All rental units, (apartments-residential dwellings-commercial properties), including “land contract” agreements are required to register with the City of Bedford prior to occupancy.  You must schedule an inspection prior to each NEW tenant(s). Please call the Building Department to schedule a rental inspection to be performed by the City of Bedford. Tenants need to be issued a Certificate of Occupancy prior to inhabitation.  The fee for this Inspection is $25.00.

1. Under the code, you are required to call for a rental inspection whenever the tenant changes in your rental unit, or every five years, which ever is more frequent. A rental inspection insures to the City that the unit is clean and safe, that both the interior and exterior areas are being well-maintained, and that the tenant is not of a nature that they are inflicting damage that impacts their overall safety or that of other tenants or close neighbors. This inspection should be done while the suite is still empty, or in the case of a five-year period, you must make the necessary arrangements with the tenant to open their suite to the inspector on a pre-arranged date.

2. The code requires you, as the owner, to make the proper application each and every December for a new Certificate of Occupancy for each rental unit on a site. The application must be made on the City’s own application form, and it must contain the name and social security number of every adult person whose name is on the lease or rental agreement.

A yearly fee of $50 per single or two-family dwelling unit is due at that time, or the amount of $20 per suite in a structure with three or more apartments. (Clarification: The fee for a single-family rental unit is $50.00 per calendar year. The fee for a two-family rental unit is also $50.00 for the entire building – not each suite - each calendar year. The fee for a three-family rental unit at the cost of $20 per suite is $60.00 per year)