Greenfield, Massachusetts, housing advocates and a tenants union notched a victory this week as the city council approved a rental registry ordinance.
Supporters say it’s intended to keep rental units safe - as well as the people living inside them.
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Joining communities like Amherst and South Hadley, Greenfield became the latest to establish a registry for rental properties Wednesday.
Shepherded in part by Council Vice President John Garrett, the ordinance means most landlords with occupied rental units will need to seek permits, detailing their units to the city’s Health Department while completing various self-inspections and “periodic mandatory inspections by the city” in certain cases.
“We're trying to ensure safe and sanitary conditions in Greenfield's rental housing stock, promote and protect the health with safety and wellbeing of rental tenants and other Greenfield residents, meet health regulations for tenants and landlords…,” he said, reading from the ordinance’s official “purpose.” “… provide clear and accessible operating guidelines and safety conditions for the operation of rental properties under the authority granted by the health code [and] increase awareness of health regulations and maintain inspection schedules that are predictable for landlords and tenants.”
Without getting into details, Garrett and others noted the city of 17,600 had tried tackling potential registries in the past, only for little to come to fruition.
But, amid statewide and local pushes to boost housing as well as renewed tenants rights awareness, complete with a recently created “Greenfield Tenants Union,” the proposal resurfaced earlier this year and grew from there.
Kat Miller, who helped launch the tenants union, spoke in favor of the ordinance – and how a health code violation was key to her winning an eviction fight she had been navigating.
“The rental registry is not designed to punish landlords, especially those who have been responsible for the health and welfare of their tenants. Rather, it's an effort to ensure tenants in Greenfield live in apartments that meet basic health and safety standards,” Miller said. “Does my rotting, leaking door meet that standard? If the rental registry and yearly inspection mandate had been in place for the last ten years, there would be absolutely no ambiguity regarding my landlord's knowledge of the damage. Instead, he can plead ignorance.”
“As a tenant in a very precarious situation, I could not be in more support of the rental registry,” Miller added.
The ordinance was not met with universal support. As Garrett and other speakers noted, some landlords expressed concern over certain stipulations – including the $30 per unit permit fee and various fines.
Speaking on behalf of the Realtor Association of the Pioneer Valley, Dawn Ruffini said “good intentions do not always produce good policy,” and raised the prospect that, in an area where getting house projects off the ground can be burdensome – extra hoops for property owners to jump through might not help with the housing shortage.
“With approximately 3,600 rental units representing 45% of Greenfield's housing stock, we're talking about establishing and managing an entirely new regulatory program, “ Ruffini posited. “What will that cost to taxpayers? How much additional staffing will be required and what evidence demonstrates that this program will actually improve the housing conditions? Massachusetts already has … codes, and they already have inspection procedures and enforcement mechanisms designed to address unsafe housing. I believe focusing on addressing and enforcing the laws already in place before creating another layer of regulation makes more sense.”
The ordinance ultimately passed 10-1, with one councilor abstaining.
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Audio for this story was provided by Greenfield Community Television.
