The New Haven skyline. (Courtesy Photo / Public Domain / Charles Barneby)

The city department that licenses residential landlords in New Haven is promising to increase their rental property inspections and to change how they hold violators accountable in the wake of a fatal fire in an unlicensed rental property.

The city’s Livable Communities Initiative will both be able to charge landlords criminally for repeated code violations and to reward landlords with a different tier of license if they have few code violations, The New Haven Independent reported.

The city has over 25,000 rental properties, the site reports, and only four inspectors to monitor them.