By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green’s rental housing discussion has collided with the chicken-egg dilemma.
Do so few renters report issues to the fire division because there are so few problems? Or are there so few reports because renters aren’t aware of their rights?
Another meeting of City Council’s Community Improvement Committee was held Thursday evening to collect more comments on the possibility of a rental housing registration/inspection program in the city.
The committee – made up of John Zanfardino, Bill Herald and Neocles Leontis – heard from the fire division, a couple renters, a couple landlords, and a neighbor of rental properties.
Commercial buildings, but not residential structures, are already required to have fire safety inspections. At issue is whether landlords should undergo safety inspections that other homeowners don’t – because the rental homes are businesses.
BGSU senior Olivia Cowell told of her problems while living in a rental home on East Merry Street. She reported the home had exposed wires, no smoke detector in the kitchen, no air conditioning upstairs, and no heat in a downstairs bedroom.
“One of my roommate’s hair would get crispy at night,” because it was so cold, Cowell said.
It took a couple weeks, but the landlord responded to her concerns about the smoke detector and air conditioning. The father of one of her roommates did his best to make the unheated room warmer, and the wires remained exposed, she said.
Leontis asked if she contacted the fire department about the wires.
“We didn’t know,” Cowell answered.
Another renter, Anthony Murer, submitted a letter since he could not attend Thursday’s meeting. The letter told of three different homes he rented, where the cold air from the outside moved the curtains inside. In each case, Murer said he was instructed to put plastic on the windows – at his expense. Even with that, his current rental home never gets warmer than 64 degrees, he said.
One of Murer’s rental homes flooded in the basement – leading to black mold. The landlord said it would be taken care of, but did nothing until the renters called the city which said the home could be declared unlivable because of the mold, Murer said.
In another of his rental homes, Murer said rain leaked in, causing the tile ceiling to collapse. The gaping hole in the ceiling remained there till he moved out, he said.
Leontis explained part of his motivation to make sure rental homes are safe.
“My stepdaughter almost died in a fire 10 years ago in Bowling Green,” he said.
According to the fire division, the fire began around a hot water heater that was in a clothes closet in the apartment building on Seventh Street.
The City Council committee asked for a report from the Bowling Green Fire Division about the number of requests made for home safety inspections. Deputy Chief Aaron Baer reported that since 2017, a total of 19 requests have been made – many for foster families whose homes must meet certain standards. No requests came from landlords, while six came from renters.
“You have specific rights. We do not enter your home unless we’re invited,” Baer said.
The number of requests for safety inspections was lower than Zanfardino expected.
“We were under the belief there was a rash (of requests) by parents,” he said.
Baer said the inspections look for fire hazards, issues with egress, electrical problems, and the lack of functioning smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. The detectors are required by insurance companies, which is strong motivation for landlords to provide them..
“These owners don’t want that liability,” he said.
Of the six inspection requests by renters, all had at least one or two violations.
“They worked with me to get them corrected,” Baer said of the landlords. “For the most part, I think the property owners are doing what they need to do.”
Mark Remeis, of A.A. Green Realty, said the information from the fire division shows there is not a widespread problem that requires a registration/inspection program.
Remeis encouraged the council committee to be open minded, and willing to listen to all sides before making a decision.
“We don’t want legislation forced down everybody’s throat,” he said. If that happens, “I can promise you, somebody’s going to push back.”
The number of safety complaints by renters is very small, Remeis said. “We absolutely should address those,” he said. But the laws already in place are enough.
“I care about the prosperity of Bowling Green,” he said.
Remeis suggested the key is education of students and young families who are renting homes. He mentioned the fire that Leontis spoke of – adding that renter education could prevent similar situations.
But Vassiliki Leontis responded that a focus on educating renters is condescending.
“Why don’t the property owners educate themselves to stop doing these things?” she said. “I think education should go both ways.”
Les Barber, a homeowner on North Prospect Street where many houses have been turned into rentals, said he would welcome a “meaningful registration, licensing and inspection program” similar to those already in place in other communities.
“We regulate all kinds of things in our society that constitute potential hazards to people,” Barber said. “As a society, we do protect citizens from harm.”
Such a program could have a secondary benefit of preventing further “degradation” of older historical properties that are being turned into rentals, he said.
Since the 1960s, when BGSU loosened its campus residency requirements, older homes have been bought by landlords to be converted into rentals. Oftentimes those rentals are not cared for as well as homeowner properties, Barber said.
“It degrades the neighborhood. It undercuts property values,” he said.
Connor Rose, of Don Rose Auction & Realty, asked why a rental home would be required to meet standards that many older homes in the city don’t meet. He criticized any proposal that would penalize landlords.
“We are not penalizing,” Neocles Leontis said, adding that the purpose isn’t to be a burden to landlords. But there is a difference, he said. “Rentals are a business.”
Zanfardino agreed.
“In my mind, there is a business – and individuals,” he said.
Rose said he would support such standards, only if all homes in Bowling Green had to comply.
A survey has been created for renters in the community, so the council committee can get a sense of the issues they are experiencing.
A panel discussion with landlords is planned for March 10, from 5 to 6:30 p.m., in council chambers.
The council committee working on the issue has a deadline of April 6 to report back its findings to city administration and city council.
