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certifiedproviders.Inthiscasetheinitiallicensefeedoesnotcoverthecostofthescheduledinspection, <br />andinspectioncostsvaryfrominspectortoinspector.Theinspectorconductstheinspectionofthe <br />requiredunitsandprovidesacopyoftheresultstothecityandtothepropertyowner.Theremaining <br />citiesuseonetothreeinspectorstoadministertheirprograms.Threeinspectorsandonehousing <br />inspectionmanagerinspectabout18,000unitseverytwoyears,whichleavesatightschedulefor <br />triagingcomplaintsfromresidents.Stafffrommostcitiesfeelthattheydonothavesufficientstaff,and <br />somecitiesdocontractwithcertifiedhousinginspectorstoprovideextracoveragewhenahighnumber <br />ofinspectionsareanticipated.Inordertoreducedemandsonstaff,somecitiesaccepthousing <br />inspectioncertificatesfromothersources.WestSt.Paul,forexample,acceptsinspectioncertificates <br />fromthedepartmentofHousingandUrbanDevelopmentorinsurancecompaniesinlieuofacity <br />inspection. <br />Applicability <br />WhileNewBrightononlyrequiresthelicensingofmultifamilybuildings,allothercitiesinthisstudy <br />haveuniversallicensingforallrentalunits.Fourcitiesdifferentiatebetweenmultifamilyunitsandother <br />typesofunitsbystructuringtheirfeescheduledbasedonthenumberofunitsinabuilding.Shoreview <br />additionallyhastwolicensetypes:oneformultifamilyunits(buildingswithmorethanfourunits)and <br />oneforgeneraldwellingunits(buildingswithfourunitsorless).Three-z·z;­‘.©šš‰Œä“Center,Hopkins <br />andCoonw¦z7­‘wÝ;targetedinspections;sowhileallunitsmustbelicensed,thefrequencyof <br />inspectionsandfeesappliestopropertiesdifferently.Inthesecases,licensingisthesameforallrental <br />units,butinspectionsandfeesaremorefrequentforpropertiesthathavemorecodeviolationsanda <br />highfrequencyofpolicecalls. <br />Focus <br />Forthecitiesinterviewed,rentallicensingprovidedanavenuetoaddressissueswithproblem <br />properties.Whilemostcitiesidentifiedpropertymaintenanceissuesasthemainreasonforwantingto <br />startlicensing,somecitieswereprimarilyconcernedwithcriminalactivityconcentratedinandaround <br />certainproperties.BrooklynCenter,NewBrighton,andRichfieldmonitorthenumberofcrimerelated <br />policecallstomultifamilybuildingsandcalculatetheaveragenumberofpolicecallsperunit.In <br />Richfield,havinganaveragenumberofpolicecallsperunitaboveacertainthresholdissufficientreason <br />forapropertytobedemotedtoaprovisionallicense.InNewBrighton,$5oftheperunitfeegoes <br />towardsfundingacrimefreehousingpoliceofficerwhoworkscloselywithproblempropertiesandall <br />propertymanagers. <br />Mostcitieshavesomenuisancerelatedcodes,relatingtonoise,weapons,andillegalsubstances,which <br />providesomeoptionsforcontrollingcrimeinspecificproperties.Sevencitiesrequirelandlordsto <br />includeacrimefreeaddendumtotheirrentalleases.Theseadditionstothecontractsbetweentenants <br />andlandlordsprovideatoolforlandlordstocontrolcrimeontheirpropertyandpotentiallyevict <br />problemtenants.Twocities,LittleCanadaandColumbiaHeights,requirelandlordstoperformcriminal <br />backgroundchecksonallperspectivetenants.WestSt.Paulrequiresabackgroundinvestigationonthe <br />12 <br /> <br />