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San Luis Obispo seeking rental inspection program

December 14, 2014

house for rentSan Luis Obispo City Council will consider implementing a rental housing inspection program aimed at eliminating unsafe housing conditions at Tuesday’s council meeting.

Every year, parents and students complain about unsafe conditions at some rental properties. Approximately 62 percent of all San Luis Obispo residences are rentals.

If passed, the city will hire rental housing inspectors to work under the Community Development Department, according to the staff report. Staff will inspect each rental every three years.

Rental property owners will cover the cost of the program through a yearly fee of about $98 per rental unit. With almost 11,000 rental units the city will collect approximately $1.1 million a year.

Letters to the council and staff have been primarily in favor of implementing the inspection program.

“As a business person, I usually shy away from more fees and taxes, however, I feel in this case rental housing is a big business in our town with little or no controls and some regulations can produce some huge results,” Marco Rizzo said in email to Mayor Jan Marx.


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Regardless of the good intentions, the result will be that rental prices in SLO will remain high and keep out low income people and illegal immigrants who work in SLO. They will seek cheap housing in the county and surrounding cities. So, SLO transfers the housing problems to the rest of us.


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This is what government wants.

A new department for the city that will require a department head, secretarial staff a nd many new inspectors. What do you think all of that will cost withe the new salaries and benefits?

Will it ever stop?

Then you will need a hearing board that will handle all of the complaints from the property owners.


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i can see it now, CAP and TRADE LAWS require a permit to upgrade this and that. The next step will be a check off in your escrow thence bank loan.


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Do not be fooled. They only want the money.


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You really didn’t think the new sales tax increase was all the city was going to need to support their out of line salaries, benefits and pensions did you? There will more of this type of taxation, but should be interesting because some of the biggest landlords are the same people would think they have the ear of those elected who will be making this decision.


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Whatever happened to needing a search warrant to enter someone’s property? You at least need probable cause for that. If they can do it on rentals, owner occupied homes will be next.


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I am all for public safety and having safe living conditions but this is a witch hunt for code violations so the city can then require permits (fees) to be obtained to repair the homes.


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sounds like extortion


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No….the property owners will NOT be covering the $98/yr per rental unit “fee”….the renters already struggling to live in the expensive city will! Who are these economically illiterate people that believe this bunk? Its a Gov tax, more highly paid Gov workers with golden benefits and retirement plans. When will the madness stop?


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Ahhhh yes, lets bloat government even more and allow them to come right into our homes as they deem necessary.


Can we come in and inspect Mayor Marx’s home and perhaps the rest of the council? You know….under the guise of “Public Safety” of course. Why draw the line at rentals? Anyone can “illegally” modify their dwelling and create “unsafe” conditions.


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