The Sedalia Rental Inspection Committee continued its review of the draft inspection ordinance during Wednesday’s meeting, discussing the proposed inspection checklist.
The draft ordinance includes a 23-point rental unit inspection checklist, which must be provided to the city by the inspector to allow the city to issue a permit to the landlord. The committee went through each point, deciding if it should stay, go or be changed.
Only the last of the 23 points was removed from the list: “Other conditions that may be noted by the inspector that may be hazardous to the health and safety of the occupant.”
“It gets into what would one inspector say versus another inspector. Where’s the consistency in that kind of a vague statement?” Kim Welch said. “… I think it’s too vague to stay in there.”
Welch and Dave Wiedeman said that while they would appreciate an inspector pointing out other items that may need to be addressed, they didn’t think it was fair to include a vague statement in the checklist, adding that it wouldn’t be fair to fail on the 23rd item because they weren’t informed of a specific item.
Throughout the committee’s discussion, several members pointed out that many checklist items should have some type of clarification that after the initial inspection prior to move-in, it is the responsibility of the tenant to either follow that code or alert the landlord to a problem, whichever is applicable. Some of those items included “excessive use of extension cords,” “property shall be free of insect and/or rodent infestation” and “free of any accumulation of rubbish or garbage.”
Almost every one of the 22 agreed-upon points includes a reference number to the 2015 International Property Maintenance Code. There were a few points the committee wanted to clarify, but city staff noted that the reference numbers provide that clarification.
JoAnn Martin suggested including a point about peeling paint and lead paint, as the Pettis County Health Center, where she serves as administrator, sees cases of children with high lead levels in their blood. The landlord members reminded her that there is a federal requirement for landlords when it comes to lead paint in homes.
“If a property is built before 1978, which is a pretty high percentage of the properties in this area, you’re required by federal law to give them a disclosure bulletin and must have them sign a disclosure,” Wiedeman said. “If you have knowledge of it and have inspections, you have to give those to them.”
City Administrator Gary Edwards suggested including in the ordinance that landlords must follow the federal requirement for homes with lead-based paint, as more of a reminder than a checklist point. All members agreed.
The next meeting will be at 6 p.m. April 12.
