Rental Registration & Safety Inspection Program Fees

The program fee schedule contains a full list of charges that are associated with the Rental Registration and Safety Inspection program, including late payment matrix, charges for missed appointments, safety re-inspections, and more. Below is an overview of the basic program charges and options for payment.

Registration Fee (annual): 

  • $10.00/unit (for properties with 1-20 units on a single parcel)
  • $8.00/unit (for properties with 21+ units on a single parcel)

The annual fee is due by December 31st of each calendar year to avoid late fees and other penalties. For example: If a new Rental Registration is submitted in March 2022, that license is valid until December 31, 2022 – and must be renewed by 12/31/2022 to be valid for 2023.

Safety Inspection Fee (required only during assigned inspection quarter): 

Property owners have the option to use a City of Bellingham inspector or a Qualified Private inspector. Please visit the Safety Inspection webpage for additional information.

  • City of Bellingham inspection: $100.00/unit
  • Qualified Private inspection: $45.00/unit program fee (separate from fees paid directly to the private inspector)

Payments are accepted in-person or via mail at the City of Bellingham Finance Department located at CIty Hall, 210 Lottie Street Bellingham, WA 98225.

When paying by check, please make check payable to the City of Bellingham Finance Director and be sure to indicate your license numbers on the memo line or include the remittance slip from your invoice to ensure it posts to the correct account.

All users must have (or create) a login to use the system. This “how to” guide provides a printable version of the step-by-step instructions on using the eTRAKiT web portal listed below.

  1. Go to permits.cob.org/etrakit
    • Log in as a public user (if you don’t have an account – see Creating an account below) with your username and password.
  2. WELCOME to your Dashboard!
    • If your current license number is not listed on your dashboard follow the steps outlined (below) under Adding / Removing License from your Dashboard.
  3. There are two ways to pay the fees:
    • Click on the PAY FEES link under the License heading in the menu along the left of the screen. This should add all of the fees listed on your dashboard into the cart; or
    • Click the dollar amount (separately) from the FEES DUE column that you would like added to your shopping cart (If you have multiple renewals, you can click “Back to Dashboard” to select the additional dollar amounts from the other licenses)
  4. Review the list to ensure there are no fees listed that you are not prepared to pay for at this time.
  5. Click “Proceed to Checkout” and follow the steps

* Visit page 4 of the printable “how to” guide for illustrations.

  1. Go to permits.cob.org/etrakit
  2. Click “Setup an Account” and follow the instructions
  3. Click on Create Account

*Visit page 1 of the printable “how to” guide for illustrations.

  1. Go to permits.cob.org/etrakit
  2. Log in as “public user” with a previously created username and password.
  3. If your current license number is not listed on your dashboard:
    • Click on “Link to Permits, Projects, and Licenses” (directly under the welcome message)
    • Use the drop-down arrow to Change from “Permits” to “License”
    • Enter full license number (i.e. RR2021-00001)
    • Click “LINK” – this will take you back to your dashboard and the license should now be listed
  4. To remove a license that was added in error, no longer under your ownership, or is a license that is no longer active
    • Click on the red “x” next to the license you would like to remove.

Visit page 3 of the printable “how to” guide for illustrations.

Contacts

​Planning and Community Development Department
Rental Registration Specialist
(360) 778-8361 or rentals@cob.org

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