Merced officials are once again studying the rental registration

For more than two years in Merced, California, the possibility of implementing a rental registration ordinance in the city has been under study in order to help strengthen the enforcement of the city code and sanction those landlords who are negligent with their properties or abuse their tenants.

The first time rental registration was studied at the Merced city council was during some council meetings held in 2021. At that time, the proposal included other aspects, but after lengthy discussions with social leaders and local residents, it was ultimately rejected.

The purpose of this “rental registration” ordinance is to require all those who have rental properties to register in a database created specifically for them. By registering, landlords will be obligated to pay a fee, and with the money collected, inspections of the homes will be carried out, more measures would be created to protect housing and the tenants occupying them, and finally, the city code enforcement services would be improved.

Not all landlords with rental properties would be required to pay these fees because this new law would implement some exceptions to this payment, such as self-certification and exemptions for newer homes.

With the inspections carried out on the properties, the conditions of the property and compliance with the city code will be determined. If the property is in poor habitability conditions or if the landlord is committing any violation of the code, they could receive a fine and would be obligated to repair or remedy the aspect that led to their non-compliance.

To enforce this ordinance, it would be necessary to hire qualified individuals to carry out the creation of the database, the inspections, and to verify that both the property and its owner comply with the requirements of the Merced city code.

This would become the main argument for why the ordinance was not approved the first time. Hiring people dedicated specifically to this rental registration would become an extra economic burden and a significant investment that the Merced city council could not sustain.

The ordinance now has more supporters because they believe that this new regulation could help all those tenants who have difficulties with housing and the conditions they are forced to endure and would protect landlords who offer housing with good habitability capacity. In addition to this, the measure would serve to improve community safety and prevent possible tragedies due to poor property conditions.

On the other hand, opponents argue that it would be an unjustified investment since the measures implemented by the city code are sufficient to address all the aspects that this new ordinance intends to implement. They assert that both California legislation and that of Merced have the strongest tenant rights in the United States.

They also claim that implementing this new regulation in the city, as happened in the cities of Fresno and Modesto, is investing a large amount of money and personnel that is unnecessary, especially if this money could be used to create other measures that help the city with other more important problems that Merced has.

In order not to conclude the topic of rental registration without thoroughly analyzing the benefits or drawbacks it would bring to the city of Merced, a recent council meeting determined to send a commissioner to the city of Fresno to study the operation of the registration and effectively verify the pros and cons that this measure brings to landlords, tenants, and the city.

For the moment, the city of Merced is preparing its draft of the rental registration ordinance, and when all the important aspects are analyzed, it will be presented to the council for approval or rejection.

Available Foreclosures:

Merced: 150 homes available.

Fresno: 200 homes available.

Modesto: 180 homes available.

By Elías DaSilva | 14 de Noviembre de 2024