Danville Title XV Ch. 163 Rental Housing Registration § 163.08

(A) A tenant may file a written complaint with the city regarding a code violation that the tenant knows or reasonably believes exists in the interior or on the exterior of the rental dwelling that negatively impacts the habitability or dangerousness and/or safety of the rental dwelling. The tenant shall use a form provided by the city or the city’s website.


(B) Tenant complaints shall include the following:


(1) Tenant’s full name.


(2) Address of the tenant’s rental dwelling.


(3) Tenant’s landline, if any, or cellular telephone number.


(4) Tenant’s e-mail address, if any.


(5) A description of the condition and its location on the rental property and/or in the rental dwelling, as the case may be.


(6) The name of the owner or the owner’s local representative, if any.


(7) Such other information as the tenant deems appropriate.


(8) Such additional information as the city may require.


(9) The date when the tenant submits the tenant complaint.


(10) A statement whether the owner or the local representative has given the tenant a notice of or a summons and complaint for eviction or a notice to quit the premises (e.g., a five-day notice, ten-day notice or 30-day notice) and the date when the tenant received such notice or summons and complaint.


(11) The tenant’s signature that also acknowledges that the tenant grants consent for the code official to enter upon the rental property and inside the rental dwelling.


(C) Punitive action.


(1) Any action taken by an owner or local representative against a tenant after the date the tenant submitted a complaint to the city may be deemed prima facie evidence that the owner retaliated against the tenant for filing their complaint with the city.


(2) Nothing in subsection (C)(1) shall be deemed or construed as prohibiting an owner from giving a tenant a lawful five-day or a ten-day notice to vacate the rental dwelling for breach of a written lease; a lawful 30-day notice to quit the rental dwelling pursuant to a month-to-month tenancy; or serving the tenant with a lawful eviction summons and complaint. However, the owner may still be subject to a penalty if it is determined that the owner took such action in retaliation for a tenant filing a tenant complaint about the rental dwelling with the city.


(D) Upon receipt of a good faith tenant complaint, the code official shall contact the tenant to arrange a mutually acceptable date and time when the code official can inspect the rental dwelling and/or the property on which it is located to ascertain the nature and severity of the one or more conditions described in the tenant’s complaint. The code official shall note any code violations found during such inspection.


(1) Upon completion of the aforesaid inspection, the code official shall prepare a report of the code official’s findings during the inspection. The report shall include:


(a) The address of the rental dwelling;


(b) Whether or not any code violation(s) were found during such inspection;


(c) A reasonable description of each code violation found and its location;


(d) A reference to the ordinance and each code section violated;


(e) One or more pictures of each violation observed;


(f) A date or dates, depending on the nature of each violation, by which the owner shall have the violation(s) abated;


(g) A date when the code official shall return to the rental dwelling for a re-inspection to determine if the violation(s) have been abated;


(h) A statement that failure to abate any violation(s) may result in the city initiating proceedings pursuant to Chapter 42 ;


(i) If the code official does not observe any code violation(s) in the rental dwelling or on the property on which it is located, the report shall so acknowledge; and


(j) The code official’s signature and date of the inspection report.


(2) The code official shall either mail, by First Class Mail, or personally deliver, the code official's report to the owner or the local representative and the tenant if the tenant is still occupying the rental dwelling.


(3) If, upon reinspection, the code official determines that the owner failed to abate all of the violations described in the code official’s report, the code official may initiate a code violation case against the owner for the violation(s) in the rental dwelling and/or on the property on which that rental dwelling is located pursuant to Chapter 42 .


(4) If it is determined that the tenant was served with a five-day or ten-day notice to quit the premises or a 30-day notice of termination of the lease prior to the tenant’s filing a complaint regarding one or more conditions at or in the tenant’s rental dwelling, the city may dismiss the tenant complaint and cancel any scheduled inspection.


(E) If at any time after a tenant initiates a complaint and the tenant refuses to allow an inspection or fails to show up at the scheduled inspection time, the code official may dismiss the complaint without conducting an inspection.


(F) Owners of rental dwellings shall be responsible for all code violation(s) that occur on the rental dwelling property and within the rental dwelling. All disputes between the owner or local representative and tenant regarding liability for any violation(s) are civil matters to be resolved between the owner or local representative and the tenant.


(Ord. 9467, passed 2-6-24; Am. Ord. 9538, passed 5-6-25)