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.

New Rental Inspection Regime Portends Good News for our Neighborhood

Old West Durham has a lot of things going for it: location, diversity along both socioeconomic and racial lines, strong neighborhood organization, vibrant urban infrastructure, Ninth Street Shopping District, etc. Most of these traits are uncontroversially positive. But another important feature of this neighborhood -- high prevalence of rental housing, which by by some estimates is as high as 50% -- is more debatable. Some would argue (and I include myself in this group) that rental housing that is well maintained and managed brings vitality and new blood to the neighborhood, which is a good thing. Some recent research studies back-up this conclusion, at least insofar as high-density urban housing is concerned. Still others may argue that high proportion of rental housing depresses housing values, reduces the neighbors' stake in the longevity of their neighborhood and increase crime.

Regardless where you stand on this issue, the new rental inspection proposal currently considered by the City Council is unquestionably a positive development.  The "Probative Inspection Program" will switch housing-code inspections of rental property "to proactively identify rental housing that does not meet [housing code]" by introducing proactive inspections instead of the past practice of inspecting properties only if someone complains. The new regiment will institute period inspections of all properties where "there is a probable cause to believe that unsafe, unsanitary or otherwise hazardous or unlawful conditions may exist at a residential building or structure."

Take a look at the proposal here.