City of Oshkosh to implement Residential Rental Inspections Program mid‐February

A program designed to protect the health and safety of rental residents in the Oshkosh community will begin in mid‐February. The Oshkosh Common Council approved the Residential Rental Inspection Program September 13, 2016.

The Council created the program in response to findings that a significant percentage of housing code complaints and violations were occurring within rental properties leading to an adverse effect on residents and neighborhoods, contributing to decreased property values and neighborhood blight. The intent of the program is to encourage Oshkosh rental property owners to exercise their responsibility to meet code requirements to provide safe and sanitary living conditions for their tenants. Program guidelines were drafted in keeping with current Wisconsin state law that requires rental inspection programs to be regularly scheduled, uniform, and city‐wide. Health and safety concerns could include:  inoperable/broken smoke or carbon monoxide detectors, broken/missing guardrails, water leaks, lack of heat or hot water, improper electrical connections, broken windows, improper vent connections and more.  Any identified violations must be corrected by the rental property owner within 30 days.

Since adoption, a lawsuit has been brought forward challenging this program. While the city is confident that the program ordinance was drafted in compliance with all applicable state and federal laws, the city still believes a legislative solution is the best way to address any concerns raised with the program. Until such time that a legislative solution can be reached, the city will be defending the lawsuit in federal court.  

(Editor’s Note: On Monday, February 13, 2017. the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin issued an order denying the Plaintiff’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction that sought to prevent the City of Oshkosh from moving forward with its Rental Inspection Program. The Court determined that the Plaintiffs failed to meet the requirements for issuance of an injunction because they were unlikely to succeed on their Fourth Amendment claim and had failed to make any showing of a likelihood of success on the merits as to their state law claims.)

The program divides the city into five sections with each section containing 2,800‐3,000 rental units. The city will focus on one section each year. For 2017 the area immediately surrounding the University of Wisconsin‐Oshkosh will be inspected. The city’s website (www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us) has a “Hot Topic” item describing the Residential Rental Inspections Program which includes a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) sheet on the program, a map of the five inspection areas, an inspection checklist, and links to informational videos about the program. For more information please contact the Inspections Services Division at 236‐5050.

For readers’ information, the FAQs are posted below, courtesy of the City of Oshkosh:

Residential Rental Inspection Program Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why was this program created?

The Council created the program in response to findings that a significant percentage of housing code complaints and violations were occurring within rental properties leading to an adverse effect on residents and neighborhoods, contributing to decreased property values and neighborhood blight. The intent of the program is to encourage Oshkosh rental property owners to exercise their responsibility to meet code requirements to provide safe and sanitary living conditions for their tenants.  Program guidelines were drafted in keeping with Wisconsin State Law that requires rental inspection programs to be regularly scheduled, uniform, and city‐wide. The Oshkosh Common Council approved the Residential Rental Inspection Program September 13, 2016.

2. What is the status of the program?

Inspections are scheduled to begin mid‐February 2017. Since adoption, a lawsuit has been brought forward challenging this program. While the City is confident that the program ordinance was drafted in compliance with all applicable state and federal laws, the City still believes a legislative solution is the best way to address any concerns raised with the program. Until such time that a legislative solution can be reached, the City will be defending the lawsuit in federal court.   

(Editor’s Note: On Monday, February 13, 2017. the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin issued an order denying the Plaintiff’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction that sought to prevent the City of Oshkosh from moving forward with its Rental Inspection Program. The Court determined that the Plaintiffs failed to meet the requirements for issuance of an injunction because they were unlikely to succeed on their Fourth Amendment claim and had failed to make any showing of a likelihood of success on the merits as to their state law claims.)

3. What does the program include?

Staff will inspect rental properties to ensure they are meeting health and safety codes. Health and safety concerns could include:  inoperable/broken smoke or carbon monoxide detectors, broken/missing guardrails, water leaks, lack of heat or hot water, improper electrical connections, broken windows, improper vent connections and more.   Any identified violations must be corrected by the rental property owner within 30 days.

4. Which rental properties need to be registered and inspected?

All rented Residential Rental Dwelling Units that are not owner‐occupied. Exemptions include: State- owned, licensed, or certified facilities such as dorms, nursing homes, convalescent homes; community-based residential facilities; hospitals or other medical facilities; hotels, motels.

5. Why do we need the program? Can’t the city inspect based only on complaints?

The City can and still will inspect based upon complaints, however, experience has shown that complaint‐based inspections alone do not address neighborhood‐wide problems, and tenants are unaware of minimum health/safety codes, and can be reluctant to report them.

6. Why doesn’t the program just focus on the rental properties surrounding the University of Wisconsin‐Oshkosh or just the non‐compliant landlords?

Current state law requires a residential rental inspection program to be regularly scheduled, uniform, and city‐wide. The City continues to seek a legislative solution that will allow the City to implement the program on a neighborhood basis.

7. How will this program be paid for?

The City will fund the Residential Rental Inspection Program with the fees generated from the rental units inspected. No City general tax dollars will be used, so no other property owners will be paying for this program. The fees will fund the expenses associated with the program.

8. What are the Fees?

There is no fee for rental unit contact listing & registration. Inspections would occur once every 5 years. Fees for inspections are as follows:

 One unit: $100 trip charge plus $45 per unit = $145

 Two Units: $100 trip charge plus $45 x 2 units = $190

 10 Units: $100 trip charge plus $45 x10 units = $550

 The trip charge would be charged each time the inspector would inspect a residential rental unit. 

Example: 10 trips to inspect 10 units would cost $100 trip charge x 10 trips equals $1,000 plus $45/unit $450 totaling $1,000 = $450 = $1,450

Because units will be inspected once every 5 years under this program, based upon the current fees, when considered over a 5-year period, the fee for a single unit would be no more than $2.42 per month.

9. What do I need to do if I am a rental property owner in the City of Oshkosh?

Rental property owners must provide contact information for the rental unit by calling the Inspection Services Division at 236‐5050 or visiting the Inspection Services page (www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us/evolvepublic) on the City’s website. Unless the property’s contact information changes, it does not need to be updated.

10. Where can I find more information?

The City’s website (www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us) has a “Hot Topic” item describing the Residential Rental Inspections Program which includes a map of the five inspection areas, an inspection checklist, and links to informational videos about the program. For more information please contact the Inspections Services Division at 236‐5050.