Twilight Zoning in Bellingham: Six Rental Fires and a Meth Contamination since 2011.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Six Rental Fires and a Meth Contamination since 2011.

In mid-February a group of five WWU female students were the victims of a
fire which left the Garden St. home they rented uninhabitable (see photos).

Hole made by firefighters

Fire burned through roof at top

The young women escaped unharmed but lost much of their possessions to the flames or smoke and water damage. The cause of the fire is still undetermined as the fire department awaits the actions of one of the insurance companies that may perform its own investigation. Absent arson, the determination of the cause and any attendant fault, often falls to the insurance companies, some of which are not eager to share the information they gather. One of the residents claimed that the fire was electrical in origin, however, the fire marshal was not able to confirm that the cause was in the electrical system. Although the home was old, the electrical system had been updated.

This is the sixth rental home fire since 2011. Let us review these fires to see if any of them qualify as having been reported under Bellingham's current complaint-driven system that many, mostly landlords, insist is perfectly adequate. Let us also look at the meth contaminated rental that sickened its occupants.

1404 Grant St. on 11 Jan 2011. Fire starts in electrical junction box. Tenants had noted problems with electrical system and alerted landlord several times. Landlord failed to act.   No prior report to city.

Complaint-driven system FAIL.

1418 Ellis St. on 11 Jan 2011. Fire starts when loosely connected electrical fan on apartment heater system falls to the floor and ignites carpeting. Officials also find house rewired without permits. Tenant unaware. No prior report to city.

Complaint-driven system FAIL.

718 E. Maple St. on 30 Nov 2011.   Fire starts behind couch. Possible cause is heater in proximity to combustible upholstery. Tenants unaware. No prior report to city.

Complaint-driven system FAIL.

1208 24th St. on 1 Jan 2012. Fire starts near baseboard heater that is fed by nearby and notoriously dangerous aluminum branch wiring. Tenant unaware. No prior report to city.

Complaint-driven system FAIL.

2338 Humboldt St. on 6 Mar 2013. Electrical fire starts in attic. Very old rental with frayed knob and tube wiring. Tenant unaware. No prior report to city.

Complaint-driven system FAIL.

1117 Garden St. on 19 Feb 2014. Fire, possibly electric in origin, starts inside wall near kitchen. Tenants unaware except shortly before fire breaks out. No prior report to the city.

Complaint-driven system FAIL.

618 Myrtle St. on 4 Nov 1013.   Student renters become ill after moving in. Complaints made to landlord. No action. Renters contact the Health Department and made to pay for inspection. Meth contamination confirmed. House condemned. No prior report made to city.

Complaint-driven system PARTIAL FAIL.

As far as I can tell, Bellingham's complaint-driven system failed miserably in all of these cases. On what basis might one defend it then? Beats me. Complaint- driven systems are inherently and demonstrably unable to capture the extent of the danger presented by poorly maintained and un-inspected rental housing. Furthermore, there is no reason to hang onto the shaky remnants of such code enforcement systems and "build" upon them. It is a waste of effort, time and money. The city's own inadequate and poorly presented statistics on the risibly few reported violations are prima facie evidence that you cannot count on the knowledge of either the tenant or the landlord when it comes to assessing the condition of a rental home.

We need a system like so many other across the country in which periodic inspections are made of all rental units. Washington State law specifically provides for this.

Will someone have to die in one of these rentals before we establish an effective program to inspect them? We almost achieved that with the 24th St. fire where several were grievously injured. Since these registration/licensing and inspection programs can easily pay for themselves from the fees gathered, whose interests are being served by not creating a robust ordinance?

The mayor and her staff will be proposing a plan and a draft ordinance in the next few days. Pay attention to the inspection portion of what comes forward. If that is missing or weak, we essentially continue our present complaint-driven system with its terrible consequences.

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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.