Even though Rob Ryan and his roommates prepared for their annual housing inspection at the New Community cooperative house, he still was surprised his house passed the test.
"They're always nit-picking," the advertising senior said of the city's housing inspectors. "We spent a good two weeks picking up to make sure it was up to code."
Ryan, like other students living in off-campus rental homes, face inspections on an annual basis. With the possibility of code violations looming over their heads, several students say they dread the day when East Lansing's inspectors come knocking at their door.
"You don't want to get a fine," said history senior Pres Benbow, who lives in the 425 Ann Street cooperative with Ryan. "The only concern students have is fiscal. If they're going to pay for something, then they'll care."
Housing inspector Greg Savoie said inspections are thorough for the safety of renters. East Lansing's code enforcement hasn't always been thorough in the past, he added.
"Students have higher expectations now," said Savoie, an MSU alumnus who attended the university during the 1970s. "Students wouldn't have liked it (back then) — landlords weren't taking rental money and putting it back in to the property; houses weren't up to code.
"Some of the kids think we're too strict, but it's really a lot safer than it was before," he said.
About 60 percent of homes pass their first inspection, with the remainder usually facing a reinspection, said Annette Irwin, East Lansing's operations administrator for code enforcement and neighborhood conservation.
When canvassing a home, Savoie said some of his top priorities are checking the mechanical and electrical systems, and the quality of the bathrooms, walls and doors.
"They don't think a fire will happen, and when it does it can be fatal so fast," he said.
Savoie said he looks for working smoke detectors, overloaded electrical outlets and objects near furnaces.
"Students today — they're using more technology than these houses are equipped for," he said.
One local landlord said his company prepares its properties for inspection by sending out notices to its tenants and performing preinspections.
"Our objective is to pass the inspection, so we don't have to do any reinspection," said Joe Goodsir, president of Community Resource Management Co. "We're in there a week prior, and we try to address any code violations."
But anthropology senior Felicia Grant said she didn't prepare much for her annual housing inspection.
"To live in a house, you should already know that you're going to be subject to a house inspection," Grant said.
