Oshkosh Rooming Houses

During our March meeting, a concern was raised concerning the quality of the housing inventory of local rooming houses. It was agreed that more information should be secured on where these houses are located in the community, who regulates/inspects them, and what municipal codes that they are required to follow.

Justin Mitchell obtained the following information from Andrew Prickette, City of Oshkosh Building Maintenance Inspector.

Essentially, there are 15 licensed rooming houses in the City. Click here to access the current rooming house list http://tinyurl.com/oshkoshroominghouses. On this list you will notice that several rows are shaded, this is to indicate that these particular rooming houses are used primarily for UWO student housing.

Prickette reports that "rooming house licenses are good for one year and annual inspections are required to be made by the Fire Department and Inspection Services. " Inspections are made to determine compliance with sections of the Minimum Housing Code (where there are also requirements for rooming houses). You can access information on these requirements by visiting http://www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us/Municipal_Codes/Chapter_16.pdf Sections 16-39 and 16-46 have rooming house requirements.

Concerns with the conditions of any rooming house can be reported to Prickette. Although generally, he advises for minor issues to first be communicated directly to the landlord. He suggests communication to the landlord should be in writing and the concern described in detail. Additionally he suggests requesting a written response from the landlord including what action will be taken to resolve the issue as well as their timetable for doing so.

Prickette reports that he will respond to complaints made. Typically he is able "to get over to look at a property by the day following the complaint." If it is a "life-safety concern (electrical problem, gas leak, no heat, etc.) it is considered a priority and the property is inspected a.s.a.p." Prickette is required, by policy, to notify the landlord of the inspection request and offer for them to accompany the inspector. According to Prickette "this policy tends to help resolve any problems quickly as the owner can see exactly what may be a problem."