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A California Senate bill that would require inspections for apartment balconies should exempt structures that have already been officially verified as safe, the California Apartment Association has concluded.
SB 721 by Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, would require the inspection of decks, balconies, and elevated walkways, as specified, in buildings containing three or more multifamily units.
Tagged: InspectionsLegislation
The Fresno City Council on Thursday approved a CAA-supported ordinance to address substandard housing, a problem recently highlighted by local news media.
The ordinance incorporates a free rental registry and a percentage-based sample interior inspection program to ensure compliance with state housing law. Properties that pass inspection would then be allowed to self-certify.
Tagged: Inspections Greater Fresno
The California Apartment Association is asking Inland Empire members with properties in Moreno Valley to contact the city regarding its nearly five-fold increase in fire inspection fees.
The fees, now $36 per unit, marks a 450 percent increase and could leave some members paying more than $9,000 for fire inspections.
A couple of CAA members recently received notices of the higher fees and informed CAA. The fire inspection ordinance took effect in January.
“We immediately reached out to city officials, including the fire marshal, and engaged with them,” said Tim Johnson, executive director CAA’s Inland Empire Division, or CAA-AAGIE. “We’re… Read More
Tagged: Inspections Greater Inland Empire
WEST COVINA – The California Apartment Association helped derail a rental inspection program here Tuesday that would have unfairly charged fees to landlords already taking good care of their properties.
The West Covina City Council voted 3-2 to dismiss the proposed inspection program after hearing from several rental property owners, as well as Tim Johnson, executive director of CAA’s Inland Empire division (AAGIE).
“This is a major victory for our members, who would’ve paid a blanket fee and an $18-per-unit fee on an annual basis,” said Johnson, who worked closely with CAA’s Los Angeles division to prevent the charge. “Some… Read More
The city of Anaheim on Tuesday unanimously approved a self-inspection program for multi-family housing, allowing property managers to examine apartments themselves — without paying inspection fees.
This represents a big improvement over Anaheim’s original proposal to charge property owners $16 per unit for city officials to handle the inspections.
After learning of this proposal last year, the California Apartment Association immediately began negotiations with the city.
Over a nine-month period, CAA’s South Coast/Orange County division successfully eliminated the fee and created the self-inspection program.
To show further support of CAA, the Anaheim City Council amended the ordinance during Tuesday’s meeting… Read More
Tagged: InspectionsLegislation Orange County
CAA-AAGIE and the Upland Fire Department will host a town hall meeting next month to discuss a pilot program allowing landlords to self-inspect their rental units.
Members of AAGIE are encouraged to attend the meeting and to share any questions and concerns. The gathering will run from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Carnegie Library, 450 N. Euclid Ave.
The 12-month pilot program, which began in November, allows building owners and managers to conduct fire safety inspections on their own. The City Council approved the trial inspection program in October.
By taking the burden off of the Fire Department,… Read More
Following negotiations with CAA, Anaheim won’t make landlords pay to have code enforcement officers inspect the city’s apartments.
Under an initial proposal, the inside-and-out inspections would have cost landlords $16 per unit and been a requirement to register rental housing with the city.
After talking with the California Apartment Association, the city opted to allow landlords to do self-certifications. This involves filling out a questionnaire that ensures best practices and declaring that each unit is free of hazards.
“We were happy that the city brought a lot of stakeholders together to look at the first draft, because it needed some… Read More
Tagged: Inspections Orange County
The California Apartment Association and Vallejo Fire Department have extinguished some confusion over the city’s new Fire and Life Safety inspection program.
After notifying property owners in mid-January that annual inspections would begin, the Vallejo Fire Department began the checkups on multifamily residences this past spring. The Vallejo Fire Department had not conducted fire inspections in more than 15 years, and most small-income property owners had no idea what to expect.
Moreover, the Fire Department hadn’t told owners they could schedule and be present for the inspection. Instead, fire inspectors began arriving unannounced and listed violations in poor handwriting that… Read More
The San Jose City Council has approved a pilot program to allow rental property owners to self-certify their compliance with the city’s Multiple Housing Occupancy Permit requirements.
This move, proposed by Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen, could save rental property owners time and money while allowing the city to focus its inspection efforts on those rental properties that truly pose safety issues to the occupants and the community.
The pilot program was included in Mayor Chuck Reed’s 2013-14 budget this month and begins a process for Code Enforcement to work with CAA Tri-County to develop a program that will likely allow… Read More
Tagged: AdvocacyInspections Tri-County
CAA South Coast persuaded the city of Fullerton to temporarily back off adoption of an $11-per-unit fire inspection fee.
Notification of the fee came in May, just two weeks before it was scheduled to be brought before the City Council for approval.
With such short notice, the CAA South Coast Government Affairs team jumped into action and made phone calls to key decision-makers.
Soon after, the city manager removed the item from the council agenda and committed to work with the industry on this issue.
On average, stopping adoption of this fee will save the apartment industry more the $22,000… Read More
Tagged: AdvocacyInspections