by Liam Walsh
The City of Bellingham’s Rental Registration and Safety Inspection Program (RRSI) has been in effect since 2015. In that time, landlords and property management companies have had increased accountability, and Bellingham’s rental stock has improved.
The program (1) came from a city ordinance in 2015 designed to ensure safe living conditions for tenants. The program requires residential property owners in Bellingham to register their rentals, get a safety inspection before renting a property, renew their rental license every year by paying an annual fee, and have properties inspected approximately every three to three and a half years.
RRSI Program Manager Julia Burns explained why the program was needed in an email.
Reason for the Program
“Before the program was created, we didn’t have a comprehensive understanding about the condition of Bellingham’s rental stock,” Burns said. “There were some community members saying how bad rentals were and others saying it was only a couple bad actors. Not knowing was one reason to create the program, so we’d have a better understanding.”
According to Burns, there are currently nearly 23,000 rental units registered through the program.
“This number changes regularly as people take properties out of and into the rental market. Between 2,500 and 4,500 inspections are completed each year through the program,” she said. “That number includes reinspections done after failed inspections, so it varies depending on how proactive property owners are in addressing identified deficiencies and on the number of rental units per inspection cycle.”
First Aspect: Rental Registration
The first aspect of the RRSI policy is rental registration. This process can be done in two ways, either via an online registration form, or via mail or in-person. Rental registrations are required to be renewed annually under the policy.
Second Aspect: Rental Inspections
The second aspect of the policy is rental inspections. Before any property can be rented, it must be inspected, and continuous inspections occur every three, to three and a half years. Property owners have the option of choosing a City of Bellingham inspector, or a third-party inspector.
There is a $45 fee to go with a third-party inspector.
The City of Bellingham measures the success of the program based on whether rental units pass a fire and health safety checklist.
90 Percent Pass Inspection
“About 90 percent of rentals inspected by city inspectors pass upon first inspection,” Burns said. “Also, the program has given us more insight into the 10 percent of units that don’t pass upon first inspection, so we can focus on improving conditions in those rentals. We now know the most common violation found during inspections is non-functioning smoke and CO2 detectors.”
Derek Worchel, who works for All Services Real Estate, is a third-party inspector. He has been doing inspections in the Bellingham area since before the policy was implemented.
Missing Smoke Detectors, Etc.
According to Worchel, the main problems he sees in Bellingham rentals are missing smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors, leaking sinks, windows and doors that don’t lock, gas stoves that leak, holes in drywall, exposed framing, cracked windows, plumbing and electrical issues.
“The one that’s the hardest to catch is the electrical issues, because you can’t test every single outlet,” he said. “So, that’s why I asked the tenants, and the tenants are pretty forthcoming, and they’re like, ‘these three outlets don’t work when you switch this on and that on right, or our fridge has a problem when we’re running two appliances.'”
Failing an Inspection
Worchel explained what happens when a property fails an inspection. You go in, let’s say it’s a smoke detector. So you fail this one sector, you say, like, okay, this is the bedroom upstairs on the right, so you’ll go back, you’ll fail it. “I take the notes down. I then submit it to the landlord, or the property management company.” I say, “Okay, you have a smoke detector in the right bedroom you need to fix.”
He then fills out a form that has the Rental Registration number and notes. That data goes to the city and is cataloged digitally. Worchel also keeps track of the failed inspection on his own personal Google Sheets.
From there, the landlord or property management company is responsible for the replacement of the smoke detector.
Conditions Are Better
“Early on in the program, we saw a fail rate of approximately 25 percent,” Burns said. “Now, that rate is about 10 percent. That number needs to be taken with a grain of salt given some specific variables. Still, broadly speaking, rental unit conditions have improved overall across the city. That doesn’t mean all rental conditions are good — some definitely are not and we have more work to do. But conditions are better.”
Under the policy, landlords and tenants can apply for extensions when replacing or maintaining things that failed safety inspections.
According to Worchel, electrical repairs and maintenance are the most common repairs for which the extensions are used, simply because it can be difficult to find labor.
More Visibility
In terms of tenants, Worchel believes the policy needs more visibility.
“The program’s not really well known [among] renters, I found, so they point out a lot of maintenance stuff, and I just kind of, you know, have to say that the city’s scope is health and safety.”
Before 2015, they did not report failures to the city and it was on him to follow up with the property managers to get things fixed. “Every now and again, someone’s dragging their feet, you know, because it’s expensive, or whatever the case may be, and you’re like, this needs to get done, and they’re like, make me.”
There weren’t many mechanisms to force landlords to upgrade things. Under the RRSI program, it is easier to encourage landlords to comply with rental standards.
Large Buildings
One thing Worchel would like to see done differently is an increase in the number of units inspected in large buildings.
“If you’re in a lower-end neighborhood and English is the second language, and there’s 20 units, and we only expect seven. I’d like that number to jump to like 15,” he said. “Because the housing stock is so old, you know, you’re going to have just more problems by nature of it, and so I’d like to see more units inspected, especially in the lower income neighborhoods, to make sure that they have a good standard.”
Overall, Worchel thinks the program is incredibly important for residents in Bellingham, and sees it as a net positive.
“I think it’s a really important program, and I think it’s done a lot of good. It’s gotten a lot better with the new personnel, so I’m really, it really feels good to help people with situations that otherwise they would have to bear.”
References: (1) https://cob.org/services/permits/rentals
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Liam Walsh is a senior at Western studying journalism with a news/ editorial focus. In his free time, he plays on the Western rugby team and enjoys hiking and swimming.
