Farmington Hills — Ch. 7 Art. VIII Single-Family Rental Dwellings § 7-340

The purpose of this article is to help protect the health, safety and welfare of city residents and citizens, to prevent blight and property deterioration in neighborhoods, and to promote and maintain healthy, sanitary conditions in all single-family rental dwellings located throughout the city, recognizing the importance of such to the persons who do or may reside therein or in the vicinity. The city also recognizes a compelling interest in establishing standards for the maintenance of sanitary and safe single-family rental dwellings within the city which will provide for the maintenance or property values of nearby properties; and the reduction and elimination of blight and other deleterious factors affecting neighborhoods and the quality of life within the city.
The city has received recommendations from citizen visioning groups indicating that an ordinance to address concerns relating to single-family rental dwellings is necessary to protect the health and welfare of the community, and the city recognizes the unique nature of single-family rental dwellings versus multiple family and non-residential rental buildings because, in the city's experience: (1)
The maintenance of single-family rental dwellings is typically the obligation of a non-owning tenant or a non-occupying, off-site owner rather than an on-site manager or management company;
(2) Unlike non-residential rental buildings and apartment units, single-family rental dwellings are typically located in neighborhoods consisting of owner-occupied single-family dwelling units where the deterioration and non-maintenance of homes has a much more significant and direct negative impact on the quality of life, character, vitality, appearance and value of property in the surrounding neighborhood affecting residents on a broad and large scale basis in the city;
(3) Single-family rental dwellings are more often located in close proximity to other single-family residential structures and they therefore have a greater effect on the general health, safety, and welfare of the city's residents; and,
(4) Therefore, regulating single-family rental dwellings is the most effective way to reduce neighborhood and city blight with the resources available to the city. So in order to address this unique situation and help to protect residents of neighborhoods surrounding single-family rental dwellings, the city finds that a single-family rental dwelling inspection program is warranted and necessary.