Sedalia Rental Inspection Committee decides more certification details

The Sedalia Rental Inspection Committee continued to nail down details of the inspector training program during Wednesday night’s meeting.

The committee has spent the last several meetings deciding the details of the city offering a certification program. The idea is to have a city-sponsored class offered to citizens wanting to become a rental inspector. Those who complete the course would be included on an approved list given to landlords. Landlords would choose their own inspector from the list to complete the proposed rental inspections.

Daniel Shaw, of the Sedalia Fire Department, has been leading the discussions on the inspector certification program, as he will most likely be conducting the course.

Wednesday’s meeting began with the committee adding two more items to the checklist, for a total of 24, at the suggestion of member JoAnn Martin. No. 23 will be no large holes in walls, floors or ceilings in a rental unit’s interior. No. 24 will be no peeling or chipping paint in the interior.

The committee also discussed conflicts of interest, deciding that no one with a 5 percent or higher financial interest in a property and no one who is related to the property owner may inspect that person’s rental unit. Family members include first cousins or closer.

Member Dave Wiedeman asked if an independent contractor who does work for a property owner would be allowed to conduct an inspection. The committee decided that would be allowed, since they are independent, but direct employees would not be allowed.

The proposed ordinance states that rental units will be required to renew their city permit, determined by passing another inspection, at the change of occupancy, unless within a 24-month time-frame. It was previously suggested that multi-family dwellings, such as an apartment building, would not be required to have every unit inspected, but the committee decided against that Wednesday.

“It should be all or nothing,” member Terry Hunter said. “If I have 20 houses and they are all getting inspected, then if someone has 20 apartments all of those should be inspected.”

All other members present said they agreed with Hunter.

As decided Wednesday, for a landlord to be able to rent a property to a tenant, they must have an inspection form signed by both them and the inspector. Once it is signed, the landlord can rent the property as soon as desired, but the inspector must still turn in a copy to City Hall to keep on record. The committee kept the initial wording on when a permit must be renewed.

Member Jeff Leeman brought up the idea of requiring a tenant or landlord to present the permit when turning on utilities, such as water with the Sedalia Water Department, to help the city keep track of rental properties. Martin noted that one of the cities the committee spoke with previously about their inspection program did something similar. City Administrator Gary Edwards said they would discuss it with SWD.

The final point decided Wednesday was that the city will allow the market to dictate the inspection fee, letting each inspector and landlord work out the fee.

Member Kim Welch was absent.

The next meeting will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20.

— Nicole Cooke can be reached at 660-530-0138 or on Twitter @NicoleRCooke.

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