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A recent proposal put forward to staff and maintain a landlord licensing program
offers no improvement or benefit to tenants
and neighborhoods other than the requirement of maintaining a local contact
database for all rental properties. Landlord licensing is just another layer of bureaucracy that we don't need.
At an expense of close to $1 million
a year I don't see the necessary cost/benefit ratio for such a program.
For much less money we can protect the rights of tenants and neighborhoods
simply by enforcing the laws and codes we already have. To do this I propose
the following:
We dedicate one
full-time employee in the Neighborhood Preservation department that will be
responsible for tracking down suspected rental properties and maintaining a
database of said properties along with their registered agents.
Information to populate a landlord database can be obtained in many ways. We
should develop a partnership with any organizations that can provide
information on rental property. Insurance companies should be required to have valid
local landlord contact information before issuing a renter's insurance policy. If possible,
the addresses where renter's insurance has been issued should be shared with the rental
property administrator. Charitable organizations such as the United Way and the Don Bosco
center that offer rent assistance should also be approached to share information.
We need to dedicate two police officers to a set number of days tracking down offenders
who have outstanding warrants from housing court. The amount of time spent on property
offenses will be
determined by case load and availability of personnel. These officers will be responsible
for tracking down leads and arresting offenders. Perhaps this program could be used to
allow officers looking for a promotion the opportunity to prove their detective skills.
A webpage will be established that has a fully searchable index
allowing anyone to search for information on a rental property by address, or
registered agent name. This webpage will also have a "most wanted" list of outstanding
housing court warrants, as well as an anonymous form for people to submit tips on
unregistered rental properties as well as the whereabouts of registered agents with
outstanding warrants. The purpose of this site will help the rental property administrator
to keep an updated list of landlords and properties as well as help the police in their
search for offenders.
Finally a graduating series of penalties needs to be established and enforced by the
housing court. Unpaid fines should be attached to the property tax bill with interest and
penalties. Repeated offenses should be fined with greater amounts. This will take some
legislative changes at the county and perhaps state levels, but programs like this have
shown great promise in states like Illinois and Florida.
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