In September of 2016, the Independence City Council adopted a new program called “Rental Ready” which established an interior residential rental dwelling unit inspection.  Rental Ready is a program with goals to protect the health, safety and welfare of residents, maintain attractive and desirable neighborhoods, and ensure minimum standards for the interior of residential buildings. The program began on June 1st, 2017, and applies to all residential rental units in the city and requires all properties to be licensed and pass a basic health and safety inspection every two years.

Due to the current global health pandemic and the associated federal moratorium on evictions, it is deemed advisable that the City Manager review the current program requirements and make recommendations to the City Council to temporarily suspend and/or modify this program.

Rental ready is a rental inspection program that requires residential rental units to pass a basic health and safety inspection every two (2) years. The goals of the program are to protect the health, safety and welfare of the residents, maintain attractive and desirable neighborhoods, and ensure minimum standards for the interior of residential buildings. Landlords are required to hire a qualified housing inspector from the City’s approved list. The qualified housing inspector inspects each unit for nine basic health and safety items. 

On March 12th, 2020, Mayor Eileen Weir declared a State of Emergency in Independence in response to the COVID-19 global health pandemic. Current public health guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommend maintaining six feet distance from anyone who does not live with you and avoiding indoor spaces that do not offer fresh air from the outdoors as much as possible. As this program requires a third-party inspector in the rental property, it may potentially conflict with these guidelines.

Moreover, a federal eviction moratorium issued by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is in effect from September 4, 2020 to March 31, 2021. While the financial impact of the moratorium is not known, it may potential represent an adverse financial impact to local landlords.

Given these two factors, the City Council desires for the City Manager to review the Rental Ready Interior Inspection Program and make recommendations for any program modifications.

The Rental Ready Interior Inspection Program generates $190,000 in annual revenue from business license fees and supports the salary, benefit, and operating expenses for one full-time employee. The City's business license fee for landlords starts at $50 and scales up based on projected gross receipts.

Additionally, landlords pay certified rental inspection firms $50 for their required inspections, though the City does not collect this fee.