COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Officials say most of the Council Bluffs rental units inspected during the first week of a new city program had violations. Steve Carmichael is the city’s chief building official, and he told The Daily Nonpareil that he was surprised by the inspections results, because landlords had months to prepare.

Carmichael says that of the 82 single-family units inspected, 92 percent had violations. Most of them were electrical violations. The policy of city employees inspecting rental units began Aug. 3, replacing the longtime self-inspection program. Mayor Matt Walsh says he thinks the landlords “are working with the city, and we appreciate that very much.”