I am writing in support of a Waterville rental property registration ordinance (“Waterville City Council delays vote on housing rental registration ordinance,” Jan. 17).
The intent of the proposal is to promote safe housing. It would be nice to believe that all rental properties are up to city and state codes, and that every landlord who becomes aware of problems on their rental property that put their tenants’ health and safety at risk takes prompt remedial action. But we all know that is not true for every Waterville landlord.
Therefore the proposed Waterville rental property registration, which requires rental property owners to register annually at no cost their income-producing units, sign a statement swearing their units meet city and state health and safety codes, have their units available for inspection on a rotating schedule, and provide current contact information seems quite fair and reasonable to me.
Renting property is a business, and this is not the only business with requirements for yearly registration and health and safety inspections by code officers to ensure compliance. It is not appropriate for tenants to simply sign a statement that the units they rent meet city and state codes instead of having their units inspected. Similarly, you would not consider restaurant customers telling a health inspector their favorite restaurant kitchen is up to code instead of it being inspected.
It is inconvenient and perhaps awkward and uncomfortable to open up one’s rental unit for inspection to determine health and safety compliance, but this does not appear to be a violation of privacy rights. We similarly have laws that require our privately owned vehicles to be inspected yearly for safety purposes. If we don’t choose to comply, we don’t get a new registration sticker and are prohibited from using our privately owned vehicle.
Should a rental unit be inspected and a deficiency is found that requires the property owner to make repairs, that is the cost of doing business. Regular inspections are likely to prevent buildings from significant deterioration, and hopefully unexpected costly repairs of such magnitude and severity that a tenant would have to vacate a unit until the repairs are made. A property owner or employee may have to take time off from another job to meet with a code officer or when making arrangements for repairs to be done, but again, that is the cost of doing business.
It is not easy to maintain properties, but like most jobs, running a good business does take time and effort and money.
I am the owner of a multifamily property that I live in with two rental units. I think it fair and reasonable to yearly register my income-producing property at no cost and for my units to be inspected to make sure they are safe.
I am assuming the code enforcement team and any officers that Waterville might hire in the future would fairly implement such an ordinance.
Diane Weinstein lives in Waterville.
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