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Most rentals registered as city deadline nears
(by Sue Reid - April 18, 2012)
Most rentals registered as city deadline nears
By SUE REID
Since a registration and inspection program began Jan. 1 for all rental properties in Solon, 26 inspections have been done and applications have been made for 70 percent of the units.
City Council approved the rental legislation last September.
Solon Planning Director Robert S. Frankland said in an update on the program last week that an application period ran from Jan. 1 to March 31. A total of 807 applications were received for the 1,163 units identified, he said, and follow-up letters will give a final deadline to apply with a grace period until May 11. "Beyond that, there could be penalties assessed per the ordinance," he said.
Under the program, inspections will run in two phases from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2013, and will be triggered by requests by the property owners during that period.
For two years, the owners of rental units can schedule inspections at their convenience, such as at changes of occupancy, which was a request of the large apartment owners, Mr. Frankland explained.
Every unit is required to be inspected at least once in a three-year cycle, he said.
Of the 26 inspections performed thus far by the city's building department, the majority were apartments, including Liberty Hill and Solon Park Apartments, and a couple were single-family homes, he said.
"For for the next couple of months, the number of completed inspections will increase rapidly, because they are scheduling appointments with the apartments to do large-scale inspections," Mr. Frankland said.
"Anybody who calls and asks for inspections, we will do," he said. "There is three years for them to schedule the inspection, but the apartments are being more proactive and are more of an organized business. They now have this regulation to deal with, and they step up and take care of it." The apartments have full-time people managing the buildings, he said.
Individuals who own rental properties will most likely will wait until their renters move out and then call for the city for inspections, he said.
Mr. Frankland said many of the issues identified in the inspections conducted thus far are safety related, but "nothing has been insurmountable."
He said the program is "going smoother than I expected," especially with all the work involved to get it up and running. Staff of the city's building and planning departments have done a "first-rate job," he said.
"I have not received one complaint through this whole process," Mr. Frankland said.
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