Memphis Plans Random Inspections of Rental Homes

A scathing report about the state of rental homes in Memphis, Tenn., has the city sending out teams of inspectors.

The Commercial Appeal reports officials said inspectors will fan out across neighborhoods and will enter rental properties to look for code violations.

Onzie Horne, who is deputy director of public works and head of the city’s neighborhood improvement department, says the random inspections won’t be announced, but will take place during normal business hours.

He said code enforcement officers typically only respond to complaints or obvious external problems such as high weeds.

A story in the newspaper last week prompted the action. The story reported on a study by the National Center for Healthy Housing in which Memphis ranked last for housing conditions among 45 large metro areas.