In 1999, the Planning Commission offered this new service to its membership as a means to begin a more holistic approach in addressing the need to improve the service neighborhood's overall housing conditions Many of our partner communities were witnessing a noteworthy decline in the quality of their rental housing stock, which was directly impacting quality of life issues, health and safety of their residents, and overall economic viability of the communities affected. To meet this challenge, the RPC developed and promoted communities to adopt a "standardized" or "model" housing ordinance with a prime intent to bring the physical quality of the rental stock to condition that is clean, safe, and sanitary.

To implement this new service program, the Commission selected the latest issue of the International Property Maintenance Code as the Model of the region.  The International Codes, or I-Codes, which are now being adopted throughout the nation, represent the efforts of the three former National Code Councils (BOCA, ICBO, and SBCCI) to develop a family of model codes under a new International Code Council (ICC) for international application. A "model" code is developed in much the same manner as local or state laws and is not considered a legal document until adopted by a jurisdiction.  It is extremely important to adopt a "model" code instead of a home-grown housing ordinance that could face legal challenges perhaps based on its lack of compliance with nationally recognized building standards or enforcement protocols.

The Planning Commission offers Code adoption guidance to its membership if the local jurisdiction wishes to adopt the model code.  Once the code is adopted (same legal process as adopting any city ordinance), the jurisdiction can enter into a contract with the Planning Commission to provide "Rental Inspection Services".  The RPC will provide qualified staff to perform the inspections as required by the City.  The City, in turn, is responsible for identifying all the rental properties, initiating a mandatory rental registration program, issuance of occupancy certificates, and legal enforcement of the code.

last updated June, 2006