A revamped ordinance governing rental properties in Jeannette could go into effect this summer if council gives it a final approval next week.

The new guidelines would lessen the burden on city officials who conduct inspections of an estimated 4,000 rental units.

Fire Chief Bill Frye, who does most of the inspecting, said the updated language would require checks of residential rental units any time there is a new occupant or a minimum of every 10 years. The current ordinance mandates inspections of residential rental units every two years and when there is a change in occupant.

“We don’t have the manpower to do all these properties that frequently,” he said.

Rental properties amount to about 40-45% of the city’s total housing stock, according to Frye.

The city enacted in 2015 the current ordinance requiring biennial inspections in addition to other rules for landlords. Council gave the proposed updated ordinance an initial approval during its May meeting.

Frye said he expects it to go into effect July 1, as long as it receives final approval at council’s June 8 meeting.

Another potential change is the frequency of inspections in commercial rental properties, defined as having four or more units. Those are inspected every two years, but under the proposed ordinance, that would switch to annually. The fee would be $50 per year for each unit, compared to $100 every two years, Frye said.

It takes about 15 minutes to inspect a single rental unit. The furnace, outlets and smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are among the items checked.

The change would benefit landlords who don’t have high tenant turnover, Frye said. The amount of inspections needed under the current ordinance doesn’t leave a lot of time for enforcement of problem landlords, he said.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)