Investor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2017 · 303 posts · 327 votes
8y
I’ve had the privilege of paying the Hayward fees for 8 years now.
The last inspection was done in 2013: one rental was found to have small problems. The inspector did not show up - and did not respond - to two follow up appointments he set. They still charged me an ~$300 fine, and gave me the privilege of having to take additional time off from work. If I wanted to appeal, I had to pay even more first.
Another inspector found small problems in my other rental the same day. That inspector told me she’d come back the next day. I fixed everything by then, as agreed. She showed up on time, and I was not charged.
They gave me the option to self-certify for all my units a couple of years back. I did not do that. So far, it has not mattered.
The annual fee more than doubled 2-3 years ago.
I thought that after the Oakland warehouse fire they would do another round of inspections... I also thought that Santa Clause was real. At least the money I’ve been paying them is.
Another thing about Hayward is that, if you own five+ rental units (unless they are SFRs) in the city, you fall under rent control.
Rental Property Investor · Northern, CA · Member since 2012 · 5k+ posts · 5k+ votes
8y
Yes. It’s becoming more and more common. In some cities, you can actually “self certify” that it meets the standard. Still have to pay a fee though. It’s just another way for cities to make money.
Investor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2015 · 60 posts · 46 votes
8y
Yes basic fees for just owning a rental property. Even non owner occupied SFR. Apartment license fees. Then fees for various city inspections. Life in California.
Investor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2017 · 303 posts · 327 votes
8y
I’ve had the privilege of paying the Hayward fees for 8 years now.
The last inspection was done in 2013: one rental was found to have small problems. The inspector did not show up - and did not respond - to two follow up appointments he set. They still charged me an ~$300 fine, and gave me the privilege of having to take additional time off from work. If I wanted to appeal, I had to pay even more first.
Another inspector found small problems in my other rental the same day. That inspector told me she’d come back the next day. I fixed everything by then, as agreed. She showed up on time, and I was not charged.
They gave me the option to self-certify for all my units a couple of years back. I did not do that. So far, it has not mattered.
The annual fee more than doubled 2-3 years ago.
I thought that after the Oakland warehouse fire they would do another round of inspections... I also thought that Santa Clause was real. At least the money I’ve been paying them is.
Another thing about Hayward is that, if you own five+ rental units (unless they are SFRs) in the city, you fall under rent control.
Investor · Hayward, CA · Member since 2013 · 139 posts · 65 votes
8y
I own an 8-plex in Hayward. The rental inspection program became annoying in IIRC 2011. The economy was in the dumps, nobody was building anything and I imagine that they had a bunch of inspectors sitting around twiddling their thumbs and wondering when the big layoff would happen.
So they came out looking for blood. "Let's look at your water heaters"...."Got a permit for that one?".
A couple of Hayward idiosyncrasies: Until last year, they required metallic pipes and traps under all sinks. Whereas the real world has moved on to ABS. The other one is retrofit vinyl windows. Most jurisdictions allow these to be installed without permit, as long as there's no structural changes. Not Hayward!
So they found some 11 retrofit vinyl windows. Nope, no permits on file. So I had to dig through my paperwork and find the original contracts - over a period of several years - for those windows. Luckily, most of them had been installed by Home Depot. I went back to HD, and escalated it all the way back to Atlanta. HD made good on it - they pulled the permits, their dime. Two retrofits didn't meet modern egress code, and they replaced them.
I couldn't find contracts for two windows; I'm guessing they had been installed by the person who sold me the building. So I went down and pulled permits for them myself. Snag: Hayward does not issue "Owner-builder" permits for commercial properties. All permits for these properties MUST be pulled by licensed contractors. I went down and begged, and they made an exception.
Aside from that one year, the inspection program hasn't been a big deal.
In 2009 a legal challenge was mounted to the inspection program. I think my lawyer was involved. Basically, the inspection program requires landlords to force the tenants to allow city inspectors to enter their apartments. But California law limits the reasons for landlord entry. "Inspection by a local government" is not one of those reasons.
In its final ruling the Court of Appeals found that:
The City needs the tenant’s consent to inspect the rental unit. Without the tenant’s consent the City must obtain an inspection warrant.
California Civil Code §1954 does not apply to the Hayward ordinance because the ordinance affects only the conduct of the City and not that of the landlords.
A landlord is required to make only a “good faith” effort to obtain a tenant’s consent to facilitate a City inspection.
A landlord cannot be held liable for a tenant’s failure to consent to an inspection of the unit.
Real Estate Investor · Audubon, PA · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 8k+ votes
8y
I am in the Philadelphia area, and I get to pay for rental licenses and inspections too.
I have learned to try to cooperate with the inspector's requests, so long as they are reasonable. The most recent unreasonable request was to replace a sidewalk that had passed inspection just a few years prior - newly hired inspector has to show he can flex his muscle I guess. Brought in a number of concrete contractors and they all asked were they at the correct address, because the sidewalk they were looking at (my property) did not look bad at all, but the one next door (owner occupied) was in terrible shape. Yes, landlords have to "conform", but owner occupants get away with having unacceptable conditions. I ended up replacing that sidewalk anyway due to municipality's threat of legal action; you lose in court and have court costs on top of the cost of the concrete work.
This sort of thing is one of those real world expenses that the usual analysis tools fail to account for.