(A) Inspections of rental units may be conducted for the following:
(1) An interior and/or exterior inspection of a rental dwelling and/or a rental dwelling unit may be made where any person has made a complaint to an employee of the city, or the designated Code Enforcement Officer, Building Inspector, or Rental Inspector.
(2) An exterior inspection of a rental dwelling and an interior inspection of common areas and each rental dwelling unit within the rental dwelling may be made by the Building Inspector upon the existence of any of the following rental dwelling conditions:
(a) An employee of the city, volunteer or employee of the local fire department, or the designated Code Enforcement Officer, Building Inspector, or Rental Inspector reasonably believes that a condition exists that relates to a life or safety issue;
(b) External inspections of a property have found three or more violations of the adopted International Property Maintenance Code and/or Chapter 50 (Garbage), Chapter 90 (Animals) and/or Chapter 92 (Nuisances) of the Villa Hills Code of Ordinances, and/or the Villa Hills Zoning Ordinance;
(c) Where an inspection has been made of a rental dwelling pursuant to section (A)(2)(a), the city's Building Inspector shall be authorized to inspect the interior and/or exterior of other rental dwellings and rental dwelling units with the same owner as the inspected rental dwelling, provided the Building Inspector reasonably believes that violations of the licensing standards and conditions contained herein exist at those premises.
(B) Notice of inspection and consent.
(1) No notice shall be required for an inspection of the exterior of any rental dwelling, or for any inspection made for a life or safety issue
(2) For all interior inspections, except those made for a life or safety issue, the Building Inspector shall make a minimum of one attempt to contact the owner of the rental dwelling to obtain consent for the inspection.
(3) The Building Official in his sole discretion may require inspections by other city or county agencies or departments, including, but not limited to the applicable code enforcement, zoning, housing, health, or fire departments.
(4) If any owner or occupant refuses access for an interior inspection, then the Building Official shall not then conduct the inspection but may pursue any and all available legal remedies, including but not limited to requesting or obtaining a an administrative warrant or other relief necessary to obtain legal access to the interior of the rental dwelling unit.
(5) Nothing in § 154.10(B)(3) shall prohibit the Building Inspector from conducting an inspection of the common areas and the dwelling unit of a tenant at the tenant's invitation without the consent of the owner.
(C) Pertaining to inspections.
(1) Only the designated Building Inspector(s) may conduct inspections required by this chapter.
(2) The powers, duties and responsibilities of the inspectors shall be provided to the property owner at the time of an initial inspection.
(3) The city or its designated building inspector does not warrant or guarantee the status of inspected properties.
(4) The Inspector shall have available a list of code issues, specifically/detailing compliance.
(Ord. 2017-7, passed 10-18-2017)