HomeMy WebLinkAbout2/24/2026 Item 4a, Smith
carolyn smith <cjsmith_107@yahoo.com>
Sent:Sunday, February
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:RENTAL HOUSING REGISTRY STUDY SESSION
Mayor Stewart and Council members:
I've been a rental property owner in SLO with a business license that I've submitted and paid for
25+ years. These are my thoughts about a Rental Registry Program that is being proposed and
studied at Tuesday night's council meeting:
Data Collection and Transparency: While most people are in favor of safe housing, it's
unclear how creating a Rental Registry will promote that goal. As described in staff's report, a
Rental Registry is a data collection mechanism. It collects information about rental property
owners and their properties and charges fees. It does not improve safety or correct violations.
If, however, there is another future purpose for this registry other than data and fee collection,
it needs to be very clear to the public affected by it as to any additional intent and purpose. If
this Registry will be used solely to obtain more data to discover a larger percentage of our rental
properties in the city, then I would support expanding the current Business License/Tax program
(Option 1), perhaps utilizing another updated program that's currently available to specifically
include the addresses of each rental property owned by an individual, corporation, LLC, Trust,
etc. This shouldn't be as costly as some of the other options. All other types of businesses in the
city have to report the address of their operations and pay a fee to the city, so there should be
no exception for rental property owners since it is a business operation.
Fee Schedule: The city could develop a fee schedule from this registry that would be based on
number of rental properties owned by a property owner. If property owners only own one or two
rentals, they would be charged a lower fee than those owning three or more rentals who should
pay a higher fee. However, all fees charged should be reasonable because if they're set too high,
property owners will pass those fees onto tenants which will negatively affect rental affordability.
Other Uses of Data: If, however, the Rental Registry would require all rental property owners
to provide detailed information about their properties, leases, rent charged, or other proprietary
information, I cannot support that, particularly if the information is intended to be used to
institute rent stabilization (rent control) and/or tenants' protection ordinances sometime in the
future. Requiring disclosure of contractual information is invasive and my tenants have already
indicated that they do not want any information about their tenancy (rent amount, language and
term of lease, etc.) revealed to city government. These requirements could have a chilling effect
on those who now rent or may want to rent in SLO who don't want their lease details revealed.
They may just prefer to rent a home in another nearby city without those
requirements. Furthermore, since many rentals in the city have a yearly turnover of tenants
(particularly in student rental homes), this registry could become a reporting nightmare since
the data would become frequently outdated resulting in the registry having to be continually
updated demanding significant staff time on enforcement efforts.
Safe Housing: If safe housing is the goal, then promoting more renter education and outreach
to tenants would be a more direct and affordable approach. When the Rental Housing Inspection
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Ordinance was eliminated, a program to educate tenants and help them report unsafe housing
without retaliation was discussed as a replacement. Since that never occurred, perhaps now is
the time to consider how that program can be developed at a reasonable cost. Cal Poly has
renter housing and rights information for their student renters living off campus. I realize there
are other renters than Cal Poly students in the city who don't have access to this support, but
perhaps it would be less costly for the city to emulate Cal Poly's program to help non-student
renters.
The Off-Campus Adventure Begins: Unlocking Your Housing Path
Unlock the keys to successful off-campus living! Join the Off-Campus Housing Program for
valuable insights on the rental search process, understanding your tenant rights and
responsibilities, and becoming a competitive applicant!
Understanding Your Lease with SLO Legal Assistance Foundation
Before you sign a lease, make sure you know what you’re agreeing to! This session breaks down
what to look for in a rental lease, how to spot confusing or unfair clauses, and where hidden fees
might pop up. We’ll also go over California’s rules about security deposits and why doing a
property condition checklist at move-in can save you money (and stress) later.
Funding: Staff has been scrutinizing all city departments' expenses, and, for the past year, the
public has been repeatedly warned that the city is in a budget deficit this budget cycle and that
the next budget cycle and even beyond will experience deficits, resulting in no money available
for much needed neighborhood code enforcement and other important needs. A new ambitious
Rental Registry program, requiring the purchase of new software and additional staff for startup,
implementation and enforcement of the program, will be very expensive. If there is funding
available for this proposed new Rental Registry program and subsequent ordinances and their
enforcement, why isn't there funding for additional Code Enforcement personnel for
existing neighborhood code enforcement problems that are not being enforced? Residents'
(renters and homeowners) livability, peace, and safety could be improved in many
neighborhoods if there were adequate code enforcement personnel to enforce our current city
codes. It is unfair to start a new program or ordinance, requiring the expenditure of a great deal
of funds, when residents continue to suffer from the city's inability to enforce existing codes and
ordinances due to lack of funds. If developing a new program means sending other important
needs in the city that have been waiting for funding to the back of the line, then there needs to
be much more outreach to the community to explain why this proposal should move to the front
of the line. If this isn't an emergency or a problem that has been declared a crisis by the entire
city, then it should be put in the funding queue after planned long-term needs are met.
It's a sign of good financial stewardship when elected representatives choose to meet existing
needs and challenges of their constituents before attempting to create new endeavors,
particularly when there are limited resources to go around.
Thank you for your attention.
Carolyn Smith
SLO City Resident and Rental Property Owner
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