units is an invasion of the landlord’s privacy, but the tenant’s <br />privacy too 1. Unless there’s a life/health/safety complaint, the City should stay out of the picture and leave <br />matters between landlords and their tenants. <br />− Unexpected costs of the new program, if they arise, will be passed on to general taxpayers resulting in <br />future tax increases. <br /> Support Arguments <br />− Any slight increases in rent resulting from the inspection program will be more than off-set by the <br />improvements in living conditions in many currently uninspected units. <br />− Consistent maintenance is cheaper than major repairs. Requiring that landlords upkeep units annually will <br />help all landlords avoid more costly repairs down the road. <br />− The program will help tenants and landlords alike. Landlords and/or tenants may be unaware of potential <br />hazards. Or a property might be fine, but the tenants might be doing something to endanger themselves or <br />the property unbeknownst to the property owner. <br />− In some cases, tenants are aware their rental has serious issues, but are afraid to report the problem for <br />fear of being kicked out, and often times this mostly impacts seniors on fixed incomes. <br />STAFFING <br />Per our research, general staffing levels used for a full licensing and inspection program in comparable sized cities <br />are as follows. For the purposes of this report, we did not obtain the number of units total being inspected in each <br />City, nor did we assess the roles of noted staff members. For example, New Brighton currently use three staff <br />members to oversee our existing program, but housing inspection is only a minor component of the three positions <br />involved. Given that Shoreview shows they only have one (1) employee working on licensing and inspection, we can <br />be confident that employee is solely dedicated to that City’s housing program and has no further responsibilities. <br />City Staff Members overseeing licensing & inspection program <br />New Brighton (current program) ............................................................................... 3 (all have other responsibilities as well) <br />Brooklyn Center ....................................................................................... 2 clerks, 3 housing inspectors, 1 supervisor, 2 admin <br />Crystal .............................................................................................................................................................. 1 admin and 1 inspector <br />Fridley ............................................................................................................................................................ 1 admin and 2 inspectors <br />Golden Valley ........................................................................................................................................... 1 admin and 2.5 inspectors <br />Hopkins ............................................................................................................................................................ 1 admin and 1 inspector <br />Little Canada .................................................................................................................................................. 1 admin and 1 inspector <br /> <br />1 The MN Supreme Court ruled in 2017 that routine city inspections do not violate renters' privacy.