Mar 18, 2013 3 min read

City officials are looking at ways to streamline their Residential Housing Rental Permit Program for the estimated 2,500 rental properties in town.

Council held a workshop Monday to discuss ways to improve the ordinance first adopted in 2009.

Among the ideas is eliminating the $12 rental registration fee and instead require mandatory reporting by landlords with stiffer fines for those who do not comply.

Of the 2,500 rental properties, 389 were not legally registered in the city in 2012. Mayor Brenda Davis believes there may be twice that number of rental properties in the city because landlords have failed to register them.

Officials are looking at similar ordinances in East Washington Borough, Canonsburg, and Beaver Falls for possible amendments to their ordinance.

“We have to do it very soon because the new statements are going to go out,” Davis said.

Under the ordinance, landlords are required to pay a $12 fee to register the name, address and telephone number of any tenant. Landlords are also required to furnish occupants with the latest inspection report of the property and their rental agreement must be placed in writing.

Any landlord who does not reside within 15 miles of the Washington County Courthouse is required to designate a property manager.

The ordinance also includes a provision for disruptive tenants. If police receive three nuisance calls to a rental property in a one-year period, the owner must take action to repossess that rental unit.

“It helps get tenants to be more cooperative in the neighborhood,” Davis said, adding that council members were in agreement to keep that provision.

However, council wants to streamline the administration portion of the ordinance because it has become cumbersome to collect the $12 fee. They believe a higher penalty would help offset administration costs which includes the purchase of forms, postage and maintenance of computer software.

Another idea being discussed is if landlords do not register their properties it would generate an automatic inspection at an established cost.

Currently the ordinance provides for a fee based voluntary inspection which Davis said no landlord has requested. Inspections also can be done if a complaint is received, if a law enforcement officer or fire fighter observes something potentially harmful, if the owner fails to register the property or in the event of an emergency.

Although the registration fee has not been raised in three years since the ordinance was in place, landlords Georgianna Farkas and Georgia Ballentine, who both addressed council during the workshop, fear any change will cost them more money.

If someone is hired to collect the fee, Farkas said the fee is likely to be raised, costing her more money, at a time when she is finding it increasingly difficult to maintain her properties.

“How can landlords afford to do any home improvements if everything is escalating?” she asked.

Furthermore, Farkas noted that HUD currently inspects properties and having the city implement a mandatory inspection would be a waste of taxpayer’s money. She favors higher sanctions on those who have failed to comply, saying the fine should not be $300 but the maximum of $1,000.

Noting that her taxes doubled and her insurance went up this past year, Ballentine said she is considering selling her property.