Grand Rapids New Ordinance for Rentals of Single-Family Homes
GRAND RAPIDS — Renters won greater protection from the Grand Rapids City Commission which approved a new ordinance requiring single-family homes receive the same inspections as multi-family dwellings and that all rental properties be certified by the city. Beginning July 1, 2012 all rental properties in Grand Rapids will require inspections, a move proponents believe will make rental properties safer and help reduce the growing number of blighted homes, which has exploded since the housing crisis began six years ago.
Landlords will have the option of applying for four-year or six-year certifications that their properties comply with city housing codes. An earlier version of the ordinance had specified a two-year certification option, which was dropped in a compromise with city landlords. The city also will eliminate a registration fee and increase inspection fees to bring in the same revenue to help pay for monitoring property compliance. Officials estimate the ordinance could require up to five new housing inspectors.
The city will also appoint a citizens committee to monitor whether the new inspection and certification requirements are accomplishing what it hopes. The city also will adopt the International Property Maintenance Code used by many surrounding communities, so landlords wouldn’t have as many different sets of regulations with which to comply.
The new ordinance was approved on a 6-1 vote. The new rules go into effect next July. Multi-family rental properties will still need to be inspected every two, four or six years.
New OSHA Residentional Construction Regulation Effective June 16, 2011
According to data from the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, an average of 40 workers are killed each year as a result of falls from residential roofs. As a result, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently announced new fall protection requirements for Residential Construction. Read more... For additonal information related to Residential Fall Protection Read more...
PMAM Announcement! SB 635 Becomes Law in Michigan
SB 635 was signed by Governor Jennifer Granholm on January 6, 2009 as new law regarding inspections reform in Michigan. PA 408 language will be posted here as soon as it is available from the state of Michigan. Please contact PMAM with any questions that you may have at (616) 531-5243. PMAM would like to thank everyone that helped get this legislation passed!
The History of SB 635
On September 21, 1999 Kristen D. Larcom, Assistant City Attorney for the City of Ann Arbor produced a memo to the Housing Board of Appeals to their question of “Why the City was justified in going to a 2 ½ year inspection cycle?” At that time, the Washtenaw Area Apartment Association was pressing the City of Ann Arbor to extend their inspection cycles to 3 years. The city could justify a 2 ½ year cycle because the Housing Law of Michigan was not clear on the issue but the Association was told if we wanted it to go longer we needed to change the Housing Law at the State level to allow it. Since that time it has been my priority and that of the Property Management Association of Michigan to change that portion of the Housing Law to allow municipalities to extent the periodic inspection cycle.
In 2000, the Property Management Association of West Michigan filed lawsuit against the city of Grand Rapids that alleged the city had violated the Hedley Amendment (which states that if fees exceed costs the voters have a right to vote on it). In September 2001, a decision from the appeals court forced Grand Rapids to reduce their fees for inspections to a reasonable level but left the inspection program in place. At that time however, Grand Rapids inspection program allowed for a graduated inspection cycle and incentivized the rental housing provider. If the property passed well they got a longer inspection cycle and if the property was a problem they were forced to a shorter inspection cycle. This was contrary to what State Law allowed and they have since amended their code. More to follow on their local housing code amendments.
In 2002, The Property Management Association of Michigan hired contract lobbyist David Gregory from Kelly Cawthorne and gave him a list of legislative priorities. The number one priority was Housing Law inspection reform to change, force, or allow a longer inspection cycle. The Legislative Committee under the direction of Miria Rabideau and made up of representatives from the DMAA, WA3, PMAMM and PMAWM provided David Gregory with a wish list of what changes they wanted made in the Housing Law regarding inspections. This list included such things as mandating a 3 year inspection cycle, increasing (beyond the 3 years) the inspection cycles for multi unit facilities that do not have substantial or critical violations allowing for 4 or 5 year cycles, requirement that local units of government reconcile actual costs with the fees charged and a request to include additional tools to address the crucial problem of non-uniformity such as capping allowable labor cost and allocate overhead.
