Twilight Zoning in Bellingham: Got Illegal Rooming Houses? Appeal Your Assessment.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Got Illegal Rooming Houses? Appeal Your Assessment.

In September, 2007, I wrote about illegal rooming houses and the effect they have on the value of your home in my blog entry entitled “Are Rooming Houses Lowering Your Property Values?” (Click here to read that entry.) Today's blog entry is a call for action.

For those readers who live within the city limits of Bellingham and just received their real estate valuation notices (click here to read the Herald article), you can appeal the phenomenal increases if your street is plagued with illegal rooming houses. Even one illegal rooming house next door or across the street affects your home’s value. Earlier this year, a Samish Neighborhood couple heeded my advice and had their home’s assessment decreased by more than $20,000 based on the proliferation of illegal rooming houses on their street. These illegal rentals effectively turn your neighborhood into rooming house districts which are, in effect, multi-family, high density housing. If you wish to sell your home, the presence of these illegal rentals devalues your property and makes it more difficult to sell.

It is time to take this de facto rezoning home to the city management (which shares in the Whatcom property tax collection) and to tell them that there is a cost to ignoring illegal and uncontrolled infill. You can get your valuation appeal form by clicking here. To read more about the appeal process, click here. Ask your neighbors to join you in the appeal process. All of you must file separate appeals but the basis, illegal rooming house-ification, will be common to each appeal.

I would like to hear your appeal stories. Send me an email at zonemaven AT hotmail DOT com. (Replace AT and DOT with the appropriate symbols.)

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The Rationale for Rental Licensing

There is the definitive experience of cities that have already adopted rental licensing and inspections in the face of exactly the same opposition as we saw in Bellingham over the last decade. Ultimately, each of these cities was proven correct in its resolve to move ahead to protect the safety and health of the renters. We already know that the city of Pasco, WA found that 15% of the units inspected under their program had serious life/safety issues. 10% had mold problems. A full 85% had problems of varying degrees. The city of Gresham, OR performed over 1600 inspections in 2009 and issued, as a result, over 4,000 citations. Lexington, KY performed inspections of units near the University of Kentucky and found that 50% had life/safety issues. Sacramento, CA began an inspection program during which one third of the units inspected had serious safety and health issues. The question why does anyone believe that the condition of rental housing here in Bellingham does not mirror that which is found in cities that have the statistics to show that time and time again the condition of rentals in our cities is problematic? All we have had to date from those who oppose licensing are broad statements by the landlords and their paladins that are completely and utterly unsubstantiated. The Zonemaven has searched in vain for the horror stories that these opponents of licensing and inspections have predicted. On the other hand, The Zonemaven did find over 100 cities that have licensing AND inspections without the catastrophic effect for the rental markets that the landlords would have you believe. (See this blog's sidebar at bottom left for list)

One Reason Illegal Rooming Houses Do Not Work

The limit for unrelated persons at a single family home rental is three residents. Leases are signed by three people who then invite additional renters to join them to lower per capita rental rates. The perverse effect is that rental rates tend to rise under these circumstances making it difficult for single families to rent single family homes. Some local rental agencies facilitate this practice.

"To say that a family is so equivalent to a ragtag collection of college roommates as to require identical treatment in zoning decisions defies the reality of the place of the family in American society, despite any changes that institution has undergone in recent years. Only the most cynical among us would say that the American family has devolved to the point of no greater importance or consideration in governmental decision making than a group of college roommates." (Stegeman v. City of Ann Arbor)

That being said, accommodation ought to be made for protected classes, especially non-traditional unions and group houses for the disabled. These classes are laid out in federal and Washington State law.