Monday, Jul. 06, 2009

Belleville may require landlords to register with city

BELLEVILLE -- In their latest effort to curb crime and other problems in residential rental properties, city leaders might require landlords to register with the city in order to rent their spaces.

The City Council will vote on the measure at its 7 p.m. Monday meeting.

Mayor Mark Eckert said the ordinance is intended to help city officials identify repeat-offender landlords, those who create problems for the city by not addressing crime or disrepair. The city would work with them to improve their properties.

Specific stipulations in the proposed ordinance include:

* Separate registration for each rental unit, and property owners must re-register the units each year.

* Owners of properties with 20 or more rental units must attend a city-sponsored training program about crime prevention and other safety matters at rental properties.

* Rental properties will be subject to periodic inspection. The city must give five days notice, and landlords can refuse. If they refuse, the city would need a search warrant.

* City officials can reject or revoke the registration of any landlord if they think the landlord isn't following city law. The landlord can appeal the decision to the mayor.

Occupancy permits are already required for each rental unit, but they don't help the city keep track of who is running the places.

Rick Brown, who owns residential rental property in Belleville, appreciates the city trying to keep track of landlords. He just hopes it doesn't turn into a money-maker for the city.

"If that's what they want, to know who's renting property, I have no problem with it," Brown said. "If they want to charge us a fee for it, why should we pay a fee so they can keep tabs on us?"

Details such as registration fees and deadlines weren't available Thursday afternoon. Eckert said the council would announce and discuss such details at the meeting Monday. If the city does charge a fee, he said, it will be designed only to cover program costs.

Eckert said the city had a landlord registration program years ago geared toward sewer fee collection, but it ended when city leaders realized many property owners weren't complying and found other ways to collect sewer fees.

Police, last year, began working more closely with rental property owners and encouraging those with ongoing nuisance issues to attend training. This is an extension of that, Eckert said.

In January, Fairview Heights began requiring training and registration for landlords. Mayor Gail Mitchell, who rents two homes, said it has worked well.

"You get a better hand-hold on who is living in the house," Mitchell said, adding that sometimes many more people than allowed are found to be living in a rental space. He said the training through a crime-free housing program similar to Belleville' proposal has helped teach landlords how to prevent problems.

Ryan Moore, president of the Metro East Real Estate Investors Association, which used to be called the Metro East Landlord's Association, said he doesn't think rental property should be scrutinized more harshly than owner-occupied homes.

Eckert reasoned that Belleville police receive far more calls involving rental housing, which makes up more than 40 percent of all the housing in the city.

Moore also said he wished his group would have been involved in drafting the new measure. He first heard of it when a reporter told him Thursday.

"It's in our best interest to have properties that are bringing in good tenants. ... If a city wants to do things to regulate that, it'd be wonderful if we have the opportunity to discuss how to do that in an effective manner," said Moore, who is a realtor and real estate investor with residential rental property in Belleville.

Eckert said the people in that association are welcome to attend regularly held aldermanic Public Health and Housing Committee meetings, which is where most new housing measures start. He thinks the association's members know the city has rental housing problems, and he thinks they should reach out to city leaders to try to help.

He doesn't think it makes sense "... to say we have to run to them every time we're going to do something."