City of Santa Cruz Residential Rental Inspection Program

CITY OF SANTA CRUZ RESIDENTIAL RENTAL INSPECTION PROGRAM

The City of Santa Cruz passed a Residential Rental Inspection Program Ordinance that officially started this year, January 2011. Like it or not, it has begun. So what is the City of Santa Cruz Rental Inspection Program and how will it affect property owners and landlords in Santa Cruz?

The Residential Rental Inspection Program applies to all owners of one or more residential dwelling units located in the City of Santa Cruz. The program does not apply to: Legal Additional Dwelling Units, rooms rented out in an owner-occupied single family residence, motel or hotel units, units already inspected by another government entity for housing and safety standards.

The City of Santa Cruz will begin sending out letters to properties they believe are rentals to notify owners starting in phases this summer 2011. For the first 3 years of the program the rental inspections will only take place on rentals which are already known to be in violation of any codes. Landlords will still be required to register and pay program fees ($45 annual registration fee & $20 per unit for inspection or self certification)

What is the purpose of the City of Santa Cruz Residential Rental Inspection Program and what will inspectors be looking for?

The primary purpose of the rental inspection program is to find any unpermitted dwelling units, renting of spaces not intended to be habitable, and unsanitary, substandard, overcrowded housing conditions. If you have a converted garage or illegal unit this program is intended to find it and either have the structure removed or you could try to get it permitted.

Per the City of Santa Cruz the inspectors will be looking for unpermitted units and substandard living conditions but are NOT going to focus on unpermitted construction and construction which is not code compliant unless is is a neighborhood nuisance.

This City of Santa Cruz rental inspection program will affect landlords and tenants alike. There will be additional cost for a rental property owner as well as the hassle for landlord and tenant of these inspections. There is no doubt that there are many unpermitted units in the City of Santa Cruz and with the inevitable elimination of these extra rental units I would expect that rents in the City of Santa Cruz will increase and housing for UCSC students and other renters on the Westside of Santa Cruz will be much harder to find.