Registration
In October 2007, ordinance No. 071046 was passed requiring that all rental
housing units within the City limits of Kansas City, Mo., be registered with the City starting Jan. 1,
2008. A $50 per month fine for failure to register began Feb.
1, 2008.
A rental dwelling is any property that contains a dwelling or rooming unit that is being offered for rent or is being rented or occupied by any person who is not the owner of the premises. However, property occupied by a child, grandchild, mother, father, sibling, mother-in-law, father-in-law or grandparent of the owner is not considered rental
property. In addition, duplex dwellings in which one of the units is owner-occupied are not considered rental dwellings for the purposes of this program.
After Jan. 31, online registration is not available and a failure to register a rental dwelling before Jan. 31 will result in the issuance
of an administrative citation fine of $50. For each month (or portion thereof) a rental dwelling is not registered, an additional
$50 fee will be assessed. For example, a rental property not registered until August will be assessed a fine of $350. Print an application and submit by mail or in person.
Applications are available at the Neighborhood Preservation
Division office at 4900 Swope Parkway, Kansas City, MO 64130. Registration
of rental properties is keyed to the ownership of each property. You may register
several properties on one application as long as they are under one ownership.
Registration is required on a calendar year basis and will expire each Dec. 31. Applications for renewal will be accepted beginning each Jan. 1.
Inspection
Rental dwellings located in designated target areas must also be inspected for compliance with the City’s nuisance and property maintenance codes.
The City Council selected the Blue Hills, Hyde Park, Ivanhoe, Pendleton Heights, Scarritt Renaissance, Town Fork Creek and West Plaza neighborhoods
as the target areas. The systematic (for every property) inspections began in May 2008.
To be considered as a potential target area, neighborhoods have to meet these qualifications:
At least 30 percent of the housing units must be rental housing units
There must be a basically sound but declining housing inventory that exhibits substantial deterioration but little dilapidation
There must be a demonstrated resident interest in and support for the Rental Registration and Inspection Program and for the initiation of
systematic housing inspections to make sure property is being maintained in compliance with the City's nuisance and property maintenance codes.
In addition to inspections of rental properties in these target areas, inspections of the exteriors of owner-occupied properties also will occur.
Interior inspections only will be conducted on vacant rental properties. If a property fails inspection, the owner will have a specific time period within which to abate the code violation. Rental property owners will be charged $100 for re-inspections after the initial re-inspection is made to see if the violations have been abated.
If your rental property is located in one of the target neighborhoods, the Neighborhood Preservation Division will contact you to schedule an exterior inspection of the building and grounds, and an interior inspection of any vacant units.
For more information about the Rental Registration and Inspection Program, call
the Neighborhood Preservation Division, (816) 513-9010.
