Bloomington Time of Sale Evaluations Changes Pass on 4-3 Vote

REALTORS® are Cautiously Optimistic There Will be no Inspection Delays
The Bloomington, MN City Council met on Monday, February 7, 2022 and moved two previously tabled items back onto the agenda. Item 7.2 amended the current Time of Sale Inspection Evaluation ordinance. The amendment will move the Time of Sale Inspection program “In-House” and utilize (3.5) full-time equivalent city inspectors, including (1) inspector who will be available on weekends. Additionally, due to ‘cross-training,’ the city of has up to (8) total inspectors who are certified to perform Time of Sale Inspections. At the city’s sole discretion and option, should inspections ever be scheduled out more than (48) hours, the city plans to utilize up to (15) Independent Evaluators that it plans to pre-choose from a pre-determined list established every three years via a Request for Proposal (RFP) process.

“Bloomington need not be in the home inspection business, most cities are not, the long-term trend is fewer cities requiring Time of Sale Ordinances at all. That said, REALTORS® are cautiously optimistic that there will be no inspection delays,” said Eric Myers, Director of Government Affairs, Minneapolis Area REALTORS®.

The second Item 7.3 amended the current Time of Sale Evaluation ordinance and increased the fee from $190 to $250. The fee increase covers the additional inspection items added with the new Energy Tish, which passed previously, and the city noted the previous fee had not increased in (5) years. A previously proposed $100 surcharge to conduct inspections on weekends, was dropped. All changes are effective April 1, 2022.