Richmond considering routine rental inspections
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Richmond is considering a program that would allow the city to inspect some rental units without a tenant first filing a complaint.
Why it matters: Nearly 60% of Richmonders are renters, and proactive inspections could help prevent problems like mold or pest infestations before they become major health hazards.
The big picture: The program, brought up this week in a City Council committee meeting, would allow Council to designate certain districts for the inspections.
- Inspectors could then regularly examine rental units within those boundaries, Richmond's planning director Kevin Vonck told committee members on Tuesday.
- The district lines would expire after a decade.
- New and compliant units would be exempt for four years.
How it works: Virginia law lets localities do this with some restrictions on how the districts are chosen. There must be:
- A public health, safety and welfare need.
- And evidence of "blighted" or deteriorating conditions.
Zoom in: Vonck said "blight" or "deteroriation" can be determined by:
- The number of building or health violations and incidents requiring emergency responses in the last four years.
- Resident complaints about living conditions.
Yes, but: Vonck and committee members acknowledged that there needs to be a plan for situations where tenants lose their housing because their unit is deemed unfit for habitation.
- For years, the risk of jeopardizing shelter has been a reason for why some residents resist filing complaints — especially in an affordable housing crisis.
- A federally mandated PlanRVA report in 2021 also found that Latinos in the Richmond area were the most likely to fear a repairs request would result in a rent increase or eviction.
What's next: Richmond's planning department will draft an ordinance on the program for City Council to vote on in the upcoming months.
- Vonck said he'll bring them data showing where code violations most often happen and where those violations resulted in a unit declared unoccupiable.