The RUCO task force plowed through draft revisions to the city of Greensboro’s ordinance governing inspection of rental units today despite notice from representatives of neighborhood associations and a tenants advocacy organization that they would likely not support recommendations eventually destined for a city council vote for final approval.
The option under discussion was proposed by Marlene Sanford, president of the Triad Real Estate and Building Industries Coalition, or TREBIC. It would strip the ordinance of key provisions requiring certification of all rental units and providing for proactive inspections through sampling. Inspections of rental units can also be initiated based on complaints from tenants, a petition filed by a sufficient number of neighboring residents or exterior violations observed by city inspectors.
Donna Newton, advisor to the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress, said her membership will require its representatives on the task force and the RUCO Advisory Board to vote against any motion that eliminates proactive inspections.
“We are not interested in any proposal that eliminates the proactive portions of RUCO,” she said. “What we will do, depending on what you do as a task force is, if you as chair end up taking a recommendation to the RUCO board that eliminates proactive certification, we will decline to participate in that, and we will, along with other supporters of RUCO, craft our own proposal.”
Real estate industry representatives are proposing to toughen language in the ordinance to more aggressively target so-called “problem properties” in exchange for striking provisions for proactive inspections through sampling. Task force members skirmished over a proposal to add a provision giving inspectors the discretion to inspect all units in a particular building if they found violations inside a quarter of the units through complaints or other existing means. Newton and inspection manager Dan Reynolds said the 25 percent threshold was too high.
Then Sanford proposed an escalating set of triggers that appeared to create a small patch of possible common ground. She suggested that if in the course of their normal duties inspectors found violations in 1 percent of the units in a building, they would have discretion to inspect 10 percent of units. If, in turn, they found violations in 10 percent of units, they would then have authority to inspect all units. For example, if violations were found in one unit in a building with 24 units, the inspector could choose two more units to inspect. If all three were found to be in violation, the inspector would have license to make a comprehensive review of all apartments in the building.
“I would agree with that,” Newton said.
Less agreement was reached on inspection of single-family rental houses. The draft revision strikes language allowing for inspectors to sample 2 percent of single-family rental houses to provide a sentinel effect ensuring that inside violations do not go undetected because tenants are afraid to complain against their landlords for fear of retaliation. Newton has said her organization’s membership is concerned about property values being undermined by substandard single-family rental housing coming on the market.
In place of proactive inspections, the draft revision includes new language stating, “The appearance of an exterior violation shall constitute probable cause to inspect a single-family dwelling unit or apartment building.”
Task force members agreed that Sanford would distribute a new revised draft ordinance on Aug. 30, and members would indicate whether they agreed with the language by Aug. 31. The revised draft ordinance will be recommended to the RUCO Advisory Board at its next meeting on Sept. 2. Sanford acknowledged that representatives of the neighborhood congress and the Greensboro Housing Coalition might not end up supporting the task force’s recommendation on Sept. 2.
The RUCO Advisory Board, which has a majority comprised of landlords, is likely to approve any recommendation that strikes language from the ordinance requiring certification and proactive inspections. Some of the landlords on the board are designated representatives such as Lisa Dellinger, an employee of Koury Corp. who represents TREBIC and Bryon Nelson of the Triad Apartment Association. Others, who have been appointed to “general citizen” or district representation slots such as Greensboro Landlords Association President Bobby Akin, District 3 appointee Peter Placentino of Brown Investment Properties and District 4 appointee Dawn Chaney of Chaney Properties, happen to be landlords or members of the property management industry.
A recommendation by the RUCO Advisory Board in favor of the language drafted by TREBIC would advance the proposal to city council and would likely prompt a political fight, with members and supporters of the neighborhood congress and the housing coalition coming before council to express their objections. Lacking unanimous support from the stakeholders, council members would find themselves in the awkward position of having to choose between satisfying members of the real estate industry, many of whom finance their political campaigns, and siding with active neighborhood leaders who organize and attend candidate forums.
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