City cracks down on absentee landlords
NORWICH – Nearly 10 months have passed since the City of Norwich adopted their long anticipated Rental Registration program, and while the majority of Landlords have registered their properties, those who haven’t may soon face a hit to their wallets.
On March 13, the City of Norwich Common Council passed an amendment to Chapter 50 of the City Code for minimum standards for housing, which included the adoption of the rental registry. The registry called for non-owner occupied or vacant rental dwelling units to participate in the registration. Landlords were asked to provide a name, address, and a telephone number where they could reached at all times. In addition, rental property owners were asked to provide a local contact to act on their behalf in the event they could not be reached.
According to City of Norwich Code Enforcement Officer Jason Lawrence and City Police and Fire Chief Joseph Angelino, the rental registration has been very successful so far. Of the approximately 820 rental properties in the City of Norwich – consisting of more than 2,100 rental units – 790 properties have been registered so far. Of those Lawrence explained, 260 structures are owner occupied and 530 are not.
“The keys to the rental registry were compliance with codes, contact information and minimum standards for housing,” Lawrence explained. “If there was an emergency or a problem, we didn’t know who to contact.”
Angelino explained that although roughly 20 to 30 properties have not yet been registered, he and Lawrence agreed that the problem does not lie with Norwich property owners, but with those who live outside the area. “There are still a large percentage (of rental dwellings) that are not owner occupied, and many of the owners live a great distance away. That’s one of the reasons we wanted the rental registry in the first place so we could contact them if there was a problem,” Angelino said. “There is no one in Norwich who has not registered.”
Lawrence explained that extensive efforts had been made to contact people. “We’ve tried to contact them through a lot of different avenues, but with these properties there is a lot of turn over,” Lawrence explained.
Originally the landlords were given a deadline of May 31, and anyone registering before that date did not have to pay any registration fees. However landlords who have still not complied with the registration will have to pay 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, failing to register constitutes a violation of the terms of the rental registration and could result in steep fines of between $250 to $1,000, up to 30 days in jail or a combination of the two.
After several months, the code enforcement office is working to track down the multi-family property owners who have still not registered, and some appearance tickets have already been issued. However the individual fines for the violations will be at the discretion of the judge. The problem, Angelino explained, is in finding the owners and trying to enforce the codes, which can be difficult if a property owner lives out of state. If the owner lives out of state, the cannot be extradited for anything less than a felony charge, Angelino explained, so the code enforcement office has to bide their time and wait for the owner to check on their property.
In order to increase the number of qualified code officers, several firemen have already attended a six week course in code enforcement and training and some of the police officers are training as well. “Code enforcement and the condition of the buildings in the city is one of the most important efforts these departments can focus on, because that is our tax base,” Angelino said.
With the first rental property owner appearing in court in January, the city is working to track down the absentee property owners in order to make the city a safer place to live.
“Through legislation we’re trying to get people to be respectful to their neighbors and to maintain their properties,” Angelino said.
On March 13, the City of Norwich Common Council passed an amendment to Chapter 50 of the City Code for minimum standards for housing, which included the adoption of the rental registry. The registry called for non-owner occupied or vacant rental dwelling units to participate in the registration. Landlords were asked to provide a name, address, and a telephone number where they could reached at all times. In addition, rental property owners were asked to provide a local contact to act on their behalf in the event they could not be reached.
According to City of Norwich Code Enforcement Officer Jason Lawrence and City Police and Fire Chief Joseph Angelino, the rental registration has been very successful so far. Of the approximately 820 rental properties in the City of Norwich – consisting of more than 2,100 rental units – 790 properties have been registered so far. Of those Lawrence explained, 260 structures are owner occupied and 530 are not.
“The keys to the rental registry were compliance with codes, contact information and minimum standards for housing,” Lawrence explained. “If there was an emergency or a problem, we didn’t know who to contact.”
Angelino explained that although roughly 20 to 30 properties have not yet been registered, he and Lawrence agreed that the problem does not lie with Norwich property owners, but with those who live outside the area. “There are still a large percentage (of rental dwellings) that are not owner occupied, and many of the owners live a great distance away. That’s one of the reasons we wanted the rental registry in the first place so we could contact them if there was a problem,” Angelino said. “There is no one in Norwich who has not registered.”
Lawrence explained that extensive efforts had been made to contact people. “We’ve tried to contact them through a lot of different avenues, but with these properties there is a lot of turn over,” Lawrence explained.
Originally the landlords were given a deadline of May 31, and anyone registering before that date did not have to pay any registration fees. However landlords who have still not complied with the registration will have to pay 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, failing to register constitutes a violation of the terms of the rental registration and could result in steep fines of between $250 to $1,000, up to 30 days in jail or a combination of the two.
After several months, the code enforcement office is working to track down the multi-family property owners who have still not registered, and some appearance tickets have already been issued. However the individual fines for the violations will be at the discretion of the judge. The problem, Angelino explained, is in finding the owners and trying to enforce the codes, which can be difficult if a property owner lives out of state. If the owner lives out of state, the cannot be extradited for anything less than a felony charge, Angelino explained, so the code enforcement office has to bide their time and wait for the owner to check on their property.
In order to increase the number of qualified code officers, several firemen have already attended a six week course in code enforcement and training and some of the police officers are training as well. “Code enforcement and the condition of the buildings in the city is one of the most important efforts these departments can focus on, because that is our tax base,” Angelino said.
With the first rental property owner appearing in court in January, the city is working to track down the absentee property owners in order to make the city a safer place to live.
“Through legislation we’re trying to get people to be respectful to their neighbors and to maintain their properties,” Angelino said.
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