By Mark Scheer
A group of city landlords is hoping to convince Mayor Paul Dyster to reconsider plans for a registration program in Niagara Falls.
Members of the Niagara Falls Landlord Association say the landlord registration proposal — which is slated to be signed into law by Dyster on Monday — does little to protect residents and would result in undue hardship for the majority of rental property owners in the city.
“I’ve come with a belief that there’s a lot of opportunity here,” said Joe Faraci, a Falls rental property owner from Canada who opposes the plan. “But, as government here begins to implement things like the rental registration, it is only going to further suppress having investors that want to put in money and want to help. That is going to suppress that here and they are not going to want to come.”
Association members say they were not consulted prior to last month’s city council decision to approve a measure that would force them to file registration forms with the city at least every two years. Members of the landlord group say contact information, addresses and telephone number for most landlords are already readily available inside City Hall. They say city officials looking to crack down on delinquent rental property owners should consult existing tax and property records if they are having trouble finding a questionable landlord. Rental property owners would face filing fees if they fail to register within 60 days of the law’s effective date of May 1. Association members view the proposal as little more than a money grab.
“It’s about fees,” said Faraci. “It’s not about the health and safety of the tenants.”
Ken Hamilton, a contributing columnist for the Niagara Gazette who is serving as a spokesperson for the landlord organization, does not believe the proposal will accomplish its intended goal, which is to make it easier for city officials to contact landlords who aren’t taking care of their properties.
“How do you contact them to tell them you’ve got to come in to register when you can’t call them already?” Hamilton said.
Companies owning large numbers of rental units in the Falls are among those targeted by the proposal. Hamilton contends that companies own about 10 percent of the available rental units in the city. Of those, he maintains, only a fraction would be found out of compliance with local housing codes.
“The biggest concern is government telling you to do something that will not yield the results that they want,” Hamilton said. “The biggest slap in the face is that they did this resolution without once consulting any of the people who actually rent out homes.”
The proposal was put together by city officials with help from local block club members who have for years complained about delinquent rental property owners and the city’s inability to haul them into court. If Dyster signs it, landlords with non-owner occupied apartments and rental houses would have a 60-day period from the May 1 start date to avoid having to pay fees for the registration. After the 60-day grace period, owners of buildings with one or two rental units will be charged a $25 registration fee. Owners of rental properties with three or more units will be charged $40.
Failure to file would result in penalties. First-time offenders would face fines between $250 and $500. A second conviction within a 12-month period could result in a penalty as high as $2,500.
Emma Chapman, who co-owns Rainbow Property Management on Main Street in Niagara Falls, says the proposal adds another burden to landlords who are already dealing with rising costs in other areas. Chapman said a licensing program implemented by the city years ago did not take down delinquent landlords as intended and she’s not convinced this program will work either. What it will do, she predicts, is prompt more landlords to walk away from their properties, leaving the city responsible for what is left behind.
“Landlords have a phrase,” she said. “What they say is they basically puke the property back up on the city. In other words, they just walk away and say ‘you know what, keep it.’ It’s not even worth it for me to pay the taxes, pay the insurance, try to fix it up and try to look for decent tenants.”
Members of the landlord association are calling on Dyster to reject the proposal. The mayor said Friday he plans on signing the legislation during the council’s 4 p.m. worksession Monday. He is also planning to approach the council at a later date with some amendments he believes are necessary.
Some association members plan to attend Monday’s meeting to express their concerns to city lawmakers. They also have scheduled meetings with other local and state officials.
“This is a bad regulation,” Hamilton said. “It is discriminatory. They did not pass a similar regulation on the commercial property holders who own the storefronts that are abandoned. They did all of this under the guise of the safety and the health of the tenants. It does nothing to meet the safety and the health of the tenants.”
Dyster said he will continue to field comments from landlords and provide them to city council members as they work to approve amendments where appropriate.
“Our interest is not to go after the good landlords,” Dyster said.
Contact reporter Mark Scheer at 282-2311, ext. 2250
