The Austin Code Department is a department of the City of Austin which enforces city codes and ordinances to keep the buildings in Austin safe and livable. Our mission is to build a safer and greater Austin together through code education, collaboration, and enforcement. For more information on the Austin Code Department please click here.

The Austin Code Department responds to complaints from the Austin 311 system to inspect properties for potential code violations. If during an inspection a code inspector finds a code violation it is documented, a case is opened on the property, and the property owner is sent a notice of violation. This notice tells the owner what is wrong and gives them a time frame in which they can fix the problem and close their case. If the violation is not fixed in the time allotted the violation becomes a citation and the Department can use one of a few different legal tools to incentivize compliance. For more information on code enforcement please click here.

In general, code violations are dangerous and substandard conditions. Violations range from:

• Structural integrity issues,
  • For example, collapsed staircases 
• Health or safety problems,
  • For example, rat infestations
• Unsanitary conditions,
  • For example, tall grass or weeds.

For more information on common code violations please click here and for public information on Muncipal codes please click here.

In 2020 the Office of the City Auditor released an audit on the Repeat Offender Program, to read the complete audit, please click here. This audit found that the program, as it is currently operated, is not effective at meeting its goal of ensuring Austin renters live in properties that meet minimum health and safety standards. The audit recommended the Austin Code Department consider changing the following aspects of the program:

• Requirements for registration
• Program fees
• Program name

As part of the Austin Code Department preparing our response to the audit the Department is seeking public input. In addition to this public survey the Department is also meeting internally and externally with stakeholder groups to consider all possible viewpoints. The Austin Code Department is preparing to bring recommendations for program changes to present to City Council in October 2022.

A rental registry is a tool cities can use to organize their rental properties for regulatory purposes. Not every city in the country has a rental registry but many do. Rental registries look different city by city and there is not one standard model. Dallas, for example, has a full rental registry which requires every rental property to register with the city. In contrast, Houston has a partial registry, requiring every rental property with 4 or more units to register with the city.

The Repeat Offender Program is Austin’s current rental registry.

A primary goal of the Austin Code Department is to ensure Austin renters live in properties that meet minimum health and safety standards. In addition to the Department's standard code enforcement procedures, as described above, in 2013 Austin City Council passed an ordinance creating the Repeat Offender Program, to read the Repeat Offender Program ordinance please click here.

The current program is a partial rental registration, only for rental properties with a repeated history of any type of code violation, even if addressed. In this program all types of properties can register; single family homes, additional dwelling units, duplexes, townhomes, and multi-family complexes.

This program seeks to ensure minimum standards by registering rental properties with a history of code violations and through fees and proactive inspection to incentivize them to improve their properties. For more information on the Repeat Offender Program please click here.

In considering ways to improve the Repeat Offender Program one basic question is if the city can be best served by a registry similar to the Repeat Offender Program, potentially with some changes, or if an entirely new system is needed. The audit of the Repeat Offender Program from 2020 specifically asked the Austin Code Department to consider changing the registration requirements of the program.

The current criteria to trigger entry into the Repeat Offender Program is the 2-5-2 criteria.

If a property meets any of these situations:

2 or more separate notices of violations not corrected in allotted time.

5 or more separate notices of violations, regardless of if they were corrected in allotted time.

2 or more citations.

This system considers the repeat history of any type of code violation, even if addressed.

Alternative systems might consider:

• Only health and safety violations, as opposed to the current system which considers ALL code violations.
• Only unaddressed violations, as opposed to the current system which considers addressed violations if there are 5 or more in a year.
• Unsafe or unhealthy conditions, not to the standard of a formal violation or citation but just the existence of the condition.
• Building's age, regardless of condition.

The current fee structure mandates properties in the Repeat Offender Program pay a flat fee, $430 each year in the program.

The current structure mandates this yearly fee regardless of number of units at the property or if the property is set to be in the program for 2 years or 5 years.

In the current system properties new to the program enter for 2 years. If at the conclusion of those 2 years the property has not met the 2-5-2 criteria they exit the program.

If after exiting the program the property meets the 2-5-2 criteria again the property re-enters the program for 5 years, once again paying the same flat fee every year in the program.

Alternative fee structures may consider different fees based on:

• Number of units, properties with more units for rent pay more than properties with fewer units.
• Time in the program, properties that have re-entered the program pay more each year than properties new to the program.