Although the city of Ames inspects properties every three years, property landlords monitor the quality and upkeep of their properties on a more frequent basis.

Cory Paysen, manager for Hendrickson Rentals, 528 Welch Ave., said their properties are checked on a quarterly basis for things like furnace filters and water faucet problems.

Water is a particular concern, Paysen said, because it is included in the rent and can cost the company from $75 to $100 per month in one apartment with leaky faucets. If faucets are a problem in an apartment building with 20 units, water bills can reach exorbitant levels very quickly.

“All of the buildings we manage have a weekly check,” he said. “[We] go through the hallways, check lights, doors working properly.”

Russ McCullough, chief economist for Ev Cochrane and Associates, 207 Stanton Ave., said their properties are also usually checked twice a year, during breaks and when the tenant moves out.

“In between semester breaks [we] go through the apartments to check furnaces and everything,” he said. “We have a staff that is trying to keep an eye on what the condition of certain projects are and what long-term projects accordingly.”

Both Paysen and McCullough said their companies do not do any special preparations for the city inspector’s checks.

Besides checking the smoke alarms and fire extinguishers each time they inspect an apartment, Paysen and McCullough said they expect tenants to take care of most details, like batteries in the smoke detectors and replacing light bulbs.

Mary Buchman, a Gilbert resident who owns eight properties in the campus vicinity, doesn’t trust her residents to keep things up to city code themselves. When the city inspector visits one of her properties, she goes with him to check on the condition.

“I like to hear first-hand what he says,” she said. “And I carry an extra supply of nine-volt batteries with me because everybody takes them out of the smoke detectors and I just replace them on the spot. It saves him time and provides safety to the renters.”

Overall, the city inspectors and landlords have a good system in place to ensure renters’ safety, McCullough said.

“I don’t know if we’ve ever had a violation that involved a fine,” he said. “It’s more just something that you get done. If they say a fire extinguisher’s missing, then you get that replaced.

“I think people usually have a misunderstanding with the city’s role as far as safety measure and we’re always doing our best to keep up to the city’s requirements.”