HB 5561 Summary

• Local governmental units are not required to inspect multiple dwellings or rooming houses unless they receive a complaint from a lessee alleging a violation of the Housing Law.

• If a local unit adopts an ordinance providing for inspections, the maximum period between inspections is 4 years, or 6 years if the most recent inspection found no violations and ownership has not changed.

• Inspectors must obtain lessee consent before entering a leasehold during reasonable hours, except in emergencies or when an administrative warrant is served; owners must facilitate lessee notification and attempt to obtain consent.

• Owners must provide access to common areas and non-leasehold areas regardless of lessee consent, and must notify the enforcing agency within 10 days if a lessee who refused inspection vacates.

• Inspections conducted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development or other government agencies may be accepted as substitutes for local inspections, and the enforcing agency cannot discriminate against owners or lessees based on inspection participation.