Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011

Clayton might force landlords to register

If you own or manage rental property in Clayton, the town might soon ask for your phone number.

The Town Council is looking to start a rental registration program that would require landlords to provide contact information to the town, maintain a list of authorized tenants and pay an annual fee. The goal is to keep landlords informed about police calls and code-enforcement problems at their rental units.

"The purpose of this is to increase landlord responsibility and increase safety in our neighborhoods," Mayor Jody McLeod said. "I don't care how many people show up saying this is too much big government."

If the Town Council passes the ordinance, landlords will need to turn in the forms or face a fine. The proposed fee is $30 per individual property, plus $10 for each additional unit on the property. So a 200-unit apartment complex would owe $2,020, and someone with 20 rental houses scattered around town would owe $600.

"The fees are pretty modest," Town Manager Steve Biggs said. "We're seeking to cover our costs."

Biggs said he has no estimate of how much money the fee would generate or how much a database of landlord information would cost - the town doesn't have figures on how many renter-occupied properties are in town, he said. The town would develop the database in-house and would need no additional employees to manage it, Biggs said. The extra work involved in running the program could avoid a layoff or two for town staff, he added.

The idea for the registration program came from town employees who couldn't find a way to contact landlords, Biggs said. Police want to inform landlords when a crime takes place on their property or a tenant is arrested. Code-enforcement staffers want to quickly reach landlords when they find a violation.

"We have a disproportionate number of code enforcements and nuisance problems at rental properties," Biggs said.

But county property records can make finding landlords hard. Most records only show a mailing address, and the owner might be a company or trust fund. Larger landlords use a property-management group, and that's rarely listed in records.

Having landlord information would help the town root out fraudulent requests for utility connections. "We do have people who seek to squat properties," Biggs said.

The ordinance would require landlords to keep lists of authorized tenants, but they wouldn't have to turn the lists over to the town unless someone complained about too many people living in a residence.

Overall, the ordinance is intended to improve neighborhoods by addressing problems at rental properties, town leaders said.

"They need to understand that they need to keep their property up," Councilman Art Holder said of landlords.

The town will hold a public hearing on the issue, likely at the March 21 council meeting, and the ordinance could go into effect as soon as May. Biggs said he expects the fees might draw the biggest outcry, but some on the council don't think that's a valid concern.

"If you can't afford $10 a year for a unit, you need to get out of the residential rental business," McLeod said.