New City of San Antonio Proactive Apartment Inspections Ordinance
Member Alert!
Important Information Regarding New Ordinance Impacting Rental Properties of 5 or More Units!
New City of San Antonio Proactive Apartment Inspections Ordinance
Please share with your owners, management and maintenance teams!
On March 23rd, the San Antonio City Council approved a new ordinance which created a Proactive Apartment Inspections Program that became effective April 2, 2023. This new ordinance will allow the San Antonio Development Services Department to proactively inspect apartment communities to ensure they meet minimum code standards and provide safe housing.
We would like to thank the SAAA members that served on the Proactive Apartment Inspection Stakeholders Group for the numerous hours they spent advocating for our industry by working through this ordinance. While the City of San Antonio already has Code Compliance rules that apply to all multi-family properties across the city, this new ordinance is a program focused on multi-family properties (five units or more) to incentivize property owners and management companies to maintain life and safety standards for their residents. This ordinance is not intended to affect those communities that remain in compliance with the San Antonio Property Maintenance Code.
Program Synopsis
The Proactive Apartment Inspection Program is only applicable to properties within the City of San Antonio with five or more units. Your property may become subject to the program if:
- Your property receives three designated code citations within a rolling six-month period, or
- Is ordered by the Building Standards Board
The designated code citations that count towards the program are specific code violations relating to life and safety. These code citations include those dealing with structural problems, plumbing or electrical fixtures, fire safety, pest infestation and more. You can see a full list of the Municipal Codes that would constitute points towards enrollment of this program here at this link.
Properties must enroll within ten calendar days once a notification to register is received by the property owner. Registered properties will be subject to monthly inspections of up to 5% of units while in the program, and remain in the registry for a minimum of six months.
Is there a cost to be on the program?
Yes. If your property goes into the program, owners will be assessed a fee of $100.00 per unit, per year, upon registration in the program.
Can I appeal the citations that count towards my property’s placement in the program?
Yes. A property can appeal directly to the Code Official if the following requirements are met:
- Must be in writing.
- Must state why the violation was not resolved within a reasonable time (as shown on the citation).
- Must include sufficient proof of any claims challenging the citation.
Getting out of the Program
A property can graduate from the program once all violations are corrected AND has less than three new designated citations in a rolling six-month period. However, there is a four-year probation period, if a property receives three designated citations again in a six-month period, they will go back into the program for a longer period of time of twelve months.
How does an owner or management company prevent their property from having to register with the program?
- To avoid being enrolled into the program, apartment owners and management companies must fix code violations within 10 days of being notified about them.
More Information
The San Antonio Apartment Association will be hosting a series of informational sessions about Code Compliance and how to maintain your property to City standards and avoid becoming part of the program.
Where on the City’s website can I read more about this ordinance?
- Proactive Apartment Inspections Program webpage
- Proactive Apartment Inspections Program Fact Sheet
- Full Proactive Apartment Inspections Program Ordinance
What set this program in motion and what has our association done to handle it?
The trigger point for the creation of this ordinance occurred when several apartment properties gained negative media attention in 2022. After witnessing that media attention and hearing from constituents from the properties, City Council members proposed a task force be formed to write this new program policy. Leaders from the rental housing industry, including four volunteer members from SAAA, tenant advocate representatives, and members from the San Antonio Housing Commission, participated weekly in the task force meetings since October 2022. After twelve taskforce meetings and two community input meetings, the resulting program was presented to and passed by the San Antonio City Council. The Proactive Apartment Inspection Program is the result of compromise, negotiation, and strategic effort vetted by our volunteer members and leadership.
If you would like to ask our government relations team questions about this ordinance, please contact Hector Morales, hector@saaaonline.org, or Allison Cohen, allison@saaaonline.org.
To view the slide deck from our informational sessions, click HERE