Cape landlords opposed to rental inspection program

Cape Girardeau landlords quickly voiced their opposition to a proposed rental inspection plan Thursday, as attendees interrupted city planners presenting an outline of the program.

About 100 landlords met with city officials to discuss the proposal at the Osage Centre. The meeting room was filled to capacity well before 7 p.m.

Terry Lee, a landlord who owns 12 properties in Cape, opened the question-and-answer session by saying he didn't see any benefits to the program.

"I can't imagine how this would benefit me," Lee said. "I've been a contractor for 30 years, before I started being a landlord, and I know how to maintain my properties. That said, I have three duplex buildings that were all built before 1917, and if an inspector goes in there with a code book, he'll find so many things wrong that I'll just have to tear the buildings down. You can inspect them all at one time, but I can't fix them all at one time."

The main concern voiced by landlords at the meeting was the accountability of renters.

Lee said that although there is a small percentage of people in the city who don't maintain their properties, those people are usually tenants, a comment that was met with applause.

Kevin Harris, who owns one residential property, agreed with Lee and said the city should establish a system where landlords can report destructive renters and have them removed from their property quickly.

"When is the government going to protect the landlord as well as the tenant?" Harris asked.

Several landlords asked city planners what, if any, protection was provided in the proposal to landlords whose properties no longer met code because of damage by occupants.

Assistant city manager Ken Eftink said he was aware of the landlords' concerns about problem tenants and one of the goals of the proposal is to give landlords the ability to rid themselves of renters who would have otherwise required a drawn-out legal process to evict.

"One of the things you can tie to license and occupancy is that if a property fails to meet code, the license on that property can be pulled and the occupant will have to vacate the unit. So that is something that could protect landlords in that situation," Eftink said.

Eftink said occupants of units neglected by landlords would be forced to vacate the premises until it was brought back up to code, leaving a question as to how renters would be compensated in that situation.

Bill Joiner, who has been in the construction business for more than 50 years in the area, said the proposal is not only unnecessary but impractical.

"As far as the inspectors are concerned, you have a lot of people who don't want strangers in their house," Joiner said. "That means I have to have someone there to show the inspector through the house, and that's money out of my pocket.'"

If approved, the program would require all rental units, excluding hospital, nursing home, dorm and hotel rooms, to obtain a certificate of compliance issued by the city that would cost landlords $25 to $35 per unit each year. Approved units would then undergo initial inspections and be subject to follow-up inspections every three years.

According to Neil Conrad, property maintenance manager for the city of Cape Girardeau, inspectors will be looking for exterior violations, including broken windows, failing foundations, deteriorated roofs, damaged staircases and overgrown vegetation. Owners would also be cited for interior violations such as exposed electrical wiring, broken smoke detectors and water leaks.

Landlords at the meeting said such a wide-scale program is unnecessary considering there are so few properties that need repair and with 47 percent of Cape Girardeau's residents renting, the proposal seemed more like a moneymaking scheme for the city rather than a necessary measure.

With the majority of the landlords appearing to oppose the proposal, Eftink said, the program was not set in stone and the reason for the meeting was to get landlords' feedback so they could make changes before it went in front of the city council.

ssemmler@semissourian.com

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