County staff report preliminary FY25 drop in troubled rental properties; inspectors, app updates credited

County housing staff reported preliminary fiscal year 2025 data showing fewer troubled and at‑risk rental properties and described regulatory and technology changes intended to speed inspections and improve compliance.

The Department of Housing and Community Affairs gave the briefing to the Planning, Housing and Preservation (PHP) Committee. Tamela Robinson, manager for code enforcement, said preliminary FY25 data show 12 properties resolved all violations between their initial inspection and first reinspection and that the department is fully staffed with 37 full‑time inspectors, with two inspectors on extended leave and two program‑manager vacancies being recruited.

The presentation included a timeline: the troubled‑properties annual report is statutorily due in mid‑September and the FY25 full report will be released later in the fall. Robinson and Nathan Bovell, division chief for community development, described inspection prioritization (emergencies first, then at‑risk properties and scheduled troubled‑property inspections) and said reinspection requests typically are completed in about 90 days. Robinson provided preliminary counts: 93 total properties tracked in the prior year, 30 troubled properties preliminarily identified for FY25, and 58 properties newly identified this year as at risk; she emphasized the numbers were preliminary and subject to change.

Staff outlined proposed changes to executive regulation 1‑25, which was placed on the county register in February but had not yet been formally transmitted to the council. The changes would move the program from end‑of‑year average scores to fixed scores that can be released within 30 days after scoring analysis, a change staff said was requested by landlords to increase predictability and that also enables quicker mitigation of housing‑code violations for tenants. Under the proposed fee structure, the first and second inspections would remain free and subsequent reinspections would be subject to escalated fees, mirroring existing reinspection rules.

Bruton and staff also described a planned software upgrade for inspectors’ field application. Scott Bruton, director of the Department of Housing and Community Affairs, said the department is contracting an iOS developer to reduce crashes when inspectors upload large photo sets and to speed transfer of inspection data into agency databases for faster scoring.

Committee members praised the reported improvements while stressing safeguards. Council members, including Fani Gonzalez and Vice President Joanda (surname not specified in the transcript), asked whether landlords’ use of third‑party maintenance contractors or consultants could mask short‑term “patch” fixes such as freshly painted mold; Robinson said some short‑term concealment might not be detectable immediately but the department retains complaint‑driven reinspections and can schedule earlier follow‑ups for properties that recently moved from troubled to compliant.

Staff said they are coordinating intake and referrals across DHCA programs (Office of Rent Stabilization and Office of Landlord‑Tenant Affairs) and with the Office of Consumer Protection to reduce burden on tenants seeking assistance and to develop standard operating procedures for referral and tracking. The department told the committee it will transmit the finalized executive regulation and the official troubled‑properties report ahead of the statutory deadline.

The committee did not take formal action on the regulation at the meeting; members asked staff to present the amended regulation to the full council in September.

The presentation and discussion were described by staff as preliminary but positive steps toward faster inspections and clearer scoring.