What happened to Garland?
The city of Garland introduced a similar registration/inspection program in 2005. We have registered our Garland rentals since then.
The annual registration fee was $65 and initially rental inspections were very nitpicky, causing some landlords to sell their properties. One of the landlords who protested the inspections there wrote this summary of events related to the inspection.
Then a group of landlords and renters sued the city. A federal district court ruled that the rental inspections were a violation of the 4th Amendment in 2005. The city kept appealing over the awarding of attorney's fees to the plaintiffs. Finally, in 2008, the city was required to pay the plaintiffs' legal fees of close to $100,000. (If it didn't appeal, damages would have been 1/7th of that.)
At the same time, the city set up a panel of landlords and property managers to discuss how the program could be workable for the landlord/renter community. The outcome was the landlord certification program.
Once landlords attend a certification class provided by the city, they are "certified" (Yes, you do actually receive a certificate) and exempt from inspections and annual fees. (You pay only $55 every three years.)
Whatever program the city implements, slumlords won't register their rentals. They'll just go further underground.
"An unintended consequence of the old Garland Rental Inspection program was that it incentivized irresponsible property owners to avoid registering and thereby avoid detection as rental landlords."
The annual registration fee was $65 and initially rental inspections were very nitpicky, causing some landlords to sell their properties. One of the landlords who protested the inspections there wrote this summary of events related to the inspection.
Then a group of landlords and renters sued the city. A federal district court ruled that the rental inspections were a violation of the 4th Amendment in 2005. The city kept appealing over the awarding of attorney's fees to the plaintiffs. Finally, in 2008, the city was required to pay the plaintiffs' legal fees of close to $100,000. (If it didn't appeal, damages would have been 1/7th of that.)
At the same time, the city set up a panel of landlords and property managers to discuss how the program could be workable for the landlord/renter community. The outcome was the landlord certification program.
Once landlords attend a certification class provided by the city, they are "certified" (Yes, you do actually receive a certificate) and exempt from inspections and annual fees. (You pay only $55 every three years.)
Whatever program the city implements, slumlords won't register their rentals. They'll just go further underground.
"An unintended consequence of the old Garland Rental Inspection program was that it incentivized irresponsible property owners to avoid registering and thereby avoid detection as rental landlords."
