Twilight Zoning in Bellingham: Durham, NH, - Surprise!

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Durham, NH, - Surprise! - Rental Inspections Worked

Durham, NH Where Rental Inspections Worked!

[Note: This article first appeared in NWCitizen]

In 2013 Durham, NH, passed a rental registration and inspection law over the objections of the "rental industry." Within a year, the results demonstrated the need for inspections by unearthing problems the landlords denied existed, especially among professionally managed units. In a report issued by the city of Durham only three months after passage of the law we find this:

"The DLA [Durham Landlord Association] has also argued that it is the non-owner occupied, single family rentals managed by non-professional landlords that represent the problem properties in terms of safety concerns in Durham. The new inspection program does not bear out that contention. Rental properties of all types have been found deficient in meeting fire/safety standards."

The report also indicated:

"Inspection results have substantiated the long-held concerns of the Town’s Code Enforcement Department, Fire Department, Assessing Office, and some members of the Rental Housing Commission – that many rental properties in town do not meet basic health and safety standards as required by state statute putting young and inexperienced, largely college-aged tenants in harms way."

Two years later, the city website reported this to the citizens of Durham:
"Between 2013 and today, a total of 1,784 inspections [bolding mine] have taken place within off campus rental dwelling units (apartments) by the inspection division at the Durham Fire Department. The Fire Department staff has found 4,021 violations [bolding mine] to date, of which 3,213 have been addressed by owners. There are 808 outstanding issues for which re-inspections are required/pending.
The top five life/safety/health deficiencies include:
    Egress/Escape
    Detection/Alarms (smoke/co)
    Electrical violations
    Separation from hazards
    Fire Protection Systems not being property maintained (fire alarms/sprinklers)
Durham's Housing Standards Ordinance is serving the purpose for which it was intended -- to make living conditions much safer for inexperienced students as well as adult tenants living off campus in the broader community."

That sounds like a successful program in a university city.

As in Bellingham, landlords tried unsuccessfully to fight inspections by creating uncertainty about the legality under the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution that spells out the need for warrants for searches and seizures. This specious argument has nothing to do with entering dwelling units for safety and health reasons. In Washington state, landlords already have the right to enter rental units after giving notice. It is ludicrous to posit that a city health and safety inspector operating as an agent of the municipality does not have a similar ability to enter a rental unit with notice. Washington state law also allows issuing administrative warrants to enter units where a tenant or a landlord has refused access. Rental inspectors are just not breaking down doors to find a tenant in his skivvies.

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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.