Talk of an ordinance that would create a license for apartment owners has some local landlords upset about unfair treatment, but proponents say a law of that sort would improve the standard of living in Austin.

It is all still preliminary; there are no details or proposals. But a presentation at the May 20 council work session by Police Chief Paul Philipp about instituting an ordinance prompted delegates from the Landlord Association to address the council at the meeting Monday night saying enough laws are in place to insure proper management.

"Just to be blunt, I'm inspected to death," association vice president Dawn Taylor said at the meeting. "We don't need any more inspections."

Basically, the ordinance would create a license that landlords would purchase based on the number of units owned. That license could then be suspended or revoked for poor housing conditions or if the police department receives too many calls in to a particular unit.

It would work with the Crime Free Multi-Housing program already in place in Austin, which educates landlords about safety issues and helps them to make sure their complexes are safe.

"Owning and running a rental property in the city of Austin should not be just a right, but should be a licensed privilege that people have," Philipp said.

He said owners are responsible for keeping their properties clean and crime-free for the sake of neighborhoods and the city.

"Their source of income affects not only the people living there, but also the people around them and the whole community," he said.

Among the seven council members, Pete Christopherson has made the biggest effort to push the issue along. Both he and Philipp said absentee landlords are often the worst.

"Some of these landlords, they don't have a stake in this town," Christopherson said. "They live two or three hundred miles away, just wanting to get a rent check."

Local landlords say it's not fair

Taylor manages Murphy's Creek and Whittier Place. She said landlords are swamped with inspections already.

The fire department and landlords already do inspections, she said, and in some cases the Housing and Redevelopment Authority and the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency also inspect rental units.

Walter Baldus, owner of Baldus Property L.L.C., said an ordinance would hold the wrong people responsible for illegal action.

"The difficulty is that people that rent from you, you have very little control over their behavior," he said.

The cost of licenses is also a concern.

No price has been mentioned yet in Austin, but Taylor said even a $20 per unit per year fee would be a burden for owners who already run clean, safe complexes.

"My buildings will pass; I know they will," she said. "But why should my owner pay $2,400 per year just to be a landlord in Austin when they're already a responsible landlord?"

She said the cost will probably have to be added to rent.

"You know where I'm going to tack it on to," she said. "I'm going to tack it on to the tenant's rent. The tenants are going to end up paying for it."

She also expressed concern that the city would be licensing itself. The city owns a number of apartment complexes in Austin including the Twin Towers, Chauncey and Courtyard apartments.

"Landlords are worried that the city of Austin is going to put them out of business, and then they'll be the only landlord in Austin," she said.

Rochester has benefited from a licensing system

Christopherson said he has pursued the matter because one of his second-ward constituents at Bremerton Townhomes has brought it up a number of times to him.

Ironically, the owners of that complex, Landmark Properties in Rochester, are some of the staunchest supporters of a licensing system.

Rochester has had what they call the disorderly use ordinance, a similar ordinance to what Austin is considering, since 1999.

Scott Eggert, the Regional Property Manager for Landmark, said that ordinance has really cleaned up the city.

"Our crime rate was ungodly 10 or 12 years ago," he said. "Now it's fallen off the face of the earth. It's really made a difference."

He said landlords were upset when the ordinance first passed, but have since come to appreciate the benefits.

"If you poll 100 owners, 99 out of the 100 would say they would do it again," Eggert said.

The disorderly use ordinance works on a three-strikes-and-you're-out principle.

At a unit's first violation for poor housing conditions or a call in to the police department, landlords are given a warning. For the second violation, they have five days to submit a written plan for dealing with the problem or upon the city council's decision, they could lose their license for one year, pay a fine of one month's rent, and be forced to pay a $100 fee to reinstate the license. The third violation goes directly to the council, which decides how to deal with the issue.

Violations stay on a unit's record for one year.

Darrel Hildebrant is in charge of enforcing the disorderly use ordinance in Rochester. He said there are benefits for both landlords and homeowners because landlords are more likely to do criminal background checks and call references before allowing a tenant to rent. Consequentially, homeowners know that good citizens are moving into the apartments, he said.

"You don't have the neighbor-thing against you," Hildebrant said. "You have good rapport between homeowners and renters."

However, the law has caused difficulties for surrounding communities.

"That's why you guys have a problem, because they can't rent here," Hildebrant said.

Despite the differences of opinion in Austin, both sides of the issue do plan to work together.

"I'm glad (the Landlord Association) came to that meeting the other night," Christopherson said. "I've heard from the tenants, now lets hear from the landlords' side. We'll get a happy medium."

"We certainly intend to work cooperatively with the police department and other officials and do the best we can," Baldus said.