Rental property owners in East Baton Rouge Parish will be required to register their properties annually with the city-parish, subject themselves to regular inspections and submit to other new regulations under an ordinance being introduced next week by Metro Councilwoman Tara Wicker. “Baton Rouge, unlike many other cities around the country, does not have a system to holds renters to any minimum standards for their properties,” Wicker says. “This will allow us to establish those standards in an attempt to eliminate substandard housing throughout our parish.”
Wicker says she’s been working on the ordinance for the past two years with the Department of Public Works, which would oversee the inspections and enforcement of the new regulations. Those who violate the new regulations would be subject to a $100 to $500 fine per violation. See the complete proposed ordinance here. An annual registration fee of $20 per structure should cover inspection and enforcement costs, Wicker says. Nursing homes, group homes, hotels, motels, dormitories and publicly owned housing would be exempt from the regulations.
Buddy Amoroso, president of the Baton Rouge Apartment Association, which represents about 30,000 rental units, says landlords are opposed to the ordinance. He says the problems with housing stock are “a code enforcement issue.” “The whole ordinance is flawed,” he says. The Department of Public Works doesn’t have the staff to do these inspections.” Amoroso says he’s concerned the measure could lead to higher rents, which would price people out the very bottom end of the market. For the full story, click here. —Steve Sanoski and Timothy Boone
