Item 8FAGENDA ITEM # 8F
OCTOBER 27, 2008
STAFF REPORT
City of Atlantic Beach
Commission Meeting
AGENDA ITEM: Rental Inspection Report
DATE: October 20, 2008
SUBMITTED BY: David E. Thompson, Asst. City Manager
Dale Hatfield, Mayport Road Coordinator
Mike Griffm, Building Official
Mike Classey, Police Chief
Alex Sherrer, Code Enforcement Officer
Erika Hall, City Planner
PURPOSE: The purpose of this report is to discuss the feasibility and desirability of
implementing a successful rental inspection program for the City of Atlantic Beach. Our
basic goal is to assure safe and healthy living conditions while improving the quality of
rental housing in the community. At the conclusion of the report, staff will provide
options and recommendations as to how to best address the problems associated with
residential rental properties in the future.
BACKGROUND: Most of the rental properties in Atlantic Beach aze maintained and
operated in a lawful, professional manner. The majority of rental properties handled by
professional property management companies aze typically self-regulated, and they
typically set high standards relative to the selection of tenants and the condition of the
properties. Many private landlords effectively manage neazby rental units where they can
keep an eye on the tenants and the property. In most cases, the landlords and tenants live
by established leases and agreements, and the quality of the housing remains high.
However, it is the exceptional cases that have raised the issue of implementing controlled
regulation for rental properties in Atlantic Beach.
In the past, a number of residential rental properties have been found to be in very
substandard and sometimes dangerous conditions. Some of the housing conditions were
so unsafe and unhealthy that tenants had to be relocated and the buildings were
eventually demolished. In some cases, the landlords were responsible through their
neglect and lack of maintenance; while in other cases, the tenants virtually destroyed the
buildings through abuse and carelessness. These extreme cases revealed that there were
some deficiencies in the City of Atlantic Beach processes for identifying and addressing
problems in rental housing.
Extreme Cases Tenants: In some cases, tenants are desperate for immediate, inexpensive
housing. These tenants can be exploited by landlords who will provide substandard
housing to people with no deposits, background checks, or leases. People who are
addicted to drugs, mentally ill, and/or engaged in other illegal activities aze particularly
vulnerable to abuse. If the tenant complains about housing conditions, then the tenant is
AGENDA ITEM # 8F
OCTOBER 27, 2008
threatened with immediate eviction. As a result, desperate people live in unhealthy
conditions because they feaz being kicked out on the street.
Extreme Cases Landlords: Some citizens have become landlords due to financial
necessity or as a consequence of the real estate market. As a result, they have no idea
how to effectively screen applicants or how to manage rental property. In some cases,
well meaning landlords have fallen victim to unscrupulous tenants who have great "sob
stories." The new tenant is allowed to move in with no deposits, no leases, no
background checks, and no rent paid. Although they promise the payment is just a few
days away, the money is never collected by the landlord. Finally, the landlord concludes
that the tenant must go, but the landlord has no idea how to evict the tenant. By the time
the landlord completes the eviction process the landlord has lost many months of rental
income while the tenant has lived rent free, and possibly damaged the housing.
Although rental problems may exist in any part of the City, it is appazent that the
Mayport Corridor is a higher risk area for substandard rental units due to the low income
housing availability. It is this azea that typically generates the highest number of
complaints from citizens and officials.
In the past, the City has not taken proactive measures to address the problems with the
rental housing. Landlord/Tenant disputes and disagreements have typically been handled
as civil matters. This essentially means that the dispute is between 2 or more individuals,
and the City has referred the cases to other agencies or organizations to resolve the
disputes. Only in the most extreme cases have Atlantic Beach employees gotten directly
involved in the resolution of such conflicts. As a result of this lack of regulation and
enforcement, both landlords and tenants have been victimized on occasion.
Options: Various local governments have implemented different types of rental
programs after considering the unique factors that help define the communities. For
example, a city that has universities and colleges with 40,000 rental units may promote a
very aggressive rental inspection program. Conversely, a small, high income community
with no "affordable" housing may choose to completely ignore the local rental properties
and let the private home owners associations provide any regulatory oversight necessary.
1. Do Nothing: Doing nothing is always an option. However, due to some extreme
cases that have arisen in the past, it appears that this is not feasible if we wish to
reach our goal of safe and healthy rental housing.
2. Complaint-Based Rental Inspections: These programs can be effective in
addressing rental inspection problems in a community. Essentially, this type of
program establishes a process for accepting, investigating and resolving
complaints in rental housing.
3. Complaint-Based Targeted Rental Inspection Program: The primary difference
between this and #2 above is the focus of the program. A tazgeted program
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OCTOBER 27, 2008
recognizes where the most prevalent problems exist, and the program focuses on
the problem azeas.
