LETTER TO THE CCO EDITOR: Proposed City Council Ordinance Will Require Every Rental Property To Be Inspected, Regardless Of Age Or Condition

By MONTE FETTER

Managing Broker And President (POMA) Of Property Owners and Managers Association of Evansville

MAY 31, 2023

The Property Owners and Managers Association of Evansville was formed in 2010 by a group of local landlords who wanted to promote better relations between landlords and the city. Our motto is “Promoting Professionalism in Rental Management”. We meet regularly with our members for education and membership networking. Oftentimes, at these meetings, one will find guests such as city officials, inspectors, and candidates. We have always promoted a good working relationship with the city, department heads, and elected officials. We repeatedly tell our members that the city has many resources that can help us and they should look to the city as a partner in our efforts to provide rental housing.

Rental ownership has many hurdles and an owner needs a lot of help if he is to survive this tough business. A rental owner is assessed at twice the rate of property taxes as a homeowner, receives very few exemptions, invests his own time and money in what is often a thankless business, and then has to re-invest if his property is damaged. He also pays a higher mortgage interest rate, higher insurance costs and seldom is eligible to receive any grants or credits from the government. Despite this, if one can last, it does offer some long-term equity advantages for retirement.

Evansville has over 36,000 rental units (over half the city is rentals) and government cannot provide that amount of housing. We have to rely on the citizen investor to provide that level of housing and he needs to be encouraged, not obstructed. This is not a bad person, this is a good citizen, a city asset, and should be promoted and encouraged.

There is now a proposed City Council ordinance being promoted that will require every rental property in the city to be inspected, regardless of age or condition, at a cost to the owner of $50 per unit every year. Within the proposal is a 3-tier program that offers self-certification over a 3 or 5-year period to certain properties. This is a massive shift in the relationship we have had with the city where, now, instead of being looked at as a partner to work with, we are looked at as the opponent. The good landlords, instead of being promoted as a good example, will now be punished for the sins of the few.

This proposal will cause a needless increase in rents to the renter, a tremendous amount of work to the owners and city inspectors, and will result in a massive expansion of the Building Commission. But, worst of all, will be damage to the relationship between the city and local landlords. We have worked very hard to build that relationship over a number of years and, while it is still growing, it has resulted in some very progressive changes in our relations with the Building Commission, Health Department, Human Resources, Evansville Water and Sewer, and other departments. The proposed ordinance will damage that relationship. While the motive behind the proposal may be pure, the method is too great a burden to pay. There are other ways to deal with code violators and POMA is willing to work with the city to those ends but this proposal is just a bad idea. A good ordinance will result in a win-win but everyone will lose if this proposal becomes law.

Respectfully submitted.

Monte Fetter, President

Property Owners and Managers Association of Evansville (POMA)