Houston-area residents and landlords provided feedback to city officials throughout February and March on the city’s proposed apartment inspection ordinance, which seeks to regulate high-risk properties.
Council members Tiffany Thomas and Mayor Pro Tem Martha Castex-Tatum held their second apartment inspection community meeting March 5. Officials from various city departments, including City Council, the fire department, and Housing and Community Development, also spoke to attendees and helped with questions and concerns.
The setup
The current proposed ordinance would require properties that have been deemed high risk to be added to a High-Risk Apartment Inspection Program. A property would be considered high-risk if it is among the top five properties with the most 311 complaints about health or safety, or has more than 10 verified safety or health concerns within six months.
Properties in that program will remain on a list of high-risk properties for six months or until they have resolved violations or residents are no longer living in the property of concern, according to the ordinance.
What landlords are saying
During outbreak sessions at the community meeting, which was split between residents, landlords and tenant management, attendees voiced thoughts about the ordinance as written and shared their experiences.
Lupita Castillo is a property manager and said that she wants this ordinance to provide a realistic timeline for landlords and property managers.
“We can’t just go and buy some of the stuff that needs to be done,” Castillo said. “You can’t just go and buy a $2,500 AC unit. We would love to do that, but sometimes that’s just not realistic, especially if 29 of them are broken.”
Some landlords and property managers said the ordinance put too much on them, and not on residents.
Other feedback included:
Requiring tenant cooperationAdding tenant responsibilityDifferentiating high-risk vs. low-risk violationsAn appeal processA process for notifying about transfer of ownershipWhat residents are saying
During residents’ outbreak sessions, many spoke on issues they have dealt with from their landlords or property managers.
Some of the issues include:
MoldBedbugsLong wait times for emergency repairsFire code violationsLack of smoke detectorsWater leaksBreak-ins and security concernsRodent infestationsSome residents suggested requiring landlords to provide other housing while issues are addressed, requiring management to provide the contact information for city departments to call for any issues they may have and providing regulations for mold issues.
Offering input
Castex-Tatum said this has been a great opportunity to educate both owners and residents on the expectations of each other and the city.
“Houston is growing; it’s important to continue to have great spaces that people can live in,” she said. “We do have lots of old properties in the city, but we want to make sure we are supporting those developers so that people have new and better spaces to live in.”
What’s next
The city will have a joint committee meeting between the Economic Development and Housing committees March 30. Within 30 days after the meeting, the ordinance will be put on the agenda for City Council to vote on.