by Elissa Yount
Editor’s Note: These articles have been contributed to Home in Henderson to generate ideas and bring to light topics that should be of interest to the taxpayers of Henderson in the upcoming municipal elections. The hope of HiH is that these articles may, if you choose, enable you to begin a dialog both on the blog and with your representatives about where they stand on these important Henderson issues.
Home ownership is what builds wealth in a community. When there is more rental property than home ownership, a community suffers.
This is a problem for Henderson, and it is a problem that needs attention. We all know that when any property is not well-cared for, property values go down, crime goes up, and a cycle of blight begins. Henderson has a disproportionate number of rental properties for a city our size, and I would argue that it is long past time for Henderson to address in a constructive way the problems surrounding some rental properties.
The city government chose not to enact a Certificate of Occupancy that would have assured a dwelling met minimum decent housing standards for occupants before it was rented. That horse is dead. What new breath can be breathed into other problems that can go along with rental property?
A solid argument can be made that Henderson needs a rental dwelling registration program such as Raleigh has just begun. Their plan states that the goal is “to promote responsible management, assist in providing safe habitats for residents and neighbors of rental dwellings, safeguard property values and expedite repairs of residential housing. The rental registration database may also be used by the City’s Police, Fire, and Inspections staff to expeditiously contact rental property owners or designated management in the event of an emergency.”
Who could argue with those goals? Not owners, not neighbors, and certainly not responsible renters. Renting property is a business, and businesses must be licensed. It stands to reason that a registered list of rental properties would be another cost of doing business. That would be a cost that is well worth the money.
Raleigh’s plan calls for the fee to be $30 for the first unit registered by an owner in a dwelling, apartment house or apartment project, and ten dollars for each additional unit registered. If this cost is passed on to the renter, it would be less than $3 per month. So the argument that this is too expensive to the tenant is no argument at all.
Another argument — that a rental dwelling registration would be too much to manage — is also erroneous. There are many easy ways to initiate a rental dwelling registration program, and the management of the data base would be simple. Any high school intern could do it. Raleigh has invented this wheel. Henderson would not need to reinvent a way to do this.
Why does Henderson need a rental dwelling registration? Let me give you an example: Suppose there is a rental property on your street that you consider a nuisance. The house does not have water service because you have seen people using the bathroom in the back yard, and often the electricity is cut off. You hear gun shots, loud music and arguments. You see neglected animals, trash, litter, gangs of people hanging around using cell phones, cars and bicycles coming all hours of the day and night and double parking in the street or miring up the curb and yard. You suspect drugs are being sold from the house because the “visitors” only stay a few minutes. You are afraid to go outside to pick up your paper. Your safe, pleasant, and healthy neighborhood has been attacked just as if you were in a war zone. Think it can’t happen where you live? Think again! There is rental property in every area of Henderson, and the potential for these kinds of behavior is far greater for rental property.
While a rental registration program would not prevent these problems, it certainly would give police, code inspectors, and fire inspectors accurate information in coordinating the steps that are necessary to rectify violations more quickly and effectively and to keep problems from escalating. If there is a pattern of owners having repeated, grievous offenses, steps could be taken to enforce every single code on the owner. Believe me, this would be a strong incentive to get a handle on things, because there are plenty codes on the books that owners do not want enforced. But if that incentive does not bring action, and the owner is not willing to rectify problems, their license to conduct their rental business could be removed until all the codes are met. This is not rocket science. Solutions do not need to be convoluted and drawn out. They can be simple and straightforward.
The municipal government has a responsibility to protect and preserve our residential neighborhoods and to keep them safe and healthy for both renters and homeowners. A rental dwelling registration would be a good first step. Reliable owners and management companies should insist on this also. That would be a breath of fresh air!