Sterling — Ch. 18 Art. XI Residential Rental Property § 18-306

(a) Issuance of certificate. If, upon completion of an inspection or re-inspection, the premises are found to be in compliance with applicable city codes and ordinances and other applicable laws, the proper registration statement is on file with the city and the registration fee has been paid to the city, the city shall issue a certificate of occupancy for the premises.
(b) Correction/failure to correct violations. If upon inspection, the premises are found to be in violation of one or more provisions of applicable city codes and ordinances or other applicable laws, the city shall provide written notice of such violations to the owner or to the local agent, if any, and to the permanent resident, in the case of occupied premises, and shall schedule a re-inspection date by which such violations shall be corrected. If such violations have been corrected within the period specified, the building official/inspector shall issue a certificate of occupancy for the unit. If such violations have not been corrected within that period, no certificate of occupancy shall be issued and the city may take any action necessary to enforce compliance with applicable city codes and ordinances. During the period between the initial inspection and the re-inspection of the premises, the rental of such premises is permissible unless the violations are so serious as to threaten the health or safety of the occupants, and the building official/inspector has issued a conditional certificate of occupancy. If the violations are of a character to threaten the health or safety of occupants of the property or others, the city may take any action necessary to eliminate or mitigate the threat to the health or safety of occupants or to others, including, but not limited to, applying to a court of competent jurisdiction for any order as may be necessary to eliminate or mitigate the threat.
(c) Contents of notice of violation. Whenever the building official/inspector determines that there exists a violation of any provision of this Code or of any other applicable code or regulation, he or she shall give notice of such violation to the person or persons responsible and to the property owner. The notice shall be in writing and contain, at minimum, the following information:
(1) A list of violations, including reference to the applicable code provisions being violated;
(2) A time period not to exceed 30 days to complete correction of the violations, unless the building official/inspector determines that additional time is necessary because of the nature and/or extent of violations;
(3) The right to appeal the order or other action taken by the city to the property maintenance board of appeals and the manner of making the appeal, as specified below.
(d) Fees. The annual registration fee set forth in section 18-303 above entitles the owner to one inspection and one re-inspection per unit, if necessary, to establish compliance with the provisions of this section. A $25.00 per unit fee shall be charged the owner for each re-inspection after the first re-inspection if the owner does not provide access for a scheduled re-inspection in the absence of an objection, as provided by subsection 18-305 (d) to the re-inspection.
(e) Inspection request. The owner or permanent resident of any residential rental unit subject to this section may request an inspection at any time. In the case of an occupied unit, the consent of the permanent resident to the inspection will be necessary to comply with an owner's request.
(f) Expiration. The certificate of occupancy issued pursuant to this section shall expire, depending upon the classification of the property upon initial inspection; provided, however, that if a subsequent inspection of the premises has not been completed prior to the expiration of the certificate of occupancy, the residential rental unit governed by the certificate may continue to be rented and occupied until the subsequent inspection is completed and a new certificate of occupancy is either issued or denied. The certificate of occupancy shall have its expiration date prominently displayed.
(g) Transferability. A certificate of occupancy is transferable to succeeding owners, provided that within 30 days of becoming the owner, any new owner shall amend the registration for the premises as required by this section. The failure to properly amend the registration as required by this section results, absent good cause shown, in the suspension or revocation of the certificate of occupancy.
(h) Certificate availability. Upon the request of an existing or prospective permanent resident, the owner or local agent shall produce the certificate of occupancy for display.
(i) Enforcement. If any violations set forth in the notice of violation delivered to the owner and permanent resident of the premises are not corrected within the time allowed for correction, the city may initiate one or more of the following actions, including, but not limited to the following:
(1) Legal proceedings for the correction of the violations;
(2) Revocation of certificate of occupancy;
(3) By written agreement, granting a reasonable period of time from the date of the original notice for the owner to correct or cause the correction of the violations;
(4) Requiring the unit to be vacated, or initiating legal proceedings to cause the vacation of the unit and not reoccupied until the repairs and improvements are completed, inspected, and approved by the building official/code enforcement officer;
(5) Administrative adjudication through the city code enforcement department.
(j) Appeal process. Any owner or other person aggrieved by any action taken by the city pursuant to this article, or by any applicable city code or ordinance, if such action is not otherwise the subject of an administrative or judicial proceeding, may request an appeal to the property maintenance board of appeals. Such appeal must be submitted in writing within 30 days of the action complained of, and state the reasons or grounds for the disagreement with the action taken by the city pursuant to this article. The board of appeals shall promptly schedule a hearing at a time and date no later than 30 days from the date of receipt of the appeal, or at a later date at the request or consent of the owner or person appealing the action taken. The appeal must be taken within 30 days from the city's action and shall be in writing, addressed to the building official. Any owner or other person shall be entitled to be represented by counsel at the appeal hearing before the board of appeals. The hearing shall be recorded. The board of appeals shall issue its order of decision within five business days of the hearing, and the decision may be further appealed in the manner provided by law as an appeal of an administrative action.
Nothing in this article shall prevent the city from taking any action under any other applicable city code or ordinance for violation thereof or limit the right or authority of the city to seek injunctive relief or other applicable legal remedy for any violation of such code or ordinance.