L&I aims to inspect all city rental properties

The first in line are landlords who could be trying to skirt city regulations.

Philadelphia is undertaking an ambitious plan to inspect all rental properties in the city. [audio: 100108TMLANDI.mp3]

There are more than 50 thousand rental units in Philadelphia, but some property owners have neglected to purchase a license from the city.  Those homes that had a rental license and don’t now are the first to be targeted under a new program to inspect all properties.  Brigette Greenwald is Deputy Commissioner for Operations for the Department of Licenses and Inspections.  She says three full time inspectors have been dedicated to the effort.

Greenwald: The feeling is that these people had licenses before, they just hadn’t renewed or they are illegally renting, so what we are doing is focusing in those areas of the city where we have the highest delinquency rate in the housing license.

Greenwald says the inspectors will check for smoke and carbon monoxide detectors – and also for other violations of city code.