The city of Detroit is ramping up efforts to push landlords into compliance by issuing tickets and helping renters create escrow accounts.

More than 1,000 tickets up to $750 each have been issued since Aug. 1 in the 48215 ZIP code — the city's first target area for a sweeping crackdown on rental properties, said David Bell, director of the Buildings, Safety, Engineering and Environmental Department. Tickets are issued every 30 days until landlords achieve compliance.

There are about 500 landlords in the area. Some received two tickets — for noncompliance and improper lead abatement. In addition, the city is setting up escrow accounts to which renters can pay their rent if landlords are not in compliance.

"The culture in the city of Detroit unfortunately has gotten to a point that even though we have quite a few good landlords, we've got some other landlords that are not so good," Bell said.

Detroit's crackdown began in January when the BSEED split up the city into "compliance zones" and promised to enforce regulations that had long been ignored by the rental community. It said then that landlords in the first ZIP code had until May 1 to register their rental properties with the city.

Bell said just 52 of the 500 landlords in that area are compliant but many are working toward it. Only 17 were compliant last year.

"I definitely see that it is working," he said. "It's not working as fast as I'd like it to."

Of the more than 60,000 rental properties in the city, only around 800 are compliant, Bell said. That means the overwhelming majority are failing to "provide proper conditions for renters." Around 10,000 are registered as rental properties.

Landlords can register their properties on the city's website, which also details the process of becoming compliant.

Bell said his department operates a database in coordination with the city's Office of the Assessor to find and track rental properties that are not registered with the city. For example, they look for irregularities like single-family houses titled to LLCs that are not registered.

Bell said the city contracts with a legal firm to collect fines from noncompliant landlords.

Escrow accounts managed by PNC Bank have been enabled at 45 digital kiosks across the city, where residents also can pay taxes and bills for water, sewage and energy. A map of kiosks can be found online.

Also, through an online database set up by the city, renters can see if their landlords are in compliance.

Only residents living in the 48215 ZIP code are eligible for escrow accounts, until the city expands its crackdown to the next compliance zone, 48224. Landlords in this ZIP code have until Sept. 1 to achieve compliance before fines are issued.

To guide residents through the process of setting up an account, the city is hosting an "Escrow Fair" 10 a.m.-noon Saturday at the Salvation Army at 3000 Conner Road. Tenants should bring copies of rental agreements, utility bills and photo IDs, as well as names and addresses of landlords.

"From the onset, we needed some teeth in this ordinance to encourage our landlords to do the right thing," Detroit City Councilman Andre Spivey said in a written statement. "We believe we have given them ample time to get their properties in order. And now we're looking for our renters to be able to have a decent place to live and a quality of life."

Landlords can recover rents paid to escrow accounts if they receive a certificate of compliance within 90 days of the account being created, according to a city news release. They will receive the money, minus a $20 administrative fee from PNC, five-seven days after becoming compliant. If they miss the deadline, tenants are repaid their rent, minus the $20 bank fee.

"I think this will entice landlords to move quickly to update their properties, and it will give renters some hope that, for people living in less than desirable conditions, they will see some changes where they live," Spivey said.