Rental Housing Inspection Program

Multnomah County recently approved a resolution and ordinance related to improving rental housing conditions in unincorporated Multnomah County. The ordinance and resolution will provide renters a mechanism to address substandard housing and improve the area’s rental housing stock.

Current Status:

Public meetings were conducted, and a Stakeholder Advisory Group met and offered feedback on the proposal. The Board’s final vote and approval was on September 3, 2009. The final vote approved:

• An ordinance for a complaint-based inspection program
  Read the approved ordinance »
• A resolution to conduct an assessment of exterior rental housing in unincorporated Multnomah County.
  Read the resolution »
  Read the assessment » (500K)

What happens next? How does this impact you?

As a resident:

• You now have the option to file a complaint with Multnomah County Environmental Health Services if you feel there is a public health concern or housing violation in the property where you reside. You can do this by calling 503-988-4247. A trained and certified inspector will return your call and come to inspect the inside and outside of conditions of the house, apartment or other rental property.
• You may be receiving a visit from our housing inspector requesting consent to walk around the property that you rent to conduct an exterior inspection. In the next six months, we will be doing an assessment of the exterior of approximately 200 of the 800 rental properties to get a sense of the quality of the rental housing in the unincorporated area.

As a landlord:

• You will receive a copy of the complaint inspection report if a complaint is received on your property with results of the inspection and expectations for remediation.
• You will receive a copy of the external assessment report if your property was randomly selected for the external assessment. We would like to hear from you about any remediation you perform as a result of the assessment so that we can gauge the effectiveness of voluntary corrections.
• You will receive an invitation to attend an informational session after completion of the external assessments.

How do I know if my property is in unincorporated Multnomah County?

Multnomah County is comprised of several cities, including Portland, Gresham, Fairview, Maywood Park, Troutdale and Wood Village. Unincorporated areas are those that are not part of a city. This includes primarily:

• eastern Multnomah County
• some locations within Corbett and Cascade Locks
• western Multnomah County bordering Washington County
• all of Sauvie Island

View a map of unincorporated Multnomah County

What are the requirements?

We are currently developing our inspection checklists. However, we will be using the Gresham checklists below as a template. They are based on the International Property Maintenance Code. See samples:

Interior checklist
Exterior checklist

Why is this important?

Low-income families suffer higher rates of lead poisoning, asthma and other chronic diseases that are made worse by exposure to lead, mold and pests found in their rental housing. Multnomah County Health Department has identified code reform as essential to improving the quality of rental properties. Housing issues increase if residences are not in good repair.  Rental housing codes require landlords to repair critical home problems.

Facts and Statistics:

Frequently Asked Questions»
Presentation: Connection Between Health and Housing (750KB)

Page updated April 1, 2010