City council tables proposed ordinance that would effect landlords, again

WASHINGTON - After untabling a proposed ordinance that would hold landlords responsible for the actions of their tenants, the Washington City Council voted to table the measure again.

During the Nov. 5 council meeting, a small crowd of local landlords came to express their concerns. The proposed ordinance, which has already passed one of three readings, would hold landlords accountable if the home was found to be 'disorderly” due to unsavory behavior of the tenants. After hearing concern from several landlords, the council agreed to hold a workshop with them to discuss their concerns and tabled the conversation.

At the Dec. 17. council meeting, the council untabled the issue to discuss. City Administrator Brent Hinson said the city attorney reviewed the proposed ordinance and added in language that addressed the concerns of the landlords present that night. He said some of them were concerned about being taken to court over the eviction process but the city has outlined the landlord will be notified by letter about the complaint.

He said the letter is essentially an abatement notice that will give the landlord 30 days to take action to evict or provide a plan to ensure the problem does not recur. Hinson said the intent of the ordinance is not to punish landlords but to eliminate properties that have been repeated problems.

'All we want is the situation corrected. Just like with nuisances, we don't really want to collect fines from anybody but we're willing to take them to court with the threat of a significant fine if that's what it takes to get the behavior or situation remedied,” he said.

Council member Fran Stigers expressed concern about the lack of input from local landlords. He said the council promised them a work session but one was never put in place.

Charla Howard, a landlord in Washington, attended the meeting on Nov. 5 as well as the one Tuesday night. She said her main concerns as a landlord were how she would be effected and what the timeline was in regard to evicting should the ordinance be passed.

She said after reviewing the revised ordinance, she felt her concerns were addressed because the city would go to the tenant first and the landlord as a last resort.

'Landlord or not I want this to be a good community with a great quality of life and I want people to be able to be responsible for their actions and I certainly don't want nuisances or repeat offenders in my property,” she said.

Stigers said he would still like to see a work session put in place before moving forward with a second reading. Council member Brendan Delong agreed, saying he wanted to make sure all landlords have a chance to review the proposed ordinance and express any concerns they might have.

'I'm all for this and I think this is a great thing to move forward but I just want to make sure we hear from everybody,” he said.

The council voted 6-0 to table the conversation once more to allow landlords a chance to review the proposed ordinance and take up potential concern with council at the next meeting.