HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Housing Commission and the City Council will meet on Tuesday to see if they can come to a consensus on a new rental inspection program for the city.
The City Council enacted the current rental registration and inspection program in April 2015. The current program ends this year. In response to the upcoming sunset date, the Housing Commission has been working with staff to update the program in response to changes in state law and feedback from both landlords and tenants.
The proposal that will go before the council is a two-phase approach to try to keep rental properties up to code and give landlords incentive to keep their properties in good condition.
The proposed ordinance requires all rental units in the city to be licensed. Renting an unlicensed unit is a violation of City Code and a Class C misdemeanor. The license will replace the previous requirement of registration. The fee for licensing a unit is unchanged from the registration fee. The main benefit of a rental license is that the city would have the ability to place on probation, suspend, or in the worst-case scenario, revoke a rental license for code violations. The Building Trades Board would serve as the appeal body for license actions. The city would post a list of licensed units on its website under the proposed amendment.
The second part of the proposed program is an incentive program to encourage and incentivize interior inspections. A unit that requests an interior inspection shall be eligible, after noted deficiencies are corrected, for additional recognition as a “best-practice” unit from the city. Best-practice units would receive a 25% reduction on the license fee for the year following the inspection. These units would also be provided signage or an insignia from the city for the landlord to advertise its status. The city would also maintain a list of best-practice units on its website.
Failure to license the property will result in a $20 administration fee per month and any unit not licensed by May 31 of each year is then in violation of the ordinance.
The joint meeting is at 8 a.m. at the Fire Command and Training Center on East 4th Avenue.