Bethlehem, PA Rental Inspections: Inspection Programs (2026)

Article 1738, Residential Rental Units, established by Ordinance 2020-08 effective May 12, 2020, requires the owner of every residential rental unit to obtain a License before furnishing or allowing occupancy, renewed annually. 04(A) sets license fees on a per-property scale: $75 per unit for 1-3 units, a $250 flat fee for 4-9 units, $350 for 10-19 units, $450 for 20-49 units, and $600 for 50 or more units. No license issues while fines, costs, or inspection fees are outstanding, or while an unresolved code violation is pending.

04(B) subjects every residential rental unit to inspection by the Code Official every three years, at the Code Official's discretion extending to the premises generally, and requires the unit to pass that inspection, evidenced by a certificate of occupancy, before it may be occupied. Inspection fees under this Article are separate from the Article 1731 fee schedule: an initial inspection runs $100 per unit for 1-3 units up to $9,000 flat for 150 or more units, and reinspections to verify correction of violations are free the first time, then $75, $100 and $125 for each subsequent reinspection.

Following an inspection that finds a violation, the Code Official issues a Formal Warning incorporating the inspection report, which becomes moot once every cited violation is corrected. 04(C) lets the Code Official apply for a search warrant to enter and inspect a premises on a showing of probable cause that this Article or another City ordinance has been violated. Owners must designate a local Manager within a twenty-mile radius if they do not live within that radius themselves, disclose that Manager to tenants in writing before tenancy begins, and furnish tenants the most recent inspection report within ten days of receiving it from the City.