There’s a law in Canton requiring rental dwellings to be registered with the city, but many landlords apparently don’t know about it. That’s about to change. Starting in January, the city will begin enforcing the Rental Property Registry of the Unified Development Code.
The topic of discussion at a recent City Council meeting, the code requires rentals to meet certain standards for size, ceiling heights and maximum occupancy. Properties must be registered and available for inspection by a code enforcement officer.
A Canton spokesman said that between now and Jan. 1, the city will put out word of the rental registry rule. Canton also will put together a registry of rentals using existing databases, such as water bills and property ownership records.
Code violators are subject to a fine of $100 for a first offense, $500 for a second, $750 for a third, and a fine or imprisonment as determined by a court for subsequent offenses.
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