By Adam Studzinski
BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington is only inspecting rental properties in the city about once every three years and that’s led to a drastic fall in the quality of rental units in the city.
That’s according to Alderwoman Amelia Buragas who told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin a change in the fee structure for the rental inspection program is needed. She said right now the city only has one inspector for the program.
“We’re looking at right now about 85 percent of our properties are getting a failing rating,” said Buragas. “That means that they have some major life or health safety factor. We’re talking about excessive mold. We’re talking about a lack of egress. If there were a fire the individuals who live there would be unable to get out.”
Podcast: Listen to Buragas’ full conversation on WJBC.
Buragas added Bloomington has only inspected 50 percent of properties the city.
“That number could go down as inspections go up, but we’re still looking at, even in a best case scenario, a failure rate of a 50 percent or above,” she said.
Buragas has proposed increasing the annual administrative fee rental property owners pay from $30 to $65 or $75 a year, with a per unit fee of $5. The city council could discuss the program at it’s meeting on Monday.
Adam Studzinski can be reached at adam.studzinski@cumulus.com.
