OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Tuesday, the City of Oshkosh asked for public input on a new rental housing inspection proposal.
The original program required regular, mandatory inspections, and was suspended earlier this year because it no longer complied with a new state law.
“They’ve really gotta come up with a whole comprehensive plan, just these inspection programs aren’t gonna do it!” said the president of the Winnebago Apartment Association Donn Lord.
The City of Oshkosh was inspecting all rental units city-wide before the program had to be stopped.
Lord tells FOX 11 that for landlords, the way things were done before was a point of contention.
“These inspection programs are basically…when you lead with that, that’s more of a ‘Gotcha!’ program.”
Right now, the city is only inspecting rental properties that are complaint-based.
It is also legally able to inspect properties it deems unsafe of or unsightly, with tenant approval, as well as just the outside of properties citywide.
Before moving forward, city officials wanted to hear from the public first at Tuesday’s meeting or through a poll online.
“There are quite a few rental properties, and there’s a lot of homeowners surrounding them, and we want to make sure the rental properties help keep up the standards for the neighborhood,” said director of community development for the City of Oshkosh, Allen Davis.
At the Rental Housing Advisory Board meeting, people were shown three options the city is considering: stick with the complaint-based method, the tenant approved option, the citywide exterior-only inspections, or all three.
“I would rather have them have an open meeting and say generate…brainstorm ideas, rather than just say, ‘Here are your options, pick from these,” Lord said.
“I’d much rather have the public have input and them look at all those ideas that the public gives them, rather than saying these are your options.”
Lord also says the city needs to change its approach entirely and focus more on educating owners before a violation even occurs.
“Tell us what we have to do to prevent or correct them before it even happens. Be more proactive, because we know if you take the ten most common violations, that amounts to the majority of violations.”
No matter what proposal is finalized, landlords are not fined for initial inspections or for violations that are fixed within 30 days.
Oshkosh city leaders hope the board will be able to make a recommendation by the end of fall, so the new program can be implemented next year.
