RELEASE DATE: February 1, 2018

MEDIA CONTACT: Tiffany Crawford, 248-910-1696

Crawfordt@detroitmi.gov
David Bell, Director of BSEED, will be available for
interviews.

City Launches Rental Ordinance Program in ZIP code

48215
 Compliance efforts begin to bring rental properties into approved city code requirements
 New ZIP code will be added monthly; all rental properties citywide expected to be in
compliance by mid-2020.

Beginning today, the City of Detroit building inspectors will begin their efforts to identify rental properties in zip
code 48215 that have not been registered or are non-compliant. The citywide program was developed to ensure
that every renter in Detroit is living in a property that is safe and up to code by the middle of 2020.

As of Feb. 1, all rental properties in the first compliance area – ZIP code 48215 on the city’s east side – will have
90 days (May 1) to get their properties registered as rentals with the city. Under the new rental property
ordinance, building owners will have six months to bring their properties up to code, have them inspected and
obtain a certificate of compliance from the city.

Approximately each month, a new ZIP code will be added, beginning its six-month compliance period. Detroit
residents and landlords will have the opportunity to both verify and register their properties bringing them into
code compliance.

The schedule for the first six ZIP codes is as follows:

ZIP CODE Launch Date Registration Date Compliance Date

48215 February 1, 2018 May 1, 2018 August 1, 2018
48224 March 1, 2018 June 1, 2018 September 1, 2018
48223 May 1, 2018 August 1, 2018 November 1, 2018
48219 June 1, 2018 September 1, 2018 December 1, 2018
48209 July 1, 2018 October 1, 2018 January 1, 2019
48210 August 1 2018 November 1 2018 February 1 2019

Protections for tenants:

Should rental ordinance requirements not be met within the six month compliance period:

 Renters will have the ability to pay rent into an escrow account if the landlord does not obtain a
certificate of compliance by the end of the six-month compliance period. Those funds will be
inaccessible to the landlord until they have passed all inspections and receive a certificate of
compliance. If after 90 days the landlord does not obtain a certificate of compliance, the rent held in
escrow will be returned to the tenant, and then every 60 days after that.
 The city will have the ability to withhold certificates of compliance to landlords who are more than one
year delinquent on their property taxes.
 Landlords will not be able to evict any tenant of a non-compliant building solely for withholding rent.

A website will be available that will let the public know whether properties are registered with the city as a
rental and, if so, whether it has a certificate of compliance

Support for good landlords:

 The city will provide landlords an expedited process for appealing the denial or suspension of a
certificate of compliance.
 Less frequent inspections required for quality landlords who, for at least one year, have remained
current on their taxes and have received no blight violations. The ordinance would extend certifications
from one year to two years for multi-family dwellings and to three years for one- and two-family
dwellings.
 Maintaining annual lead risk assessments. Under the ordinance, all rental properties — even those with
two- or three-year certifications — will require an annual lead risk assessment and clearance. The
annual assessment can be waived only if the property owner has taken more long-term or permanent
measures to abate the lead.

Inspection Timelines
Compliance efforts will be conducted a ZIP code at a time. Inspectors will still respond to complaints of health
and safety violations citywide as they arise and will also be able to conduct inspections in the active
enforcement zone within four days of a request. Requests for inspections that fall outside of the active
enforcement zone will be conducted within 30 days.

Getting Certified: How to get started

Owners of rental buildings can start their process today by registering their property online at
www.detroitmi.gov/rental. To help owners registered of one- and two-family rental buildings get their
inspections done as soon as possible, the city has listed on this website the names and contact information for
the private company partners that have been approved to do that work. City BSEED staff will continue to
conduct all inspections at larger multi-unit apartment buildings.

There are nearly 40,000 rental properties in the city, the majority of which are not properly registered and have
no current certificate of compliance. In 2015, the city launched a process to encourage more landlords to
register their properties. Since that time, the city has increased its number of registered rental properties from
about 2,000 to more than 6,000 to date.