By April of 2004 we had our first draft of legislation to review and it was introduced as HB 4473 and sponsored by Representative Chris Ward (R-Livingston County). Over the next year the PMAM had this reviewed by our friends at NAA and contacts made in Region III through legislative activities nationally. During this time the Michigan Municipal League and local municipalities made this legislation their number 1 priority to defeat.
The very first work group was attended by David Gregory, Kathy Vallie and myself along with representatives from East Lansing, Ann Arbor, Holland, Grand Rapids, and a plethora of other municipalities. If memory serves there were about 30 in the room. The Michigan Municipal League did an effective job of stalling legislation by only complaining about what was wrong with the bill and not giving an indication what it would take to fix it and make it palatable to everyone. Through MML’s stall tactics they were able to delay passage of legislation until fall of 2008.
On June 25, 2008 Senate Bill 635 sponsored by Senator Garcia, passed the Senate unanimously. This bill includes allowing (not mandating) a 4 year inspection cycle and a 6 year inspection cycle if there are no violations reported. It allows (not mandates) the local units of government to accept other governmental inspections such as HUD or MSHDA inspections in lieu of a local inspection. It allows for percentage basis of inspections whereby not all units must be inspected and a compliance basis. It does not require you to pay for the inspection if the enforcing agency is at fault. Finally, the enforcing agency must to prepare a report, if asked, that will show income and expense for the program as well as total units inspected. On December 18, 2008 the House passed Senate Bill 635 with only 1 no vote. The Governor signed it into law and Public Act 408 on January 5, 2009.
During this transition, The Rental Property Owners Association negotiated with the City of Grand Rapids in the reformation of their local inspection laws to a periodic inspection cycle of 3 years with the provision that it could go longer if state legislation changed at any point going forward. Now it is time for all of us to contact our local municipalities and encourage them to increase the inspection cycles to 3 or 4 years. The local municipalities that have implemented periodic inspections are Ann Arbor with a 2 ½ year cycle, Ypsilanti at 2 years, Pittsfield at 2 years and Ypsilanti Township on single family rentals at 2 years.
Finally, as you can see this took many years and many persons time to accomplish this important legislation. The association (PMAM) would like to thank all of the members that over the years have counseled, testified, sat in endless meetings, wrote letters and made phone calls to all of the necessary individuals to bring this to fruition. Especially, PMAM would like to thank David Gregory for his guidance and direction to the PMAM Legislative Committee and the Board of Directors.
City of Grand Rapids Inspection Program Announces Electronic Notices!
Grand Rapids Rental Inspection Program Progressing Toward Electronic Registration/Notices
As part of the negotiation process between the City of Grand Rapids and the RPOA, the City Neighborhood Improvement Department (the one responsible for
rental housing inspections) committed to implementing a new system of electronic
communication for rental registration and for notifications regarding various things such as, but not limited to:
one registration for all properties owned by the same legal entity;
free online registration;
multiple advanced notices for registration renewal;
multiple advanced notices for Certificate of Occupancy expiration;
Notices of Complaint and follow up reminders as due dates approach;
Notices of Violation and follow up reminders as due dates approach;
advanced notice of time left to file an appeal.
The new communication system solves a number of issues for the rental property owner and the City; here are just a few: notices "lost in the mail, " thereby never receiving proper notice; faxes for registration never being received by the City; no more charges for late or forgetting to register; no more charges for property research to find an owner; incorrect registration errors (owners can change registration information at any time easily, at their convenience, without filling out multiple forms); all communications from the City can be accessed from anywhere an owner has an internet connection (e.g. avoid heavy penalties for not addressing a nuisance code violation in a timely manner because you are out of town); no more additional fees for inspections, etc. because communications were not made until after the expiration of a certificate; a huge cost savings for the city from reduced mailing, travel, and research costs.
