The rule that sets the deadline
St. Louis Hoarding Cleanup: Guide to Occupancy Inspections in St. Louis
Why most sales and rentals around St. Louis need a city inspection first, and what a full house does to it.
- St. Louis and eleven towns within 28 miles
- Written price before work starts
- Licensed, insured local contractors
- Occupancy inspection rules covered
St. Louis Hoarding Cleanup wrote this guide because in the St. Louis area a hoarded house usually becomes urgent for one reason: an occupancy inspection. Most cities here inspect a house before it is sold, rented or lived in by someone new, and an inspector cannot pass a house they cannot walk through.
Why St. Louis is different
In most of the country a house can be sold without the city setting foot in it. Around St. Louis the opposite is normal. St. Louis County requires a minimum health and safety inspection at every change of occupant in unincorporated areas and in the cities that contract with the county, and dozens of the county's ninety municipalities run their own programs on top. The City of St. Louis has its own rule.
The inspections are not home inspections in the buyer's sense. They check a house against the International Property Maintenance Code: working smoke detectors, safe electrical service, heating, plumbing, exits and windows that work, and no accumulation of rubbish. That last item, and the need to reach everything else, is what a hoarded house fails.
The City of St. Louis
The city requires a Certificate of Inspection before a vacant residential unit is occupied, before a sale if no certificate has been issued in the previous twelve months, and before a rental unit is occupied. Rental units are reinspected every three years or at a change of occupant, while owner-occupied houses are exempt from that cycle.
The application is $120. When the dwelling is already occupied without a current certificate it is $200, and each additional unit at the same address is $65. Water and electric must be working for the inspection, and violations must be corrected within 30 days.
Not sure how big the job is? Describe the rooms and what is in them, and get a straight answer on what it usually takes.
Call (636) 216-6490Town by town in the county and beyond
Florissant
$75 for a vacant single-family house and $150 for an occupied one, two inspections included, $50 for each extra. A house can be sold as-is, but the buyer must then get the permit before moving in.
University City
$80 a unit for a sale inspection, $60 for a rental, plus a $25 permit and a $25 application fee, and $35 when the inspector cannot get in.
Webster Groves
Unlawful to sell, transfer or lease until the city inspects and issues a Certificate of Compliance, valid for three months. The inspection is $75.
Kirkwood
Sellers of residential property need an occupancy permit and inspection before the sale.
Hazelwood
Every unit that changes occupancy is inspected inside and out. Outlets and the electrical panel must be reachable and utilities on, or the inspection fails. A pass is valid for 90 days.
Maryland Heights and Ballwin
Maryland Heights inspects at any change of ownership or tenancy for $75, up to two reinspections included. Ballwin inspects every house before a new resident moves in and requires cited violations corrected first.
Arnold, St. Charles and Chesterfield
Arnold makes it unlawful to sell, transfer, mortgage or lease without a Certificate of Compliance. St. Charles inspects rentals but not sales. Chesterfield, by a regional directory, has no point-of-sale inspection for houses.
What a hoarded house fails on
- The electrical panel, furnace or water heater cannot be reached
- Smoke detectors are missing, buried or cannot be tested
- Exits are blocked, or bedroom windows cannot open for escape
- Plumbing fixtures cannot be reached or run
- Accumulated rubbish inside or outside the house
Most of these are not repairs at all. They are access. Clear the house and many of the "violations" are simply items the inspector can now see work.
Planning backward from the inspection date
The inspection date is the anchor. Work backward from it: repairs need a week or two after the cleanout, and the cleanout of a whole house needs two to five days plus scheduling. A seller who calls three or four weeks ahead has room for all of it. The page on cleanouts before a sale sets out the order, and the hoarder house cleanout page covers the work itself.
Selling as-is instead
Some cities let a house be sold as-is, with the buyer taking on the inspection and the repairs. That narrows the buyers to investors and cash purchasers, who price the cleanout into their offer with room to spare. For a family selling a parent's house, clearing it first usually returns more than it costs, but it is a decision, not a rule, and an agent who knows the town is the right person to weigh it.
Not sure how big the job is? Describe the rooms and what is in them, and get a straight answer on what it usually takes.
Call (636) 216-6490Rentals have their own cycle
Landlords meet these inspections more often than sellers. In the City of St. Louis rental units are reinspected every three years or at a change of occupant. Hazelwood, University City and Maryland Heights inspect at every change of tenant, and St. Charles will not let a rental be occupied without its health and safety certificate, which specifically looks for accumulated trash, debris, chemicals or fabric. A tenant who leaves a unit full turns the next inspection into a cleanout deadline. The rental property cleanout page covers Missouri's notice rules for abandoned units.
Utilities and access on the day
Two practical points trip up more inspections than the clutter itself. The City of St. Louis and Hazelwood both require water and electric to be on, and a house that has been empty for months often has them shut off. And the inspector needs to get in: keys, a lockbox code or someone on site. Arrange both before the date, not on it.
Questions people ask
Do I need an occupancy inspection to sell a house in St. Louis?
In the City of St. Louis, yes, if no certificate was issued in the past twelve months. Most St. Louis County cities also inspect at sale.
How much does the City of St. Louis occupancy inspection cost?
$120 for the application, or $200 when the dwelling is occupied without a current certificate.
Can a hoarded house pass an occupancy inspection?
Rarely. Inspectors need to reach the panel, furnace, water heater, smoke detectors and exits.
Which nearby cities do not inspect at sale?
St. Charles inspects rentals but not sales, and Chesterfield has no point-of-sale house inspection by a regional directory. Confirm with the city.
How far ahead should a cleanout be booked?
Three or four weeks before the inspection leaves room for the cleanout, repairs and a reinspection.
Talk it through before anyone carries anything out
Say how many rooms are affected, whether there is a deadline, and whether anything in the house needs to be kept. You will hear what the job usually involves, what it tends to cost, and how long it tends to take.
Call (636) 216-6490