Liberty councilors ask staff to draft stronger exterior property-maintenance rules aimed at absentee landlords

Ms. Sharp opened a Sept. 15 discussion of Liberty’s nuisance and minimum property-maintenance code, telling the council that constituents had reported houses with peeling paint, broken vents and rotted windows that were lowering neighborhood values and making properties hard to sell.

The meeting focused on whether to add clearer, enforceable exterior standards to the city’s nuisance code and how enforcement would work, especially for absentee landlords who do not live in Liberty. Tiffany McGinnis, the city’s nuisance officer, explained the city’s current complaint-driven process: “If you email me an address, usually, I’ll touch base with the person. I’ll go out that day if possible. And if I can see it from the street, then I can address it,” she said, describing a notice period that typically gives 10 days to correct a violation, a common two-week extension on first requests, and a 30-day notice requirement between issuing a citation and a…