Bellingham Hikes Up Rental Registration and Inspection Fees: Here's the Full Price Tag

Listen up, landlords and tenants of Bellingham, things are about to get real. There's a new ordinance rolling in, and it's going to hit your wallets like a bike without brakes on a mountain trail. No fluff, no nonsense, let's dive into the cold, hard facts.

So, the City Council pulled a move this Monday night and voted unanimously for a new fee structure for landlords registering their rental properties. Proposed by the folks at the Planning and Community Development Department, a final vote is set for November 6th. After that, give it 15 days, and bam! The law kicks in.

Now, you may be wondering, what’s the reason behind this fiscal jiu-jitsu? Well, it’s not just to fill the city’s coffers. The money will pay for a program administrator and a second inspector. But these aren’t just any inspectors; these are rental property ninja inspectors whose primary mission is to crack down on properties that have failed an inspection. Blake Lyon, the man in charge of the Planning and Community Development Department, puts it succinctly: “It's not about the money, it's about getting your shit together.”

So, here’s the financial rundown. If you own up to 20 rental units, the annual registration fee jumps from $10 to $20 per unit. Own more than 20? Your per-unit fee will climb from $8 to $16. Inspection fees stay at $45 if you hire a private inspector. Go the city route, and you're coughing up a hundred bucks. And let’s say your property is so messed up it fails the inspection. The follow-up inspections are going to cost you: the first re-inspection will be $100, the second $200, and a third will set you back $500. Oh, and you could also be facing legal action through code enforcement.

Councilman Dan Hammill wasn't shy about his disappointment in private inspections. He essentially said, "We're letting our tenants down, folks," calling out the low failure rate for these inspections as downright "egregious."

So what's the takeaway? Simply put, it's a hardcore nudge to landlords to keep their properties up to snuff. And for tenants, well, your safety is becoming a bigger priority, so there's that. Love it or hate it, this new ordinance is coming down the pipe, and it's got its eyes set on shaking up the rental game in Bellingham.