West Bloomfield, MI Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)

Sec. 8-420 supplies the substantive maintenance floor behind the registration and inspection scheme in Article XVII. Subsection (a) directs the department head to maintain written inspection guidelines "based on this article, applicable codes, and ordinance requirements," and subsection (b) sets the standard itself: rental units "shall be maintained in a manner consistent with the criteria set forth in the most recent edition of the International Property Maintenance Code as adopted and amended from time to time in article VII of chapter 8 of this Code, the zoning ordinance, and other township ordinances." Routine inspections under subsection (c) look only at the exterior, but subsection (d) opens the interior to inspection whenever the unit is unsafe or unfit for occupancy under the Property Maintenance Code, has a maintenance violation letting in rain or moisture, sits in a structure with an unsafe condition under the Fire Prevention Code enforced under Article III of Chapter 11, or shows multiple or recurring violations of the guidelines, zoning ordinance, or any other township regulation.

A unit failing these standards cannot hold a certificate of compliance under Sec. 8-415(a), which requires an inspection confirming no zoning or inspection-guideline violations exist before the certificate issues, and Sec. 8-421 lets that certificate transfer to a new owner only after the new owner supplies the same registration information required by Sec. 8-413.