The City is rolling out this new system in phases. The first phase of the implementation was announced today by James Hurt, Director of the City of Grand Rapids Neighborhood Improvement Department:
"On behalf of the City of Grand Rapids Neighborhood Improvement Department, I am pleased to announce a new auto-email feature for housing and nuisance cases. We have heard from many property owners and managers with a strong interest in email notifications to allow for quicker response concerning code enforcement."
Program Changes for LIHTC and Tax-Exempt Bond Properties
MSHDA has issued guidance on program changes for LIHTC and tax-exempt bond properties based on HR 3221, Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 and Section 42 Utility Allowance Regulations Update (26 CFR, Part 1). The link below will take you to MSHDA's webpage with this memorandum.
HR 3221 and Utility Allowance Reg Updates 10/10/2008
Important RHIIP Posting regarding leases, TRACS and iMAX!
TRACS Release 202C/iMAX
Please view the memorandum dated October 8, 2008, from Lanier Hylton, Director, Office of Program Systems and Willie Spearmon, Director, Office of Housing Assistance and Grant Administration, along with three Attachments.
DATED TRACS Release 202C and iMAXD Implementation Memo
HUD Model Leases - Questions & Answers
SoftwareVendor/In-House Developer HUD Forms Requirement Matrix
The purpose of the memorandum is to:
Inform you that on September 5, 2008, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) provided emergency approval of the forms associated with the TRACS Release 202C/iMAX; Provide you with the Information Technology Implementation Schedules; Address implementation requirements for other forms included in the OMB emergency approval package, many of which do not have any changes from what are currently posted on HUDCLIPS, with the exception of the OMB expiration date which is discussed in the memorandum. Inform you of the release of the new HUD forms included in Housing Notice H 08-07 “Implementation of the Violence Against Women and Justice Department Reauthorization Act of 2005 for the Multifamily Project-Based Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments Program”. Provide the Software Vendor/In House Developer HUD Forms Requirement Matrix, describing the software display requirements for the HUD forms, Attachment 3.
In addition, due to the amount of requests for further clarification of the September 18, 2008 memorandum from Janet Golrick, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing Programs, on use of the HUD Model Lease, the Department has:
Revised the Model Lease Questions and Answers, Attachment 1. Developed a grid entitled “What Lease Do I Use”, Attachment 2. Questions relating to the lease requirements should be addressed to Michael Sharkey at Michael.A.Sharkey@hud.gov or by calling (202) 402-6788.
All of the documents are also posted on the Multifamily RHIIP website at:
RHIIP TIP: Occupancy – Single person in two or more bedroom unit
A single person must not be permitted to occupy a unit with two or more bedrooms unless they fall under one of the exceptions below:
A person with a disability who needs the larger unit as a reasonable accommodation.
A displaced person when no appropriately sized unit is available.
An elderly person who has a verifiable need for a larger unit.
A remaining family member of a resident family when no appropriately sized unit is available.
For more information on assigning units larger than required, please refer to Chapter 3, Paragraph 3-23.G of HUD Handbook 4350.3 REV-1 Occupancy Requirements of Subsidized Multifamily Housing Programs.
Implementation of Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Notice H 08-07
HUD Notice 08-07, which includes instructions on implementation of VAWA, Form HUD-91066 (Certification of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence or Stalking) and Form HUD-91067 (HUD approved lease addendum).
The Form HUD-91067 (HUD approved lease addendum) must be implemented for all new admissions and all existing tenants (refer to the HUD Notice 08-07 for further instructions and Section 8 property types required to implement VAWA).
Please note the owner/agent may also need to revise the Tenant Selection Plan, House Rules, etc. to comply with VAWA.
Below please find the link to HUD Notice H 08-07:
Michigan Boiler Rules and Information
Find all boiler rules and information at the links below. PMAM Members also made inquiries regarding these rules and regulations and have shared information related to boilers. PMAM also suggests contacting the State Bureau of Construction Codes at:
Construction Codes
P.O. Box 30254
Lansing, MI 48909
Ph: (517) 241-9313
Fx: (517) 241-9308
bccinfo@michigan.gov
Enforcement of ASME Code CSD-1 for Inspectors
