HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-16-2014 SS1 Smith CarolynCOUNCIL MEETING:_liZ [ V Zo
ITEM
Christian, Kevin
From: Mejia, Anthony
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2014 7:37 AM
To: Christian, Kevin
Subject: FW: Rental Home Inspection Ordinance Study Session - December 16, 2014
Anthony J. Mejia, MMC DEC 1 5.2014 R
San Luis Obispo City Clerk
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Anthony Mejia
City Clerk
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+.HIS, LUIS OBISPO
City Administration
City Clerk's Office
990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 -3249
E amejia @slocity.org
T 805.781.7102
slocity.org
From: Carolyn
Sent: 12/14/2014 7:46 PM
To: Ashbaugh, John; Carpenter, Dan; Christianson, Carlyn; Codron, Michael; Dietrick, Christine; Lichtig, Katie; Marx, Jan;
ksmith @slocity.org; Melia, Anthony; Rivoire, Dan
Subject: Rental Home Inspection Ordinance Study Session - December 16, 2014
Mayor Marx and Council Members:
Let me start out by stating that I am an owner of residential rental property here in SLO, and I am in support of a Rental
Home Inspection Ordinance (RHIO) in R -1 and R -2 zones.
I'm sure many of you have noticed that our residential single family homes have been deteriorating over the past 20 years
due to a majority of our homes becoming rentals, primarily occupied by young adults from Cal Poly and Cuesta, These
rentals are oftentimes big business in our city. Exorbitant rents are being charged for single family homes (both in R -1 and
R -2 zones), a significant number of which are in poor and unsafe condition. I have seen this on my street and surrounding
neighborhoods where I live (Laguna Lake) and in other areas of the City. Some property owners and /or investors are more
concerned about making large profits from their rental property(ies) than they are about keeping them in a safe, clean
condition for their tenants. Some are owned by investors from out of the area (even out of the country) who never check on
their rentals — merely collecting the rents. Some are managed by property management companies who are primarily tasked
with making sure the properties are never vacant and that the rent is collected.
I have personally seen properties on my street that are up for rent (high dollar rent) that are in horrible condition.
Desperation for housing often results in some young adults renting homes that are unclean and in severe disrepair. Even if
they are not afraid of reporting these problems to the landlord (which many are), the landlord oftentimes won't make the
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necessary repairs and /or threatens to raise their rent or evict them if they complain. Many applicants for my rental property
(families and young adults) have told me they do not want to live in dilapidated homes and continue searching until they can
find a decently maintained home, which they claim is very difficult to do, particularly in their price range. I am concerned that
when these very poorly maintained homes are no longer considered rentable by families or young adults, we could have a
collection of abandoned homes or an element of residents who will rent them that could encourage criminal activity in our
neighborhoods. A RHIO will provide our city with a tool that could help avoid this disastrous result.
While our Neighborhood Services Specialists have been doing a great job in dealing with exterior blight and health and
safety violations, their scope of duties does not allow for any interior inspections. The inside of rental homes have
potentially a multitude of dangerous problems that can affect the health and safety of not just the tenants' homes but their
neighbors' homes as well. For example, if a rental home has electrical wires draped over beams and floors to provide
electricity to areas of the home where electricity isn't working (I've actually seen this in a rental home near me), then this
can create a fire hazard where a resulting fire could spread to nearby homes. These types of unsafe conditions could be
rectified by an interior home inspection.
I understand not all rental property owners support this ordinance. Consequently, in order to encourage them to voluntarily
maintain their properties under this program, incentives could be created, such as, (1) their property would not have to be
inspected annually when they pass inspection with little to no problems — perhaps a 3 to 5 year cycle, and (2) provide some
sort of certification that could be issued to a rental that has passed inspection to assist renters in choosing a well
maintained, safe home to rent. At the option of the owner of the property, the certification could be placed on the City's
website and perhaps Cal Poly's and Cuesta's housing sites which would provide a list to potential renters (and their parents)
of rental homes that have passed city inspection. I believe this would help the property owners rent their properties, as well.
A RHIO has been proposed several times before. We missed the opportunity then to either slow down or even stop the
decline of our single - family homes. The result of those missed opportunities has allowed for their further deterioration. I
hope you will seriously consider passing a RHIO at this time. The alternative would be to just continue to watch the ruination
of our single - family homes.
Thank you.
Carolyn Smith
San Luis Obispo
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