Crackdown On Housing Code Violations Targeted By Montgomery Co.

SILVER SPRING, MD — In an effort to crack down on multifamily housing code violations and better protect tenants' rights, Montgomery County has launched a database that will help inspectors prioritize "troubled properties" and provide residents with inspection status updates.

"We are serious about protecting the safety and well-being of tenants, so we need to ensure that we scrutinize properties that have a history of housing code violations, and we have to make sure that the violations are corrected in a timely fashion," Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said. "Creating a Troubled Property List and making it available to the public in a clear and concise manner is the first step in achieving our goals."

The Department of Housing and Community Affairs is responsible for inspecting all 688 multifamily rental properties in Montgomery County, according to officials. To help DHCA prioritize units with multiple health and safety violations, the department has created a Troubled Property List.

Those on the list are multifamily rental properties with serious housing code violations — including rodent or insect infestation and mold — and are subject to annual inspections by the DHCA. Troubled properties are required to develop and implement a corrective action plan that specifies what actions the landlord will take to swiftly eliminate current and future housing code violations. They also must submit a quarterly log of their internal maintenance calls for DHCA.

In addition to creating a Troubled Property List, the DHCA has launched a new housing code website. The online resource has interactive maps of all multifamily rental properties, links to tenant rights information, housing code statistics, and a progress report on DHCA's two-year inspection surge.

DHCA has been conducting a two-year "inspection surge" of all multifamily rental properties in the county since 2017. The inspection program, which identifies troubled properties, will be completed by July 1, 2019.

Earlier this year, Montgomery County ordered The Enclave Silver Spring to be inspected after officials reportedly found hundreds of housing code violations in 2018.

In September, the DHCA inspected 262 apartments and found 367 violations, according to officials. The department began inspecting the remaining 857 apartments at the complex on Jan. 8.

"No one should have to live with mold, roaches and rodents," said Councilmember Tom Hucker, who represents District 5, home to the apartment complex. "It's outrageous that inspectors found more than 360 housing code violations in only 23 percent of the units there. I'm grateful that the county executive ordered the Housing Department to meet my request to inspect 100 percent of the units. These are clearly problem units that need regular inspections to document the conditions and put pressure on the landlord to fix them."

According to officials, there has been an uptick in the number of complaints at the complex. Montgomery County received 113 complaints in 2018. During the previous four years, there were 41 complaints.