Southfield — Ch. 103 Registration Requirements for Rental or Leased Dwellings § 8.509
Inspection procedures
Operative Text
The owner shall schedule with the department the date and time of the inspection; and the department shall notify the owner of the fees that must be paid before the inspection. The owner shall be responsible for notifying each tenant or occupant of the rental dwelling of the date and time of the inspection. The owner or agent is required to provide the code official with access to the rental dwelling and accompany the code official during the performance of all inspections and in the event that the tenant or occupant is not present, the owner or agent must provide access to the inspector by unlocking the door of the tenant or occupant's dwelling unit, verifying that no occupant is present and securing the dwelling unit after the inspection is completed.
Under Southfield Ch. 103 § 8.509, rental property inspections are a coordinated process involving the city department, the property owner, and tenants. The owner must schedule the inspection with the department, pay any required fees beforehand, and inform each tenant or occupant of when the inspection will occur. During the inspection, the owner or their agent must accompany the code official throughout, and if a tenant is not home, the owner or agent must unlock the unit, confirm no occupant is present, and secure the unit once the inspection is finished.
Plain English — not legal advice.
Under § 8.509, compliant operators coordinate directly with the department to set an inspection date and time, and they ensure all required fees are paid before the inspection takes place. They also take responsibility for notifying every tenant or occupant in the building of the scheduled date and time. On inspection day, the owner or a designated agent accompanies the code official for the entire inspection; if a tenant is absent, the owner or agent unlocks the unit, verifies it is unoccupied, and re-secures it after the code official has finished.
General guidance for property managers — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult an attorney for advice on your case.
Section 8.509 of Southfield Ch. 103 entitles tenants and occupants to advance notice from the property owner about the date and time of any scheduled inspection. If a tenant is not home during the inspection, the provision requires the owner or agent — not the code official alone — to unlock the unit, confirm no one is present, and lock it again afterward, providing a procedural safeguard around entry. Tenants who believe these notice or access requirements were not followed may consider contacting the Southfield building or code enforcement department or reaching out to a local tenant-rights organization to understand available options.
General guidance for tenants — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult a tenant-rights organization or attorney for advice on your case.
Generated October 13, 2026 — auto-generated, not yet human-reviewed. See /transparency for methodology.
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