Buena Park Rental Inspection Info
What the city is looking to do - and what YOU can do about it
REGISTER TO ATTEND AND JOIN AAOC AT BUENA PARK CITY COUNCIL MEETING
WHEN AND WHERE IS THE MEETING
Buena Park City Hall
WHAT IS BEING PROPOSED
The city staff is preparing several potential options to expand the existing rental inspection program that is:
- Code violation & resident complaint driven
- Focused on 8 neighborhoods with high concentration of incidents
- $75/ door
- Rotates through the neighborhoods on a 4-5 year basis
Their suggestions are to include:
- All rental properties in the city – including single family homes and new construction
- Annual inspections
- $110/ door/ year
- $2m budget
- Increase of staff of 6 - 10 code enforcement officers
- Potentially a 2 year pilot program – potentially a permanent program
WHAT PROPERTY OWNERS/ MANAGERS/ MAINTENANCE/ REPRESENTATIVES NEED TO DO
The city has primarily heard from tenants and tenant activists – they have not heard from actual owners/ managers/ maintenance professionals/ representatives
- Show up to the council meeting on April 25th @ 6PM
- Fill out a comment card for the inspection item discussion
- Present the perspective of housing providers on subjects such as (You will only have 3 minutes, so address the ones that you have the most familiarity with discussing):
- What communication methods you implement between you and tenants
- How you create an understanding of roles, responsibilities, and reporting of repairs
- Details on your response procedures to repair requests
- What inspections currently exist that property owners regularly comply with:
- HUD inspections (annually for anyone offering Housing Assistance)
- Insurance inspections (every 3-5 years or on change of carrier)
- Mortgage inspections (every 3-5 years, on change of carrier, on change of owner)
- Workers Compensation Inspections (Annually)
- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac required Inspections
- Requirements on property owners when entering a unit
- Noticing requirements for property representatives
- Interaction with tenants on entering a unit
- Expectations when entering a unit to make repairs
- Data on historical responses to requests
- Types of requests – what is a habitability issue vs. what isn’t
- Response times and procedures
- Typical repair costs and how those are accounted for
- Communication w/ tenants regarding repairs
- Protections afforded to tenants regarding repair requests
- Expectations of property owners
- Insurance impacts of property conditions
- Anti-retaliation laws for tenants
- Anti-abuse laws for tenants
- Fair Housing Law protections
- Protections being applicable for ALL tenants – regardless of immigration status
- Impacts to property owners and their ability to provide quality housing as a result of
- The Covid Eviction Moratoriums
- The Covid Rent Increase Moratoriums
- The Limitations on State Rent Controls
- The surging costs due to inflation
- The surging insurance costs
- Experience with other Inspection programs, and what does and doesn’t work
- How the inspection costs will impact affordability
- Any information you believe the city needs to hear
WHAT AAOC IS SUGGESTING THE CITY CONSIDER IN THEIR EFFORTS
We see a moderated approach that addresses all of the problems in the most efficient manner possible:
- Expand program to include any properties below 16 units – exempting properties with on site management
- Develop communications for tenants that help them know:
- Their rights to safe and secure housing
- Processes to report repairs to the landlord & to code enforcement
- Their protections under California Law against retaliation
- Ways that they can make anonymous complaints
- Focus on concentrations of violations & complaints
- Focus on the types of properties with higher concentrations of complaints
- Identify appropriate responses – and procedures that landlords take prior to inspection/ violation
- Create a rolling inspection program that divides the city into several areas that can be the focus off a given year
- Mirror the Anaheim project that
- Focuses on complaints made
- Allows for a hearing board to address if it is a resident or property owner responsibility
- Allows for violations to be cured w/o being charged for permits
- Allows a grace period to correct the issues
- Allows compliant properties with a track record of no complaints to exempt out
- Do not create a system that further divides or interferes with the ability of property owners/ managers to work with tenants to ensure quality housing
- Focus on the repeat offenders, and encourage education on proper property management practices
- Do not over reach into property sizes and conditions that do not make sense to include in an inspection effort.
TO CONTACT COUNCIL DIRECTLY
Mayor Art Brown - abrown@buenapark.com
Mayor ProTem Susan Sonne - ssonne@buenapark.com
Councilmember Joyce Ahn - jahn@buenapark.com
Councilmember Jose Trinidad Castaneda - jcastaneda@buenapark.com
Councilmember Connor Traut - ctraut@buenapark.com