Proposed rental ordinance would require landlord registration, unit inspections

BARSTOW — Barstow landlords could be required to register their units and have them inspected every two years under a ordinance being developed by the city.

Inspections would be performed by city code enforcement officials for $100 every two years, said Jeanette Hayhurst, project manager for housing for the city. Registration would be a one-time $50 fee. She said the inspections would be conducting using federal housing standards and are needed to ensure that both landlords and tenants keep their properties compliant with housing code.

“It’s not just about Section Eight or low income housing. We are looking at the benefit and enjoyment for all of Barstow’s 23,000 citizens. We need to provide safe, habitable housing for everyone,” Hayhurst said.

Hayhurst said that the city formed a committee with representatives of landlords, property management companies and municipal organizations to devise the ordinance. She said that the city will be seeking public comment about the ordinance in the future.

Carmen Hernandez, a longtime social worker and member of the committee, said that residents were concerned that neighborhoods were starting to deteriorate.

“The perceived problem was that the community was going downhill, that property was not being managed,” she said.

Hayhurst said that while working as the city’s housing coordinator, she received several complaints from residents blaming Section Eight housing-subsidy recipients for increasing crime rates and poorly-maintaining their homes. In March 2007, the City Council approved hiring consultant Patricia Neal to study the issue.

Neal found that only 151 Barstow families participate in the Section Eight Housing Choice Voucher program. Under the voucher program, families of four who make less than $29,000 annually can qualify for federal government subsidy to pay up to two-thirds of their rent. Renters can live anywhere but landlords must apply with the federal program and undergo yearly inspections of their units. Renters usually live in single family homes as opposed to the multi-unit housing projects found in larger cities, Neal said. Barstow also has three county-run Section Eight housing projects which are separate from the study, she said.

She said that she feels it’s a misconception that aid recipients are completely to blame for poorly kept properties.

“The problem in Barstow isn’t Section Eight, the problem in Barstow is absentee ownership,” Neal said.

She said that the study found that more than 40 percent of landlords in one section of Barstow did not live in the community. She said that in many cases out-of-town owners do not properly maintain their units or even give contact information for their tenants.

“It’s not just low-income, this goes all the way up the chain,” she said.

She said that California faces a grave housing shortage and said that Barstow with its low rents is a magnet for tenants seeking affordable housing. She said that fair market rent in San Bernardino county is $974 compared to around $650 in Barstow. Neal said that she hopes the proposed rules change will encourage property owners to better maintain their units.

“The inspection program will make sure that all residents have a safe, clean lean decent place to live,” she said.

Mary Ann McClure, owner of Area Rentals, which manages property for more than 200 landlords said that she’s not bothered by the required inspections.

“That’s the kind of homes we’d represent, the kind that would pass inspections. It’s those who wouldn’t pass that give the rest of us a bad name,” she said.

Barstow resident Anna Clark said she’s happy the city may require inspections. Clark lives in a one bedroom apartment on Otis Avenue that has a cement floor severely dilapidated bathroom. She said the landlord is in the process of remodeling but the repair process has been delayed.

“I hope we can get it fixed soon,” she said.

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