NORWICH – On March 13, the City of Norwich Common Council passed an amendment to Chapter 50 of the City Code, which details minimum standards for housing. The amendment included their long discussed rental registration program. Now, more than half way to the registration deadline, city officials say the program is off to a good start.
The rental registry calls for non-owner occupied or vacant rental dwelling units to participate in the registration. Landlords have to provide a name, address, and a telephone number where they can be reached at all times. In addition, rental property owners could be asked to provide a local contact, to act on their behalf, in the event they cannot be reached.
Landlords have until May 30 to register with the city, free of charge. After the May 30 deadline, registration fees of $5 for a single family, $10 for a two family, $15 for a three family and an additional $1 for each additional unit will be charged. In addition, failure to comply with the terms of the rental registration and the rest of Chapter 50 could result in fines ranging from $250 and $1,000.
According to information received from city hall, rental registration forms have been sent to every residence in the city. Some people expressed confusion over whether or not they were required to register, but according to the terms of the amended Chapter 50, only non-owner occupied rental dwellings need to be fill out and return the registration forms.
According to Code Enforcement Officer Jason Lawrence, the rental registration is off to a good start. “We’ve received about 450 rental registration applications so far,” said Lawrence. The city still expects many more registration forms to come in. Many of those they are anticipating are from out-of-state landlords.
Despite some friction between the city and local landlords, Lawrence said the registration program is working to open up the lines of communication between the landlords and the city department.
“There have been a lot of instances where it (the registration) has helped already,” said Lawrence. “The fire department has been able to get a hold of landlords right away if there is a problem.”
According to the code enforcement officer, you can expect to see several multi-family dwelling units begin cleaning up in the near future. “We’re making a safer environment for tenants and educating landlords,” Lawrence said.
An informational meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 9 at the Norwich City Fire Station. Lawrence will be giving a powerpoint presentation, discussing codes that relate to the location of smoke detectors and other regulations and staff will be on hand to help people fill out their registration applications.