Apartment buildings in Richmond would have to undergo a city inspection at least once every four years and more often in the case of violations under a proposal that 5th District Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch plans to introduce in January.

The proposal will call for the Richmond inspectors to check that rental dwellings are properly maintained and comply with health and safety codes, Ms. Lynch stated in confirming that she plans to introduce the ordinance next month and to put it on the council docket.

“Everyone deserves a safe and healthy place to live,” Ms. Lynch, chair of the council’s Education and Human Services

Committee, stated in explaining her motivation for legislation that would be the first a council member has introduced since 2007 when an effort to create a rental inspection program failed.

“Our community has long been impacted by ‘slum landlords,’” Ms. Lynch continued, “and there are far too many people, particularly vulnerable residents like the elderly, low-income families, undocumented individuals and individuals with disabilities who are forced to live in unsafe conditions.”

Ms. Lynch said Richmond residents are entitled to live in a place that complies with the requirements of the state and local building codes that are on the books.

The program, if approved, would be the first attempt to revive a long dormant program of proactive inspection in Richmond. It couldn’t come too soon for Kim Taylor and other residents who are concerned about conditions at the Forestbrooke complex in South Side.

Ms. Taylor, a leader of the community’s chapter of Virginia Organizing, is among the residents who recently staged a demonstration outside the Downtown offices of Amurcon Realty, the company that manages the income-restricted complex.

The protesters presented a list of demands that call on the company to improve building safety, replace faulty appliances, eliminate mold and create a functioning system of communication between tenants and management.

“It can take weeks for maintenance to repair a water leak,” said one tenant. “You have to call over and over again for days on end before there is a response.”

While the complex looks in compliance, Ms. Taylor said there are problems that go unnoticed and unrepaired. That includes front porch lights that she said flicker during rain because water is penetrating into the fixture.

“In the last decade, these apartments have gone from modest apartments to health hazards,” Ms. Taylor said. “I fear every day looking at my ceiling that it will fall on me in my sleep. I have been shocked by my stove and waited months to get a new one.

“There is a hole in my ceiling so big that me and my wife can fit in the hole together side by side,” she continued. “The mold is everywhere. I could go on and on. It is important that the good people who live here have safe housing.”

A tour of two units showed that routine replacement of air filters that are part of the heating system can take two years or more. Standing water after rain also is problem; in the summer, the puddles are breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

A legal representative for Amurcon has notified Virginia Organizing chapter that the company is willing to meet to discuss the concerns that involve “actionable items.”

Whether an inspection program would make a difference is a question mark.

Kevin J. Vonck, director of planning and development review, stated that a visual inspection of Forestbrooke in mid-December “found no exterior violations.”

He also noted that the city has no active code enforcement cases involving the complex and has not received any complaints about conditions at Forestbrooke since 2018.

“If there are any concerns, tenants are free to report them to us – directly or through RVA311,” he stated.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which provides rental subsidies for tenants, also has largely found the complex in compliance with maintenance standards.

The Lynch proposal would revive proactive code enforcement that has been dormant for years.

After testing the idea during former Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ administration, City Hall has reverted to a compliant-driven system in which inspectors are activated only after a resident seeks assistance because an owner has failed to fix a leaky roof, repair or replace a broken heating system or correct other significant problems.

Inspectors can be tough once they have been activated. In recent years, city inspectors have condemned apartment buildings for building code violations and have even gained a court order forcing the sale of complexes that an owner refused to repair.