Landlords Speak Out Against Proposed Ordinance

Local landlords disagree with a proposed new city ordinance for rental property management that was introduced Monday night.

The ordinance, introduced at , calls for a $12 registration fee for each rental unit in the city and more oversight of who is living where, within city limits.

The ordinance was introduced despite votes against introduction, which were cast by council members Jim Miller and Barbara Wagner.

The previous rental property section of the city code was , and the landlord-tenant commission was abolished. The proposed ordinance would entirely replace the previous legislation.

Landlords see it as unnecessary and suggested the city simply enforce more strictly the codes that are already in place.

“We do not need further government involved controlling, what? I don’t understand,” property owner Martha Dennis said. “We already have the laws on the book that should be enforced already. As far as the extra money, that’s just not fair. We’ve been adding on and adding on over the years.”

Property owner Charles Hiner agreed, saying there's no need for increasing city government.

“Look at the ordinances we have in place right now. I’m in favor of the implementation of the current ordinances on the books,” he said. “If there’s an issue with one of my properties, let me know. We’ll take care of it. We work well with the city in getting done what you want done.”

Allen Fair said there might be “10 bad landlords in the city, at the most.

“I don’t think we need any more bureaucracy,” Fair said. “We’ll probably have another one or two people in city hall and we don’t need it. If they need this ordinance to have work for them, then there should probably be somebody leaving.”

Fair said he recently did his own audit of rental properties in the city.

“I drove around Sunday, in different alleys. … I didn’t see too many problems,” Fair said.

“I did the whole town in two hours. With three [code enforcers], they could probably do it in two weeks,” Fair said, drawing laughter from the crowd at the meeting.

Fair said —a real estate and property management business that also includes Hiner—would likely have to hire another employee to handle an increase in paperwork that would result from the implementation of the ordinance.

Carol Rimel said her tenants tend to stay with her for up to 20 years.

“My tenants stay with me. A lot of my tenants now are losing their jobs,” she said. “They have part-time jobs. They’re not paying us monthly, they’re paying us weekly.

“The landlord is going to have to find this extra money elsewhere, and it’s going to fall upon our tenants,” she continued. “I feel like the good landlords are doing what you have asked, and now because some aren’t, we’re going to be punished for them. There has to be some kind of way for all of us to work together. We are trying to make our city better to bring in more people.”

George Wagner said the city needs to draw a line, and enforce current codes.

“We don’t need more government involved in everything,” Wagner said.

Property owner Cecil Hill said this year he was unable to pay his taxes for the first time in nearly 50 years of doing business in Havre de Grace.

He referred to the annual fee for rental properties as “a nuisance tax.”

The City Council will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. Nov. 21, to be followed by the regularly scheduled council meeting. A public work session will be held at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 28 where residents and property owners can give their opinions on the ordinance.

A proposed second reading of the amendment would fall on the Dec. 5 City Council meeting.

“If things aren’t working, I’m the first one to say let’s go back and fix it, change it,” Council President Bill Martin said.

Martin, who owns a rental property in Perryville, said the Cecil County town adopted a similar ordinance in 2009—with a $15 annual fee. He suggested a $12 annual fee when the administrative committee drafted the ordinance—$1 per month, he said.

Councilman Jim Miller, who introduced the ordinance, said the planning commission, of which he is a part, did not have a hand in the ordinance.

“We already have that mechanism on our books right now. We have ordinances that deal with properties that need to be enforced, and we have code-enforcement people to do that,” Miller said. “I don’t know what this is going to do other than create another job.”

Martin said the ordinance is a “complaint-driven ordinance,” and the city will not inspect properties unless a complaint is lodged.

“This is not a revenue ordinance, though it may seem like a revenue ordinance,” Martin said. “If the city was interested in revenue, the city would not have cut taxes for seven years in a row. I still approach this with an open mind.”

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EDITOR'S NOTE: The ordinance was not available in electronic form Tuesday afternoon. The ordinance was scheduled to be posted on the Havre de Grace website Tuesday morning. Patch will provide the ordinance when it becomes available.