4. Universal Rental Inspection Program: This type of program is designed to
identify and inspect every rental property in the jurisdiction. This requires staff to
identify every rental property in the jurisdiction, regardless of the condition or
history of the property management at the various locations, and conduct
inspections on some regular basis. In some communities, every rental property is
inspected every year, while others only inspect a percentage of rental properties
every yeaz.
Pros and Cons
1. Do Nothing:
a. Pros:
i. It costs nothing and does not require expenditure of city resources.
ii. The lack of change does not create any pazticulaz public turmoil or
dissent.
b. Cons:
i. It does not address the problems or accomplish the goals.
ii. The rental housing stock may deteriorate at an accelerated rate
creating an increased blighting affect in some neighborhoods.
2. Complaint-Based Rental Inspections
a. Pros:
i. It only affects locations that aze alleged to have code violations. It
does not require responsible and professional landlords or property
managers to pay fees and schedule inspections that are
unproductive and may be seen as unnecessary.
ii. It should result in a more informed citizenry including tenants,
landlords, and property managers.
iii. Although this type of program will require the commitment of city
resources, it is feasible that the workload could be managed within
the existing staffing without hiring additional employees or
requiring additional, universally applied fees. Extreme violations
and repeat offenders may be assessed fines that may help to cover
administrative costs. Many cities and counties throughout Florida
pay for effective and efficient code enforcement staff through fines
and penalties collected against code violators.
iv. This type of program is less intrusive and less expensive than a
universal program, and as such, it should be less controversial to
the public. If the program does not reach its desired goals and
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OCTOBER 27, 2008
objectives, then the City can always shift to a universal program at
some point in the future.
v. This type program does not give the appearance of overregulation.
b. Cons:
i. Tenants may not make complaints and they may tolerate living in
"bad" housing conditions due to feaz that a complaint could result
in retribution/eviction from the landlord. It is probable that some
problem properties will be missed.
ii. This will require staff to design a process for educating citizens,
and for accepting, investigating, and resolving complaints. Such a
process will require the dedication of city resources to manage the
program.
iii. Since all rental properties will not be inspected, the City will never
be able to conclusively know that all rental properties are in
compliance with City standazds.
3. Complaint-Based Targeted Rental Inspection Program
a. Pros
i. In addition to #2 above, this type of program will be more focused
on the problem areas of the City. As a result, the City will not be
expending unnecessary resources in azeas that clearly aze not in
need of such scrutiny. And, the City will be able to focus the
resources where the problems are most likely to exist.
b. Cons
i. In addition to #2 above, the City will be less likely to find
substandard properties that may exist outside of the targeted azea.
4. Universal Rental Inspection Program
a. Pros:
i. By inspecting every rental property in the City, people can be
assured that virtually 100% of the rental properties are up to the
City standazds and codes.
b. Cons
i. This is the most expensive assignment of City resources. It will
require hiring additional personnel for inspections and
administration.
ii. This is the most controversial type of rental program, and it is
likely to meet with the most resistance from the community. Many
will perceive the fees and inspections to be "unfair" to the
responsible and professional property managers who have
maintained and managed their properties without violations or
incidents.
AGENDA ITEM # 8F
OCTOBER 27, 2008
iii. There is no data that "proves" that a universal program is more
effective than acomplaint-based program.
c. Other
i. The costs of this program can be offset by implementing licensing
fees. However, research has suggested that the fees established by
local governments typically to not cover the costs of the universal
programs.
BUDGET: The impact on the City Budget may vary significantly depending on the
course of action adopted by the City Commission.
RECOIVIIVIENDATIONS: To address this problem, City staff members including
Mayport Road Coordinator Dale Hatfield, Police Chief Mike Classey, Code Enforcement
Officer Alex Sherrer, Building Official Mike Griffin, Principal Planner Erika Hall, and
Assistant City Manager David Thompson compiled information on rental inspection
programs throughout the country. They then attempted to determine the extent of the
problem in Atlantic Beach primarily through anecdotal evidence and experience. After
examining this information, the group came to the following recommendation for the
City Commission:
The group recommends aComplaint-based, Targeted Rental Inspection Program at this
time.
This program would utilize existing personnel and community resources to educate
landlords about the best business practices for property management, and educate tenants
relative to their rights to fair treatment and housing. It would also establish a systematic
complaint process that should result in the inspection of problem rental properties by
appropriate city staff members. Although the program will focus resources in the
Mayport Corridor area, it will be applicable throughout the City. The program will be
evaluated at six (6} months and one (1) year, and in the event that this program does not
achieve the goals of the City, a universal inspection program may be recommended,
ATTACHMENTS: See Addendum discussing Complaint-based, Targeted Program
REVIEWED BY CITY MANAG~_~,
ITEM NUMBER: