The Code Compliance Division of the Neighborhood Services Department handles several different types of cases. The three most generated case types are tenant inspection cases, housing inspection cases, and nuisance cases. The tenant inspection cases are interior inspections of residential properties that are occupied by tenants. The housing inspection cases include exterior housing inspections, fire damaged properties, referrals from the Fire Department for life safety issues (fire alarm, fire sprinkler, and carbon monoxide issues), and utility shut offs. The nuisance cases include tall grass, garbage, junk, sidewalk snow, inoperable/unregistered vehicles, and other exterior property issues.
The Code Compliance Division had a record number of tenant inspection cases and housing inspection cases in 2021, with 247 tenant inspection cases and 273 housing inspection cases last year. Tenant inspection cases were 100% citizen complaint driven, and the housing inspection cases were 49% citizen complaint driven. There was a total of 2117 nuisance cases in 2021, which is an increase over 2020, but lower than the five years prior to that. The nuisance cases were 70% citizen complaint driven last year.
Through the first six months of 2022, tenant inspection, housing inspection, and nuisance cases have increased over the same period last year. The tenant inspection cases have increased by 35% and the housing inspection cases have increased by almost 11% through the first six months of the year. Nuisance cases have increased by 19.5% through the first six months.
Tenant Inspection | Housing Inspection | Nuisance | |
2021 (Jan-June) | 96 | 137 | 1041 |
2022 (Jan-June) | 130 | 152 | 1244 |
Percent Change | 35.42% | 10.95% | 19.50% |
With this month’s addition of a new Property Maintenance Inspector, the Division now has five inspectors. This will allow the Division to be more proactive in addressing nuisance and exterior housing cases. This will also allow the Division to restart the systematic multifamily common area inspection program that has been on hold due to limited staffing.