McComb city officials say rental properties should be inspected to make sure they’re up to code in order to reduce blight and preserve property values.
Mayor Whitney Rawlings credited Selectman Tommy McKenzie with the idea and noted that Tupelo and other cities throughout the state use a similar process.
“We all look around (the city), we drive around city and see certain conditions and certain neighborhoods,” Rawlings said. “Retaining property values is what this is all about. We’re trying to improve our neighborhoods. As a city, I think we need to look at this. The renter, in the long term, certainly benefits.”
“It prevents you from having slumlords,” City Administrator Quordiniah Lockley added.
Walter Temple, director of the McComb Department of Inspections and Zoning, said the city has 2,085 parcels of rental property and 3,500 rental units.
Temple said that if the board approves the inspection of rental properties, the department will have to hire at least one additional person for the task. The department has a code enforcement officer in Hiram Smith, but his work is restricted to homes throughout the city.
“We’d start off with one to handle (rental inspections),” Temple said. “We can’t do that with the present staff.”
Rental property owners whose properties violate city ordinances and property codes will be subject to the same system as homeowners, including fines issued in ordinance court.
Presently, the city issues warnings to homeowners who violate the city’s codes and gives them two weeks to correct violations before the fines kick in.
Rental property owners — not tenants — would be responsible for fines and improvements.
The board will not decide the issue at next week’s board meeting. Selectmen opted to discuss the matter further at the March 20 work session, and Rawlings asked Temple to collect additional information on other cities that conduct rental inspections.
