Rock Hill ordinance requires landlords to register rentals with city

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Landlords in Rock Hill have until the end of the year to register their rental properties with the city.

Leaders in Rock Hill said they will start inspecting rental properties starting at the beginning of 2023. The goal of the ordinance is to ensure rentals are maintained.

“This ordinance encourages landlords and tenants to maintain habitable housing and establishes clear lines of communication between the city and property owners and managers,” Rock Hill leaders said.

Property owners who don’t comply can be fined up to $250 a month per unit, but city leaders hope it doesn’t come to that.

Landlord Tom Hutto said he is frustrated about the new ordinance.

“The ordinance that it enforces, the international property maintenance code, is already on the books and it’s very powerful,” Hutto said. “It gives the renter a lot of rights and is designed to keep properties up.”

He said leaders didn’t seek to collaborate with renters before implementing the policy.

“They didn’t really pull in managers to help pull in a solution for their goal, which was promoting health and safety,” Hutto said.

Rock Hill leaders said Hutto’s concerns were talked about during the city council retreat and in the council meetings in May and June.

Jeffery Groves said that he knows what it’s like to live in a rental property that has been neglected by the owner.

“Personally, I feel like it’s a great idea,” he said.

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Groves said he rented a place that was unsafe to live in.

“I got to the point where the entire kitchen ceiling fell out,” Groves told Channel 9.

City officials also said without the new ordinance, there’s no mechanism for inspectors to see the inside of a unit to determine if it meets the requirements of the International Property Maintenance Code.

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