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Kennett staff say rental-inspection program has been gamed; one landlord given July 1 deadline to register properties
Summary
City staff told the council the rental-property inspection/registration program has been in effect six months and that a small number of individuals keep utilities in their names to avoid triggering inspections; a letter gave landlord Eddie Flores until July 1 to register his properties but staff reported no response.
Kennett City staff reported to the council on July 2 that the city’s rental-property inspection and registration program has been in place six months and that staff have uncovered attempts by a few individuals to circumvent the system.
“ The problem that we're having is is kind of a loose hole that was simple. It's, identified at first, but we didn't think much about it. Everything's going good with the rental inspections that we are doing. The problem that we're having is we have probably 4 individuals, that are keeping the utilities in their name to keep from having an inspection,” a staff member said, describing how keeping utilities under a single name has limited the city’s ability to detect new tenants and trigger inspections.
Staff said one person in particular, identified in the meeting as Eddie Flores, was sent a letter giving him until July 1 to have all of his properties registered; staff said they had received no response by the council meeting. “A letter was sent to Eddie Flores giving him until July 1 to have all of his properties registered. So what has happened, he keeps getting 4 properties or the landlords here are signing properties over to him,” the staff member said.
Council discussion opened options for addressing the loophole, including stricter utility-reporting checks and potential administrative enforcement; staff did not report a formal vote or a final enforcement action at the meeting but said they would return with possible solutions for council consideration.
