Baltimore County lawmakers are poised to postpone a new rental inspection program set to take effect today ? and could cancel the program altogether.
Members of the County Council said they have agreed to extend the deadline for rental buildings with one to six units to be inspected, registered and licensed with the county until Oct. 1. Meanwhile, one lawmaker said he planned to introduce legislation repealing the entire program, which he called “silly” and “unenforceable.”
“This is an effort on behalf of some well-intentioned people to, really, manage lives,” said Councilman Bryan McIntire, a north county Republican.
The law, passed in a 4-3 vote in December, requires a private inspection for functioning electricity and plumbing, safe windows and ventilation, and hard-wired smoke detectors. Certain rental homes are exempt, including group homes and units that are owner-occupied with no more than one additional unrelated occupant.
So far,about 6,000 of about 26,000 qualifying units have been inspected, officials said. Violators face a $1,000 fine.
Many landlords said the program is expensive and unfairly targets responsible owners. Tom Germroth said he paid $150 to have his Carney property inspected, and about $600 to replace his battery-powered smoke detectors with hard-wired devices.
“There has been a lot of confusion over this thing,” Germroth said. “The councilmen just passed it and then kind of walked away.”
But community leaders in Towson are urging lawmakers to oppose McIntire?s proposal. The program is as important to the neighbors of rental units as it is for the tenants, they said.
“We worked for a long time to get rental registration,” said Ed Kilcullen, president of the Greater Towson Council of Community Associations. “It?s a critical tool in dealing with the increasing number of rental properties around the universities.”
