Detroit Evening Report: Mayor Duggan, Councilwoman Mary Waters announce proposed rental ordinance changes

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Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Detroit City Council Member Mary Waters announced proposed changes to a new rental ordinance on Monday.

Waters said the new changes will streamline inspections and hold landlords accountable for not meeting safety standards.

“I cannot and will not let another man, woman or child suffer with living in poor quality rental housing, and this ordinance is a positive step towards ensuring housing is a human right and housing is a human right,” Waters said.

Previously, only 10% of Detroit’s 82,000 properties were in compliance. The city says that’s due to previously overly complex and expensive standards for inspections.

The new ordinance will reduce fees, simplify the inspection system and combine house and lead inspections.

City officials hope to see compliance increase by 30% in the next two years, or 25,000 homes.

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Author

  • Nargis Hakim Rahman is the Civic Reporter at 101.9 WDET. Rahman graduated from Wayne State University, where she was a part of the Journalism Institute of Media Diversity.