HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-RHAC-2007-04-18The Governance Committee of the Common Council asked the Rental Housing Advisory
Commission to review and make recommendations regarding § 178 of the city code Exterior
Property Maintenance ordinance. Pursuant to this request the Rental Housing Advisory
Commission consulted and met with various parties to discuss the Exterior Property Maintenance
Ordinance. Those parties included: Bob Sarachan from the City Attorney's office; Phyllis
Radke, Building Commissioner; representatives from the Tompkins County Landlords'
Association, Richard Ferrel from the Streets and Facilities section of the City's Department of
Public Works, etc.
Outlined below are many of the issues, problems and possible solutions that were raised during
our discussions.
Issue Identified: Liability for actions of third party
Typical operation of the ordinance: The property owner passes on the fine to the tenant by
placing a clause in the lease where the tenant agrees to pay fines for violating the ordinance. The
fines are typically deducted from the tenant's security deposit.
Specific problems: Property owners are fined for tenant conduct
Tenants may be held liable for the conduct of prior tenants within the 12
month period ( Ex: fines are assessed on a 12 month basis, whereas leases
often begin and end in August. A tenant who takes possession in August
may be fined for a 3rd offense when the other two offenses were due to the
prior tenants' conduct. In any case, it should be made clear in the revised
ordinance that the 12 month period begins on the date of the first
infraction.)
The property owner has little incentive to seek a fine reduction because the
costs are passed to the tenant.
Solutions discussed: Make tenant liable for their own conduct by directly fining the tenant;
Continue to make property owner liable for tenants conduct and permit
property owner to recoup the fines from the tenant's security deposit; with
required notification to the tenant or tenants
Require property owner to challenge the citation or to seek a reduction of
the fine through negotiation with the City Attorney;
Provide notification of the citation to both the tenant and property owner
so a timely challenge of the citation may take place in city court by either
party.
Recommendation
Issue Identified: The ordinance does not require tenant notification of citations or fines yet the
costs are passed to the tenant
Typical operation of the ordinance: Fines are assessed and passed to the tenants' sometimes
without tenants knowing about infractions or providing the opportunity to challenge the citation
or seek a reduction of the fine through negotiation.
Specific problem: Tenants may not know that a citation was issued
Property owners have sole responsibility for challenging citations and
paying fines;
Timely challenge to the citation may not occur
Tenants have an incentive to challenge citation or to seek reduction of
fines because they ultimately bear the cost
Solutions discussed: Create language in the ordinance that requires property owners to notify
tenant within five (5) days that a fine has been assessed. Also create
language would give tenants legal standing for the purposes of discussions
with the City Attorney's office if fees are passed along to the tenant.
Recommendation:
Issue Identified: Plastic bags on a porch or near a home are presumed to be garbage [I'm not
sure that this is true —the language of the ordinance doesn't require it. Is this an issue ?]
Typical operation of the ordinance: Citations may be issued for having plastic bags on a porch or
near a house whether or not they in fact contain garbage
Specific problem: Plastic bags may contain a range of items and are not solely used to
dispose of garbage.
Solutions discussed: Remove the presumption that any garbage bag contains trash;
Make the language in the ordinance consistent... (
Recommendation:
Issue Identified: The ordinance does not enumerate mitigating circumstances for infractions.
Typical operation of the ordinance: The ordinance permits citations and fines for infraction
where neither property owner nor the tenant is responsible for the violation.
Specific problems: Windy conditions may blow lids off trash cans;
Illegal dumping;
Recycling trespassers (people who pick through other people's recycling bins)
Garbage pickers;
Wandering drunks (someone else who knocks garbage over)
Encouraging scavengers (leaving free items out that others may reuse)
Solutions discussed: Create a list of mitigating circumstances that exculpates or reduces
liability for the infraction
Recommendation:
Issue Identified: The fine structure is disproportionate to the fines for other city ordinance
violations.
Typical operation of the ordinance: The penalty for violating the ordinance ($50 — 1st offense,
$200 — 2nd offense, $300 — 3rd offense) is much greater than other city code violations (yard
maintenance $40/$60/$100) curbside trash ($20/....) snow removal ($25 +)
Specific problems: The fines are high relative to similar city fines;
The escalation between the 1st and 2nd offense is not rational;
The fine structure does not provide warnings and the opportunity to
correct a violation before a fine is assessed;
Tenants who commit their first violation may be fined as if it is a second
or third offense where there was a prior tenant in the calendar year who
committed one or multiple infractions.
Solutions discussed: Reinstate a warning system with 48 hours to correct the violation
Clarify the language of the ordinance so that it is clear that the 12 month
period for tallying offenses begins with the date of the first offense.
Reduce the fines, particularly the 2nd and 3rd offense fines to be consistent
with other city ordinance violations;
Issue Identified: Move out time at the end of a month often does not coincide with garbage pick
UP.
Typical operation of the ordinance: Property owners may be fined for infractions where tenants
move out at the end of the month and leave their trash at the curb even though it is not a
designated trash pick up day.
Specific problems: When students go on break they put trash at the curb regardless of the
trash pick up schedule since they are leaving town;
When tenants move out at the end of the month they put trash at the curb
regardless of the trash pick up schedule since they are leaving that
residence;
Solutions discussed: Provide dumpsters in areas with a high density of students at the end of the
school year;
Increase frequency of trash pickup;
Don't issue citations at the end of the month or at the end of the school
year where it is clearly a move out situation;
Recommendation: