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Proposed Rental Inspection Program & Ordinance Amendments
Version: 11/09/20
Mayor Brown, Councilmember Rivera, and Councilmember Nowakowski have introduced a packet of ordinance amendments to effectuate a Proactive Rental Inspection requirement in the City of Buffalo. The legislation is designed to ensure that rental properties in the City meet basic health and safety standards to reduce risk of lead paint exposure to young children and address other home-based threats to health and safety. The City has historically inspected rental units in multiple dwelling units (3+ unit properties) every three years; this legislation expands the program to require that single or double unit rental properties are also inspected on every three years. The legislation mirrors successful programs in Rochester, NY and Syracuse, NY.
The legislation also amends local ordinances related to the definition of lead safe work practices and enhances and coordinates enforcement of lead safe work practices and lead remediation with the Erie County Department of Health.
Finally, due to the significant re-organization of Chapter 264, the regulations related to short-term rental housing were removed from 264 and placed without substantive modification in a new Chapter entitled Chapter 380, Short-Term Rental Housing.
Key elements of the Legislation
Requires all single and double non-owner occupied properties with rental units in the City of Buffalo to obtain a “Certificate of Rental Compliance (CRC) as a condition of rental.
Property owners must register annually; every three (3) years they must submit an application for a CRC and permit access to a COB inspector to inspect the premises.
The application will require disclosure of property/occupant conditions, including whether there have been recent renovations, whether there is an active lead citation by Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH) and whether to the best of the landlord’s knowledge, a child lives or visits the unit(s).
Upon receipt of the application, and after notice is provided to the occupant, a City of Buffalo inspector shall make a visual inspection of the property for violations of building codes. The inspection will focus on health and safety violations, including deteriorated paint surfaces.
There is no cost to the property owner for the inspections other than the annual rental registration fees currently in effect.
Inspectors will require owners to cure violations within a specified time period not to exceed 60 days, depending on the hazard presented to the occupants. There will be an expedited protocol where there are significant hazards and children present, including temporary re-location of the occupants. Extensions beyond 60 days shall be permitted as circumstances warrant and in the discretion of the Commissioner.
If the inspector does a follow-up inspection after an initial inspection and the owner has failed to cure the violations or make progress to that effect, the Department may assess a re-inspection fee of $75.
Tenants may not be evicted due to disruptions caused by work – there is an affirmative obligation to continue the tenancy unless the tenant voluntary vacates. If the work makes the unit uninhabitable or unsafe for the tenants, the property owner has an obligation to provide or pay for temporary housing.
It shall be unlawful for any owner or agent of an owner to retaliate against tenants for cooperating with the City to promote safe and habitable conditions in rental units.
Failure to cure violations may result in the revocation/denial of issuance of the CRC and an application by the City to City Court to vacate the property, after notice and appropriate due process is provided.
Property owners with revoked or denied CRC’s may not evict tenants in Housing Court for non-payment of rent for the period of time the CRC was denied or revoked.
Issued certificates shall be posted prominently in the property for occupants and inspectors to see.
Six years from the effective date of the ordinance amendments, all property owners shall be required to produce a third party lead dust wipes in key areas of the home. Inspectors may request owners produce third party lead dust wipes prior to six year phase-in based on an assessment of risk (i.e. recent remediation, visible dust). Properties that have fully abated lead by request an exemption.
No property owner shall be required to consent to a warrant-less inspection. If an owner refuses an inspection, the Department is authorized to see an interior order from the Housing Court. Nothing however relieves an owner from applying for and obtaining proper licenses as required by law.
Chapter 261 “Lead-Based Paint Abatement” will be repealed and replaced with “Lead Safe Work Practices” and include a presumption of lead paint in housing after 1978 and definitions of lead safe work practices, lead testing and clearance activities that parallel ECDOH’s Sanitary Code. Inspectors shall be authorized to stop work based on violations of Chapter 261.
The CRC program will be phased in over a six (6) year period with inspectors prioritizing properties located in high risk neighborhoods and properties already identified as hazards by ECDOH.
Fees from re-inspections shall be placed in a separate account, not to exceed $100,000, dedicated solely to lead education, outreach and support for evaluation of the program.
Introduces a new chapter, Chapter 380 Short-Term Rental Housing that houses all the City’s short-term rental housing regulations in one place and separates the regulations from traditional long term rental housing in Chapter 264.