Rental dwelling inspections are now up for debate

The city council is currently considering a proposal to increase the time between city inspections of rental dwellings from every two years to every three.
There are good arguments to be made both for allowing this and for keeping the inspection period at once every two years.
We can sympathize with landlords who are burdened with this cost and inconvenience. And we have heard complaints over the years about city inspectors nitpicking at every little thing, and causing endless headaches for property owners.
But one must also consider the ages of most Hamtramck rental dwellings – which average around 100 years old. During that time period, we have gotten smarter about needed upgrades to insure the health and safety of renters.
And keep in mind that Hamtramck has a lot of rental units.
Consider, too, that there have been countless complaints about unscrupulous landlords who cut corners and rent out unsafe apartments and houses.
Face it, Hamtramck has had a reputation for crappy apartments and shady landlords.
So, what to do?
We’ll say this: the city council and the mayor have been faced with a number of tough proposals lately. The proposals are of the type that could go either way, and will result in unhappy folks no matter what.
But in this case, we would argue to keep inspections to once every two years, with an eye toward revisiting this proposal at a later date.
In other words, it’s a better bet to err on the side of safety.
Posted Aug. 26, 2022