A new Desert Hot Springs law requiring all rental homes to be registered with the city — and, in most cases, inspected — has drawn backlash from some property owners, who fear government overreach and excessive fees.
Passed in early September, the Rental Registration Program is an attempt by city officials to address blighted properties whose owners refuse to fix them. But some landlords say the new law goes too far.
"Every single property owner I’ve managed for and talked to is against it," said Ashley Valenzuela, a Desert Hot Springs property manager. "They are putting a blanket system over responsible landlords — and tenants as well — and subjecting everybody to this. They are putting it under the disguise that it is going to beautify the city."
In meetings over the summer and fall, members of the city council said the Rental Registration Program was the answer to a longstanding city goal of aiding vulnerable tenants by punishing bad-faith landlords. Mayor Scott Matas told The Desert Sun he'd received multiple calls from tenants raising issues with their landlords each of his 19 years on the council.
"Sometimes they're valid, sometimes they’re not," he said of the complaints. "We’ve talked about this at many different city councils that I’ve served with: What do we do to protect tenants?"
What does new home rental ordinance say?
One of the most contentious aspects of the ordinance is the requirement that all rental properties be inspected by city workers once every five years. The inspection includes both the interior and the exterior areas of the rental unit, leading to fears that tenants will be forced to yield entry to their homes.
Valenzuela called the inspections an "invasion of privacy" for the tenants.
However, the ordinance stipulates that interior inspections can only take place if the inspectors follow state law, which means tenants must grant permission.
Still, the ordinance stipulates that inspections may also occur when property owners apply for the rental permit, opening up the possibility that all of the roughly 6,500 rental units may be inspected by city workers over the next few months.
That prospect has worried landlords, who may be denied permits if defects are found on their property.
During a council meeting in July, when the ordinance was first approved, Councilmember Dirk Voss addressed some of the fears people had been expressing during public comments.
"All the negative impacts that people perceive to be there, that made the comment today, are in fact un-factual," he said. "They are simply not true. You are not going to see increases in rent, you’re not going to see people kicked out to the curb. You’re not going to have these things."
Rental housing rules in other cities
Desert Hot Springs is not alone in creating a rental registration ordinance. In February, Indio passed a similar law, with the intention of combatting blight.
The Indio City Council unanimously approved the new law, hoping to create a proactive system of enforcement, rather than one that relies on complaints.
Other nearby cities like Los Angeles and Pasadena also have registration programs with inspections every few years.
Worries of new fees, rent increases
While the rental registration ordinance has passed, Desert Hot Springs has yet to approve a fee schedule that is meant to offset the cost of hiring additional staff to conduct the inspections.
The council described the fees as nominal, although landlords have worried about the increased cost of renting a property.
"The city will charge landlords with an additional fee," Valenzuela said in a text to The Desert Sun. "Those costs will place still more upward pressure on rents at a time when tenants are already struggling."
Penalties for violating the ordinance range from $1,000 to $3,000 depending on how often a property has been cited.
City staff proposed issuing a $100 fee to register a property, which would generate around $650,000 over a five-year period.
An additional self-certification fee of $60 was expected to generate $39,000.
"We’re five people that live in our community, trying to make the best decisions we can," Matas said. "Some people are going to be upset with the decisions we make and others will be happy."
The city is slated to vote on the fee schedule at its next meeting on Oct. 6.
Sam Morgen covers local government for The Desert Sun. Reach him at smorgen@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Why rental home inspection law has some landlords complaining
