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Des Moines officials describe inspection workload: 33,000 rental units, 3,700 code cases annually
Summary
Neighborhood Inspections Administrator Dalton Jacobus briefed council on rental inspection volumes, code enforcement and nuisance vegetation work, including inspection frequency, common violations, updated fees and average compliance timelines.
Dalton Jacobus, neighborhood inspections division administrator, told the City Council the rental inspection program covers just under 33,000 licensed rental units in Des Moines and is the division’s primary workload.
Jacobus said the city’s code (chapter 60) requires licensed rental units to be inspected on a recurring schedule that ranges from every nine months to three and a half years; his staff said the average interval is about 1½ to 2 years. “There’s just shy of 33,000 rental units in the city of Des Moines that are licensed. Each of those units has to be inspected every 9 months to 3 and a half years, and that’s straight out of chapter 60 in the city code,” Jacobus said. He noted data from the 2020 census that about 39% of Des Moines residents live in rental housing the city inspects — roughly 90,000 people.
Jacobus described inspection logistics for large multifamily buildings, the role of property managers during inspections, and said a single inspection can take from 30 minutes up to two days for very large buildings. He said the single most common violation is missing or nonfunctional smoke detectors.
On fees, Jacobus said the city implemented a fee update last December that increased rental inspection fees by about 15% and went into effect Feb. 1; he said the city will review fees again in late spring. He said the code allows the city to charge reinspection fees, and noted current reinspection charges of about $79 for the first unit and $39 for subsequent units as illustrative of the city’s enforcement approach.
On code enforcement more broadly, Jacobus said the division handles standard nuisance complaints (junk, inoperable vehicles, overgrowth) and that property owners are afforded due process. He said NID opens a case for each complaint and conducts an inspection; the division reported about 3,700 code enforcement cases annually and a roughly 92% owner‑compliance rate on health and sanitation enforcement with an average of about 30 days to reach compliance.
Jacobus also reviewed the nuisance vegetation program the city moved from the county in 2023. He said the typical abatement cost this year has risen to about $600 and that unpaid invoices are sent to assessment; those recurring abatements contribute evidence for deficient property reviews.
On encroachment enforcement, Jacobus said the division saw more complaints and cleanups under the new ordinance, and staff work with the legal team and Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing to schedule hearings when appeals are filed.
Ending: Jacobus asked council to support continued investments in enforcement technology and staffing and highlighted the department’s new public dashboard for rental license status and code‑history checks.
