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Council member presses city: only 15% of rental properties compliant, certificate fees and enforcement under review
Summary
BC reported roughly 15% compliance among an estimated 82,000 rental properties in Detroit and provided certificate of compliance fees ($215 single‑family; $245 two‑family if passing first inspection). Council members requested a memo with detailed property counts and enforcement actions.
Council members pressed the Buildings/Code (BC) director for accurate metrics after activists and members raised concerns about a backlog of noncompliant rental properties and resulting illegal evictions.
Arthur Rushing (BC) told the committee the city is at approximately 15% compliance among an estimated 82,000 rental properties and that inspectors had issued roughly 15,000 tickets for noncompliance in recent enforcement activity. Rushing explained the certificate of compliance process and fees: a passing single‑family inspection costs $195 plus a $20 processing fee ($215 total); a two‑family passing inspection costs $225 plus $20 ($245 total). He said if a property passes on the first inspection, a lower fee ($76) can apply in certain circumstances.
Member Renata Miller framed the figures as alarming and asked administration and BC to produce a written memo with counts, the dollar impact of noncompliance, and options to increase enforcement and compliance outreach. Right to Counsel and the law department also joined the discussion to examine how certificate compliance interacts with eviction filings and court acceptance of landlord cases.
BC agreed to provide a memo to the committee with more precise property breakdowns and costs.
