LAKEWOOD, Ohio — Prospective landlords in Lakewood could soon have another hoop to jump through if city council passes a proposal that would require an inspection before property owners can get a housing license and their tenants can move in.
“We’ve had a pretty robust inspection process for rental process for a long time now,” said Lakewood Building Commissioner Chris Parmelee. “This is just an additional tool in the toolbox for the building department to help us keep an eye on and maintain our rental stock in the city."
Parmelee said the inspection would simply be an additional layer on top of the current ordinance that includes safety and maintenance inspections of a rental property every three to five years and before you sell.
“This is essentially adding a single line item that’s going to help us capture non-compliance issues on properties before they become rentals just to ensure that tenants have a safe place to call home in our community,” he added.
Like other inspections, this one would include a $50 fee for landlords of residential properties and $75 for commercial properties.
Parmelee said the way things are now, property owners who want to rent simply need to visit the city building department, “apply for a housing license and you’re out the door.”
He said his staff already have their work cut out for them, adding that Lakewood is a transient city with 12,000 homes and buildings. About half of them are rentals.
But Parmelee said requiring an inspection even before prospective landlords can get a housing license would improve things for his office.
“If anything, it’s going to help us because then we know we have a documented inspection on that property,” he said.
“It’s going to help me sleep a little better at night to be honest with you.”