Have you come across rental license fees often?

[Alex Tobias]

Where you pay the city to inspect units so you have the privilege of fixing them :p

[Al D.]

I’ve had the privilege of paying the Hayward fees for 8 years now.

The last inspection was done in 2013: one rental was found to have small problems. The inspector did not show up - and did not respond - to two follow up appointments he set. They still charged me an ~$300 fine, and gave me the privilege of having to take additional time off from work. If I wanted to appeal, I had to pay even more first.

Another inspector found small problems in my other rental the same day. That inspector told me she’d come back the next day. I fixed everything by then, as agreed. She showed up on time, and I was not charged.

They gave me the option to self-certify for all my units a couple of years back. I did not do that. So far, it has not mattered.

The annual fee more than doubled 2-3 years ago.

I thought that after the Oakland warehouse fire they would do another round of inspections... I also thought that Santa Clause was real. At least the money I’ve been paying them is.

Another thing about Hayward is that, if you own five+ rental units (unless they are SFRs) in the city, you fall under rent control.