New Proactive Rental Regime Begins in OWD

 A little over a month ago the City of Durham rolled out a new Proactive Rental Inspection Program (PRIP), designed to "proactively identify and remediate rental housing that does not meet the [code and related ordinances]. This program is the implementation of the March 5 resolution of the City Council enacting the PRIP ordinance. As described more fully in a previous post, this represents a significant change in the way the City investigates and enforces violations of the housing code in rental properties.
 

The city has designated several "priority zones," including a significant portion of the OWD and Trinity Park neighborhoods (see map below) in which all rental property owners will undergo periodic inspections to ensure compliance with Durham's Minimal Housing Code. Furthermore, landlords whose property registered three or more housing code violations in the past 12-month period will be required to register their property with the Department of Neighborhood Improvement Services (DIS). 

The trigger for proactive (i.e. unprompted) inspections will be something called "Reasonable Cause", defined as (1) a history of 3 or more violations in 12 months; (2) a complain has been received; (3) there is knowledge of unsafe conditions, or (4) violations of the code are visible from the outside of the property. Both single-family and multifamily buildings will be targeted, with penalties as high as $300 a month, and a maximum penalty of $5,000 for failure to register properties found to have more than 3 code enforcement violations.

This program is long overdue, particularly in the neighborhood like ours, where upward of 50% of all properties are rentals. While most neighborhood landlords have been diligent and conscientious in up-keeping their properties, a few bad apples have cropped up here and there.

Although this program is a great start, several areas for improvement immediately jump to mind:

1. Increase the maximum penalty - given potentially significant costs of repair, some proverbial "slum-lords" may make an economic calculation that it is simply cheaper to pay a $5,000 fine rather than fix up their dilapidated eye sore of a building. To change this calculus, DIS should have the power to fine $5,000 per violation. 
2. Create a publicly searchable database of all properties found to to have three or more code violations in a year, including the fines levied and the business address and telephone number of the registered owner. 

Still, this a step in the right direction, and I hope with time, the program will be revised and strengthened to improve the overall appearance and safety of our neighborhood. The full scope of the program is described in greater detail after the break.