Allegan staff recommends ordinance changes after low landlord response to rental inspections

City staff presented a 16-month update on Allegan's reinstated rental-inspection program and recommended changes to the ordinance after limited landlord engagement.

Joel (city staff) told council the program "is still crawling. We're not up to even walking yet" after 16 months and said the current ordinance is unclear on fee responsibility and registration. He said the ordinance used before 2015 required the city to pay inspection fees — "that's just not feasible" — and staff proposed clarifying whether registration and fees should be charged per parcel or per building, adding penalty language for failure to register or schedule inspections, and revising the inspection notice letter so it is clearly identified as coming from the City of Allegan.

Staff noted the master list shows a supermajority of properties received two letters with little or no response: "they just have not responded," Joel said, and staff recommended meeting with landlords to review the draft ordinance before returning to council. On enforcement, staff reported there were 307 code-enforcement contacts in 2024; 13% involved rental properties and 87% involved owner-occupied properties. Staff said 8 properties required abatement actions.

Council members asked about reinspection timing, fees and unpaid-fee collection. Joel confirmed that unpaid inspection fees "do put your unpaid fees on your tax bill" through the process staff uses after follow-up. One council member asked whether the primary code-enforcement workload had been against homeowners rather than rentals; staff confirmed most enforcement contacts in the reporting period were owner-occupied issues.

What’s next: Staff will meet with landlords and PCI (the inspection contractor) to refine the draft ordinance and reissue an updated recommendation to council, including clearer fee language and a registration approach.