Boston Citywide Rental Registry Aims To Help Tenants
The new city ordinance requires owners to register all rentals of more than six units.
A new Boston rental inspection ordinance will require all owners and landlords with more than six units to register in a citywide registry. Mayor Thomas Menino has pushed for the ordinance, which the city estimates will provide a proactive method for inspecting about 140,000 rental units, comprising more than 85 percent of Boston’s approximately 167,800 units. During the next five years, every unit under the ordinance will receive an approved inspection or be entered into an Inspectional Services-approved alternative compliance plan. More than 10 inspectors are expected to be hired, as the city plans on tackling units owned by landlords with a history of noncompliance in the first year of the program. The ordinance first had to be …