Agenda - Planning Commission - 10/06/2016

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February 8, 2015 HOME Line advises renters throughout Minnesota through our free tenant hotline. We have six staff attorneys that work on our tenant hotline along with three tenant advocates.We take roughly 15,000 calls per year from Minnesota renters. Additionally, our staff attorneys have produced two books; How to be the Smartest Renter on Your Block,A Minnesota Tenant's Guide and The Landlord's Guide to Minnesota Law. Our hotline began covering Anoka County in 2000. Since then, we have spoken with 293 renter households in the city of Ramsey. 35 of these calls involved repair issues. As in most cities, repair problems are the most common reason renters call us. Ramsey's assessment of the licensing approach of other metro-area communities is consistent with what HOME Line sees. Most cities require a rental license, and most include single-family homes, condos and townhouses in their rental requirements. Furthermore, a quick analysis of 2014 census data, shows that a minimum of 64.3% of Ramsey renter households are in single family homes. In Ramsey, nearly 2/3 of renters, 510 households are in single family. The benefits of licensing requirements are important. Ramsey would get a more accurate view of the types of housing within the city. This is critical in deciding where and how to use city resources. Licensing also helps protect the building stock. But most important is Ramsey's ability to ensure the safety and habitability of all Ramsey residents.As it stands now, renters in Ramsey who happen to rent a single-family home certainly have fewer rights and options to use in solving their problems than renters in larger, more traditional rental housing. Even within the last year, Ramsey residents who rented houses have called us to ask about their rights with various repair issues. Through our tenant hotline, we hear about repair problems throughout the state on a daily basis. The types of problems that we hear about in bigger rental settings are usually different than those in buildings with amateur landlords (landlords who don't necessarily work in the rental industry full-time for a living). If a tenant is renting a single-family home, for instance, it's more likely that the landlord is unaware of applicable federal, state and city rules. It isn't always the case, but many of these landlords adopt a "the property is mine, I can do what I want"attitude,than landlords in larger buildings. Expanding Ramsey's rental license requirement to include single-family houses, townhouses and condominiums would certainly mean more work for the city. It would also mean additional paperwork for landlords, along with a licensing fee. These are the downsides to requiring these new licenses. However, as you noted, most cities have found that the benefits of protecting their residents and housing stock outweigh these downsides, and saves the city money in the long run.