Budget cuts and COVID delayed Modesto rental housing inspection program. When will it begin?
Nearly three years after the City Council approved it, Modesto’s rental housing inspection program is expected to start this summer to help ensure that tenants have safe, decent housing.
A city spokesman has said the inspections never started because of staffing and budget cuts and the pandemic. The council approved the program in September 2019.
The Community and Economic Development Department proposes spending $411,000 from Measure H — the 1% sales tax increase voters approved in November — on the program in Modesto’s 2023-24 budget year, which starts July 1.
The $411,000 would pay for consultants to inspect rental housing. Interim CED Director Jessica Hill said Modesto is looking at issuing what is called a request for proposals now to find a consultant with experience in these inspections. She said the city does not have the staff to do the inspections itself.
The City Council is expected to approve the funding as part of adopting the 2023-24 budget in June.
Councilman Eric Alvarez has said there is a real need for the program. He represents Council District 2, which includes south and west Modesto and some of the city’s poorest and most diverse neighborhoods.
He has said residents tell him that substandard rental housing is a top issue. Residents often have to deal with intimidating landlords, housing infested with cockroaches, and heating, ventilation and cooling systems that don’t work.
The program takes the burden off low-income tenants who are afraid of complaining because of the fear of retaliation from landlords. The program calls for the city to annually inspect up to 10% of the rental housing stock randomly or based on data such as a history of complaints at a property.
Modesto also will continue to do inspections based on complaints it receives.
Modesto has about 40,000 units of rental housing, from apartments and condos to single-family homes and other types of housing, according to the city.
Property owners in good standing with the city could conduct their own annual inspections and certify that their rental units meet program requirements. The city has said it expects the majority of owners will do that.
The program was designed to be self-supporting through the $100 the city will charge for an inspection and is expected to reach that goal within several years.
Under the program, Modesto also will develop an inventory of rental housing by having owners register their properties with the city. Hill said the city has started that process and 1,100 rental units are now registered.
The goal of the program is to ensure rentals meet the basics for safe, habitable homes, including housing that is free of pest infestations, does not have sagging ceilings, rotting bathroom flooring or holes in the roof, and has plumbing and electrical in good working order.
