Landlords push back on proposed rental-registration rules; city asked for fiscal details

Several members of the public and landlord representatives addressed the governing body to raise concerns about a proposed rental registration or landlord-licensing ordinance that staff had discussed earlier.

"What is the cost of the license? What is the inspection fee going to be?" asked Greg DeBacker, a landlord who said he wanted a clear fiscal note before the city moves forward. DeBacker and other landlords said licensing costs would likely be passed to tenants and warned that small, "mom-and-pop" landlords could be driven from the market by new fees and inspection burdens.

Steve Bogle (Bogle/Vogel in the record), president of the Shawnee County Landlords Association, asked whether landlords who are delinquent on taxes or serial code violators would be granted licenses and whether vacant units would be allowed to be rented before inspections. "Why do you need to have licensing and mandatory inspections? Won't this mean that you will just cite violators for violating two ordinances instead of just one?" he asked, urging the council to focus on enforcing existing property-maintenance codes.

Speakers said they had not seen a fiscal estimate tied to the ordinance and requested details about inspection staffing levels and inspection timelines. City officials present did not adopt the ordinance at this meeting; several council members said they wanted additional details and fiscal analysis before advancing a licensing proposal.