Council revisits ordinance to require disclosure of rental fees; staff to finalize standard form and bilingual template

Councilmember Moore revisited an ordinance to enact Section 120.03 requiring disclosure of rental fees and costs for leased residential properties in Fayetteville. The ordinance was left on the agenda at prior meetings and remains scheduled for the upcoming regular council meeting.

Moore thanked staff for convening focus groups and for producing an English and Spanish template form; she said the ordinance should require disclosure of primary advertising locations where rental costs are shown and asked the attorney’s office to propose concise language that is least burdensome for property owners while ensuring the disclosure is meaningful. Moore said her intent is to offer the form as a courtesy or guide rather than a mandatory fillable obligation.

Nut graf: councilmembers emphasized they want clarity about what the council will vote on and avoid changing language on the dais. Staff and the city attorney were asked to provide a final draft and to circulate competing shorter templates provided by stakeholders for review; Moore said staff would attempt to finalize the ordinance amendments by the end of the week so the council could vote on Tuesday.

Councilmembers debated whether the ordinance should reference an administrative form and whether the administration should maintain and update the form rather than codifying it in the ordinance; Moore and other members said they preferred staff to administer form content and to reserve the ordinance for substantive disclosure requirements. No formal vote took place at the agenda session.

Ending: Staff and the attorney’s office will prepare amended ordinance language and a standardized English and Spanish disclosure template and circulate revisions to councilmembers before the regular meeting.