Pontiac, MI Rental Inspections: Inspection Programs (2026)

Pontiac's Division 7 inspection program covers every one- and two-family dwelling registered as a rental under Section 22-801. Section 22-803(a) sets the baseline: the Department of Building Safety must inspect these dwellings on a periodic basis, and the gap between inspections cannot exceed three years, except that owners who qualify for the family-occupant fee waiver in Section 22-802(b) get a five-year cycle instead. That periodic schedule sits alongside a separate trigger: inspections are also required before any change in occupancy once a unit has been occupied.

Section 22-806 ties the inspection results to the right to occupy at all. Subsection (c) makes it explicit that dwellings regulated by this division cannot be occupied unless the Department has issued a certificate of compliance, and that certificate can only follow a prior inspection except in the temporary-certificate cases the section allows. If an inspection turns up a condition that would endanger the occupants' health or safety, the Department withholds the certificate and orders the owner to comply instead. Violations of the inspection program are enforced under Section 22-807(f) as a municipal civil infraction, with a fine of not less than $100.00 nor more than $500.00 plus costs, damages, expenses and other sanctions.

The Code escalates fines for owners who violate the same requirement more than once: a first repeat offense carries a fine of at least $300.00, and a second or later repeat offense carries a flat $500.00 fine, both plus costs. Each day a violation continues counts as a separate offense, and the City may also pursue an injunction in district court against a noncompliant owner.