S326 - Local Governments / Buildings / Structures / Inspections. (SL 2016-122)

Overview: S.L. 2016-122 amends the law governing county and city inspection of residential structures to provide that:

• If an inspection department determines that a safety hazard exists in one of the dwelling units within a multifamily building, then the inspection department may inspect additional dwelling units in the multifamily building to determine if the same hazard exists, regardless of whether it has received a specific complaint or has actual knowledge of an unsafe condition in those units.
• The number of verified violations of housing codes or ordinances that constitute "reasonable cause" supporting an inspection is increased from 2 to 4 within a rolling 12-month period.
• Inspection departments are prohibited from discriminating between owner-occupied and tenant-occupied buildings in conducting residential inspections.
• Residential inspections conducted as part of a targeted effort in a designated area must be in response to blighted or potentially blighted conditions, and the total targeted areas may not exceed one square mile or 5% of the county, whichever is greater.
• Counties and cities may not require registration of rental property, except for individual rental units with more than 4 verified violations in a rolling 12-month period, with 2 or more verified violations in a rolling 30-day period, or property identified in the top 10% of property with crime and disorder problems.
• The general prohibition on any requirement for a residential rental property permit, other than for those units with specified and verified code or crime problems, also includes a prohibition of a registration requirement.
• Registration fee requirements must be justified and imposed on a per-unit basis and may not exceed $500, violation of registration requirements may not be criminalized, and the counties and cities may not condition provision of utility service upon a rental property submitting to an inspection.
• "Verified violation" is defined to mean the aggregate of all violations in a unit during a 72-hour period that are not corrected within 21 days of receipt of written notice of the violation, except that if the same violation occurs more than twice in a 12-month period, it will be counted as a verified violation regardless of whether it is corrected within 21 days.
• If the violation results from prohibited tenant behavior that, under the housing code or ordinance, constitutes a violation by the property owner or manager, the violation will be deemed corrected if the owner or manager brings a summary ejectment action to remove the tenant within 30 days of written notice of the tenant-related violation.
• If a property is identified by the county or city as being in the top 10% of properties with crime or disorder problems, the county or city is required to notify the landlord and allow the landlord an opportunity to correct the issue.
• The applicable county sheriff's department or city police must assist the landlord in addressing any criminal activity. If the applicable county sheriff or city police does not cooperate in evicting a tenant, the tenant's behavior or activity shall not be counted as a crime or disorder problem.
• If the county or city takes action against an individual rental unit, the owner of the individual rental unit may appeal the decision to the housing appeals board or the planning board, or if neither is created, to the county or city manager, as applicable.

This act becomes effective January 1, 2017.