Last month the city announced that it would step up enforcement of an ordinance requiring landlords to collect signatures from tenants after reading a list of laws renters have to follow.
Keeping yards clean, turning music down and other rental tips were the focus of this landlord-tenant agreement that was tabbed as purely informational by city officials. But landlords expressed concern over collecting their tenants' signatures, saying that they couldn't hunt them down or they worried about the legality of the ordinance.
That was back in 2006 when the law was first passed.
Nearly two years later the city has threatened to start filing criminal charges against landlords who don't comply. Before that, they sent out non-compliance letters that cost about an extra $3,000 in postage.
That's a lot of time and energy into a campaign that's only supposed to be informational.
While we understand the need to tell renters what's expected of them, we don't really think putting the onus on landlords will yield the best results ' at least when students are involved.
And let's face it, student renters represent the majority of those affected.
Student relationships with landlords are often loose or, at their worst, rocky. Anything coming to renters from their hands could do more harm than good. And at the end of the day, the renter is responsible for the violation, not the landlord. So if the city truly intended to just inform, then there were other, less time-consuming methods.
A strengthened alliance with Ohio University's office of student affairs would put that information in a lot of hands through the Community Assistant program. The city has worked with them in the past and by doing so at a higher level, can educate students about their legal obligations.
Many of the concerns outlined in this agreement are already trumpeted by OU department of off-campus living and, frankly, are just common sense. Keep your yard clean and the noise down.
When people don't follow those rules, they usually know they're in the wrong but don't care ' something no amount of informing can correct.
That problem can only be fixed through increased enforcement or higher fines. A hit to the pocketbook strikes a little harder than a signed, informational packet.
Hopefully the city will sign its name to another policy.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of the executive editors.
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