Rental Inspection Program

A rental inspection program was established and approved by the city council in May of 2019. All rental homes, hotels, and motels fall under this program.

Registration

All owners of residential rental properties, including hotels and motels, will be required to register each rental unit. Registration of all new rental units will require a one-time fee of $10.00 per unit. Registration will be required on an annual basis between April 1st and May 1st of each year. As long as the property has not changed hands, annual renewals will be done at no charge. If a property has been sold and remains as a rental it will be considered a new rental unit.

Download a Registration Form or Register Online

Inspections

All properties covered under this program will require an inspection to be completed. The inspection fee is $50.00 for the first unit plus $15.00 for each additional unit at the same property. The inspection frequency will be determined by the number of violations present during the inspection. If fewer than six violations are found a re-inspection will not be needed for three years. Six to ten violation will require re-inspection within two years and more than ten, a re-inspection within one year. (During the launch period of the program second inspections will not be performed until all rental properties in Grinnell have had their first inspection.) Download the inspection checklist.

Major Violations

Major violations are life safety issues and required to begin to be resolved within two business days and fully remedied within three months. It will be the responsibility of the property owner or agent in charge to notify the inspector within two business days as to how the specific violation will be addressed and/or remedied.

Other Violations

Violations not considered to be major violations will need to be resolved before the second inspection. Any violations found at the second or subsequent inspections will need to be remedied within three months.