Investing in the Vitality of Detroit’s Neighborhoods Through Improved Rental Regulation

Author(s): Matt Kreis, Alan Mallach, Danielle Lewinski

Nearly half of all Detroit households rent their homes. That simple fact dictates that the quality and condition of rental properties needs to be of concern City of Detroit (City) officials, advocates for better housing and health, and, of course, renters themselves. At the urging of local advocates, and to ensure that this critical housing stock is maintained and operated in ways that protect the health and safety of Detroit tenants, the City enacted an ordinance in 2017 (the Rental Ordinance) to strengthen existing provisions regulating the condition of rental properties, including the presence of lead hazards and heightened enforcement tools. This Ordinance requires landlords to register their properties with the City and pass regular property maintenance and lead hazard inspections in order to obtain and retain a Certificate of Compliance (CoC), a condition of legally renting the property.

Hailed by many as a significant win for Detroit tenants when it passed, the Rental Ordinance—despite the City’s conscientious efforts to implement it—has been ineffective in practice. Of the estimated 78,000 rental properties in Detroit, fewer than 20 percent are registered and only 10 percent have obtained a CoC with little to suggest that these numbers will grow in the future. If Detroiters are to have safe, healthy rental housing of decent quality, the City’s approach to rental regulation must change.

This report, prepared for the City of Detroit by the Center for Community Progress, summarizes our findings from over a year of research and interviews to better understand the reasons for the poor compliance rate and outlines strategies to address those factors.