Landlords of small rental properties in Baltimore are now getting their apartments inspected under a new city law aimed at improving housing conditions in low-income neighborhoods.
Owners of rental properties with one or two units will have to pass a 20-point checklist before Jan. 1 to obtain a license to rent in the city.
That requirement previously applied only to Baltimore’s approximately 6,000 multifamily dwellings with three or more units. But most of the city’s code violations for no heat, mold, rodents and other health risks are found in the one-and-two-unit properties that make up half of Baltimore’s rental market.
“This is huge,” said Ruth Ann Norton, president and CEO of the Green and Healthy Homes Initiative. “The majority of our health problems that come out of housing come out of the small rental properties. They’re often the ones that have escaped oversight in terms of health issues, lead, asthma and injury.”
City officials agree. In a notice to landlords, Baltimore’s Department of Housing and Community Development said the law “is a major step toward improving the overall quality of the housing stock.”
“The city is working to ensure that tenants have healthier, safer places to live,” the department said.
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7 comments:
Great. I like Dr. Ben Carson's idea of reforming welfare to eliminate the entitlement mentality and get people PRODUCTIVE in the inner cities. They need to find respect for each other and bring an end to the senseless violence.
Coming to Salisbury soon. It is a money grab. What they don't say is that there is afee for each inspection/license. Some municipalities require it every time a new tenant moves in. $100/per inspection hits home with landlords that will just add it to the rent.
And they will crap the rentals right back up in no time. Keeping things nice isn't in their makeup. All they want to do is make them babies they can't afford and aren't civilized enough to raise into law biding responsible self sufficient adults.
8:02 AM as a tenant I would gladly pay the fee for having the inspection done if it passes inspection. The only ones whining are the slumlords.
9:31 AM stereotype much? Not all of us are pigs. I know some homeowners that keep their homes like ghetto.
When pigs fly. Too many who think they know-it-all in B-more - hence their great reputation. Sound familiar, eh boy Mayor?
Half of the rentals in Baltimore haven't ever been subject to inspections?
That's just nuts.
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