Councilors press Detroit building department over rental‑registration shortfall and enforcement plans

Detroit — Council members on the Budget, Finance and Audit Standing Committee pressed the city’s Building Safety, Engineering and Environmental (BC) department on Thursday over what they described as a large shortfall in rental registration and certificate‑of‑compliance counts and on plans to strengthen enforcement.

Council member Renata Miller said the department’s own figures imply “roughly 68,000 properties currently do not have a valid … certificate of compliance,” and she said that gap could represent millions of dollars in missed fee revenue and, more importantly, serious safety risks. “When we fail to have oversight, we lack in our safety for our residents,” Miller told the committee, citing the death of an infant who fell through a floor as a painful example.

BC Director Dave Bell acknowledged the problem and accepted responsibility. “I am not happy about where we are with the rental program and I take full responsibility,” Bell said, adding that the finance office has documented about $7 million currently…