A topic that will receive attention in the coming months is whether the City should impose additional requirements on landlords for multi-tenant housing as well as on homeowners and investors offering single family homes for rent. At their February 17 meeting, City Council received a staff report on various regulations that could be made into law.
The report outlined various programs. These included expanding (and mandating) the current Crime Free Leasing program; requiring landlords (and rental properties) registration, and options for various inspection programs. Addressing these different aspects and problems often associated with rentals has varying costs for implementation and ongoing operation.
Among issues that could be addressed are reducing incidences of crime through mandatory credit and criminal background checks. Increased property inspections could reduce blight. Other inspection and code enforcement activities, including parking, occupancy, and more, could address other quality of life issues. These potentially far-reaching programs led to at least one council member asking what the end game was and what problems were being addressed.
Interestingly, while there was consensus to proceed with the discussion, there did not seem to be complete agreement on the scope, frequency or impacts of the perceived issues.
To further the discussion, the Homeowners Confederation will devote its March 21 meeting to Rental Regulation. We have invited an attorney to discuss options homeowners associations can implement in advance of or above and beyond municipal regulation. From the city we will have representatives of the Police Department discussing the Crime Free Lease Program and Transportation, Engineering and Development talking about various maintenance and building codes and enforcement.
We hope that our Sat., March 21 meeting (8AM for coffee and networking, meeting at 8:30AM) in Municipal Center Meeting Rooms B&C will be a good start to understanding a potentially far reaching topic.
