Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2004 | 8:42 a.m.
The North Las Vegas City Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a rental inspection program that in general would charge landlords an annual fee of $50 per rental unit for yearly inspections of their rental homes that are more then 10 years old.
It would be the first such program in the state, but there could be more to come because Las Vegas officials are developing similar programs to bring to the Las Vegas City Council within six to eight months.
North Las Vegas City Manager Gregory Rose, who suggested the program for his city, said the program would improve the condition of rental homes by catching the deteriorated properties and creating a disincentive for letting a rental unit fall into disrepair.
Under the proposed program, landlords would be charged $51 an hour for reinspections until their properties pass muster, City Code Enforcement Manager Sheldon Klain said.
Also, landlords with exemplary rental units would qualify for "Platinum Property" status and would have their inspection fee refunded and be exempt from another inspection the following year, he said.
Rose said the program will "ensure that we're protecting the public safety, health and welfare, have a positive impact on crime and encourage redevelopment."
There would be an impact on crime because deteriorated buildings create an environment that encourages crime, while well-kept properties and neighborhoods tend to discourage crime, Rose said.
The proposed program has run into opposition from some local landlords.
Scott Smith, a board member of the Southern Nevada Multi-Housing Association, and an attorney representing the owners of the Hayden Point Apartments, near North Las Vegas City Hall, said the proposed program goes too far, although he said it is far better than the original version of the proposed program.
The original version, which was the focus of public meetings in September, exempted new construction for two years, and the latest version exempts properties for 10 years.
Also, the original version limited the number of "Platinum Properties" to 50, whereas the new version does not limit the number of properties that can receive this designation.
"It's much more palatable," Smith said. "It addresses a lot of our issues regarding good properties not bearing the costs for the bad properties."
But Smith said landlords with many rental units would still face steep up-front costs if the program went through.
Rose said the changes were made after listening to the concerns expressed during the public meetings earlier this fall.
North Las Vegas Councilman William Robinson said he supports the program and hopes it will lead to cleaner and safer rental homes.
"For the first five or 10 years they're fantastic," he said about new rental units. "But then some are not as kept up as they should be."
Mayor Michael Montandon and City Council members Shari Buck, Robert Eliason and Stephanie Smith did not return telephone messages Monday.
If approved Wednesday, the program would start on July 1, and cost the city about $1.16 million to run. Klain said they do not have an estimate of how much money the program will bring in because they don't know how many reinspections will be needed. Klain said he hopes to hire an additional six city workers for the program.
Las Vegas Neighborhood Services Director Orlando Sanchez said Las Vegas employees are developing a similar program that he expects will go to the Las Vegas City Council within six to eight months.
"We want to wait and see the reaction from the community," Sanchez said about how Las Vegas staff will watch what happens in North Las Vegas.
"But we've been thinking about this for quite some time," he said about a rental inspection program. "If people pay a decent rent they deserve a decent place to live. It will also prevent a lot of properties from becoming distressed."
The program to be proposed for Las Vegas would also include a per-unit fee, although how much that would be is still being determined, he said.
Also, while North Las Vegas officials plan to inspect every rental unit, if the program is approved, a Las Vegas program would probably set out to inspect a random sample of the rental homes in the city.
Sanchez said Las Vegas has too many rental homes to inspect them all.
Las Vegas has about 50,000 rental homes, while North Las Vegas has about 23,000 rental homes, according to city estimates.
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