ABSENTEE-NEGLIGENT LANDLORDS
Absentee landlords who live too far away to visit and inspect their properties regularly, miss maintenance and quality of life issues that can lead to deteriorating, unpleasant or dangerous conditions for tenants and others in the neighborhood, including: Building and safety code violations; accumulation of garbage or debris, which can create conditions that invite vermin infestation; tenants who disturb the peace by blasting music, cranking up the volume on the TV, or throwing loud parties late into the night; and tenants involved in illegal activity like drug dealing.
Properties owned by absentee landlords are a particular problem in our district, and if elected to the City Council, I will push for more oversight and accountability for absentee landlords who are negligent in the upkeep of their properties or who fail to do a criminal background check before a new tenant moves in.
- New leases agreements and lease renewals should include a provision for “quiet hours,” for example: from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. on weekdays and from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m. on weekends. This lease provision should apply to both owner-occupied and absentee landlords.
- All tenants should undergo the same type of screening required before landlords can rent to Section 8 tenants: Drug use; certain types of criminal convictions, like producing methamphetamines; sexual assault or pedophilia; and credit and eviction checks. However, tenancy should not be denied in cases where a sentence is suspended, discharged, legally nullified or vacated, or expunged or sealed (as in the case of juvenile delinquency). This screening requirement should apply to both owner-occupied and absentee owners.
- Instead of levying fines on absentee landlords for building and safety violations, and trying to collect them in Housing Court, I’d like to see these fines added to the absentee landlord’s property tax bill, so a rundown and hazardous property can be auctioned by the city if landlords don’t show up for hearings and fines are unpaid.
- Amend zoning regulations to prevent developers from becoming absentee landlords by taking unfair advantage of “as-of-right” regulations to demolish one- and two-family homes in low- and medium-density neighborhoods and replace them with multi-story dwellings on the parcels of land. These high-density investment properties are over-burdening neighborhood infrastructure, including schools and roadways. Developers should be required to seek the approval of the local Community Board before proceeding with demolition and construction.
