Landlord Registration

[AllanY2525]

Where I live here in Montgomery County, MD, the law concerning landlords and registration
goes even further - we have what is called a "rental license" here.  As a landlord here,
I am required to pay $125.00 - PER YEAR - to have the county inspect my rental properties to
ensure that they are completely up to the current building code.

If the inspection notes anything that is not up to code, a landlord in Montgomery County
is given THIRTY DAYS to correct the deficiency, or else the county will order the property
vacated immediately afterward - and FINE the landlord.

If you are caught renting a property without a rental license here, the fines can be VERY
high - up to and including jail time.  All of this is done to ensure that there are NO crappy,
run-down rental properties in the county - and the system works very, VERY well for the
most part.

In addition to forming a landlord registry in Youngstown, a tenant registry needs to be formed
as well - this will help to weed out "problem" tenants, ie: people who do not pay their rent on
time, do not take care of the rental properties in which they live, do not get along with their
neighbors, do not abide by the law, etc, etc.  By documenting the behaviours of these
undesirables, it will become more and more difficult for them to procure a lease for a rental
property as time progresses.

Youngstown also needs a "rent court" or a "tenant/landlord relations" court - to protect and
uphold BOTH the rights of tenants AND landlords and to fairly settle disputes between
them.

Neighborhoods are only as good as the people who live in them.  If you want to help make
a bad neighborhood better, you have to start by dealing with unacceptable behaviours and
weeding out those who exhibit such behaviours.

[Towntalk]

What about requiring a mandatory bond for each house that is a rental of say $1000.00. This bond would then go into a special account apart from the General Fund. If and when the owner sells the house, that bond would then be refunded and in the meantime it would be collecting interest for the city and that money could be used ONLY for house demolition, and nothing more.

There are to be sure GOOD landlords who are doing their very best, and this would hurt them, but unfortunately they are in the minority as witnessed by the huge number of sub-standard housing units in the city ON ALL SIDES OF TOWN.

If a landlord fails to pay the bond, or the unit fails mandatory inspection the city should have the right to seize the property and immediately demolish it AT THE OWNERS EXPENCE, and if he fails to pay up, then give him a new residence IN JAIL.

It's time the city took a page from Canfield's book as far as housing codes are concerned.

If the city can not find the "owner" after a year, then automatically place the unit on the demolition list because most likely back taxes are owed on it.

Other cities have a stiff housing law that is enforced, so I see no reason why Youngstown can't have some of the very many lawyer in Mahoning County examine these laws and come up with a VERY STRICT AND HARSH code here.

[jay]

Several years ago councilman John Swierz was pushing for landlord registration.  Other members of council at that time stonewalled the legslation.  As a result, the city has gone several more years without such a valuable program.

Note:
Try looking up the ownership of some of these vacant homes.  The owner's mailing address is often listed as the address of the vacant structure.  The city needs to always know the name, address, and phone number of the current owner.