HOUSING MAINTENANCE PROVES UNIQUE CHALLENGE

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- In a city where a majority of residents are renters who move frequently, housing maintenance presents a unique challenge.

In Carbondale, not only are 70 percent of residents renters, but more than half according to census data have lived in their present home for a year or less.

For the past eight years, the city has relied on a voluntary rental inspection program to ensure the quality of rental housing.

But city officials now are urging the program be expanded and that enforcement be mandatory for all rental units.

Jeff Woodruff of Woodruff Management is a member of a citizens' committee that's studying the issue. His company manages housing for about 1,500 tenants in Carbondale.

He said that in a city where only about 30 percent of the people occupy their own homes, there is a need for government to provide "stabilizing forces" for the housing market.

"Most citizens of Carbondale would agree that there is a need for tenants and landlords to maintain their property," Woodruff said. "What people do not agree on is how to achieve that desired end."

Woodruff said that it's difficult to strike a balance between regulating tenants and landlords to ensure properties are up to code.

"We would like 100 percent compliance," he said, "but we also know that it's likely there will be a certain amount of irresponsible behavior from both landlords and tenants.

"What city staff is looking for is a nondiscriminatory way to assure that all landlords maintain decent, safe and sanitary standards for their properties."

But Bonnie Owen of Bonnie Owen Realty, who manages about 800 units in Carbondale, said there is some apprehension among landlords and property managers regarding possible changes in property code enforcement.

Owen said the added costs of mandatory housing inspections undoubtedly would be passed on to tenants.

"Whatever they decide, I'm going to do," she said. "It's just extra work, and there's going to be a fee that's going to have to be paid. Basically, that's going to end up being a cost for the tenant."

Owen said that she and most property managers in Carbondale willingly concede to inspections anyway.

Shirley Meyer, who manages Goss Properties, agreed. She said she favors property maintenance codes, but that the city will have difficulty relying on mandatory inspections to catch those properties they might now be "falling through the cracks."

"Carbondale has a situation where a couple of people violate the codes, and it's going to be difficult to stop that," Meyer said. "It's hard to legislate behavior."

Owen said many landlords believe the current code enforcement program works fine.

"I think in general, the code's been good," she said. "I have a little bit of a problem with the idea that now they're going to force it on us, and they don't enforce it on other people.

"They're targeting a group that owns rental property, and there are probably as many violations with residential property."