Houston is moving closer to having its first apartment inspection ordinance on the books, a program that will monitor high-risk multifamily units to ensure that minimum safety standards are met.
What happened
During a joint Economic Development & Housing and Affordability Committee meeting March 30, officials from multiple city departments, as well as residents, discussed how the ordinance could benefit the city.
“This ordinance has been in the works for a bit,” City Attorney Arturo Michel said. “What people are really trying to focus on is, do we have something that’s fair, provides notice and is workable for people?”
Michel said the ordinance would require apartment property owners with 10 violations within a six-month period to register with the city’s high-risk inspection program.
Under the new ordinance, the city will monitor issues including:
- Building exterior conditions
- Stairways, balconies and railings
- Exterior lighting
- Walkways and accessibility paths
- Visible exterior structure concerns
- General maintenance
Some background
The ordinance—which applies to multifamily properties with three or more units—requires apartment complexes to register with the city. The city will perform two types of inspections to evaluate compliance and habitability standards.
If a property is found to be out of compliance, owners will receive a notice and will be required to correct the violations. A reinspection will be done, and if they are unresolved, the city will add more enforcement actions.
Part of the ordinance includes the high-risk inspection program. Under the program, the city will identify, monitor and address multifamily properties that have high-risk problems, like electrical or structural failures, plumbing violations or mechanical problems.
Properties found in repeat violation will be added to the city’s high-risk inspection program list, where they will remain for six months until violations have been addressed and corrected. Penalties for not addressing violations could result in daily fines of up to $2,000, according to the proposed ordinance.
What’s next
Houston City Council is expected to vote on the ordinance within the next 30 days.
