Unhealthy Homes: 'Gutted' New Orleans ordinance allows
landlords to neglect run-down properties
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Dwayne Fatherree | Read the full piece here
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Friend,
It's been almost 20 years since fair housing advocates suggested
the idea of a "healthy homes" ordinance to protect New
Orleans renters from substandard housing units and unfair landlords.
In November, following over a decade of organizing by the Louisiana
Fair Housing Action Center
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, HousingNOLA
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, Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative
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and others, advocates and renters thought they were finally going to
see a dream realized. After months of negotiations, legislation
creating a registry for rental properties and establishing a schedule
for inspections was up for final adoption before the New Orleans City
Council.
Instead, Councilman J.P. Morrell, the sponsor of the ordinance,
introduced an extensive amendment that, while adding short-term
rentals to the mix, stripped away the inspections that gave the
proposed law its legs.
"I can't imagine having to put in a card opposing a
healthy homes ordinance offered by the city of New Orleans, but we
find ourselves here today after this very effective and very essential
legislation has been effectively gutted by the vote you just
took," HousingNOLA Executive Director Andreanecia Morris told
Morrell at the city council meeting where the revised ordinance was
adopted. "We rise in opposition. What you have today is not good
enough. It is not good enough for the people of New Orleans."
While the ordinance as enacted does include protection from landlord
retaliation against tenants who file complaints with the city, it also
depends on those tenants risking that blowback to report unsafe or
unsanitary conditions. In practice, this does not offer much
protection to renters, because if a renter is behind on paying their
rent or technically not in compliance with other provisions of their
lease, they can still face retaliation for those reasons.
A centuries-old problem
The deteriorating condition of New Orleans' housing stock is not
a new development. One of the oldest cities in the U.S., the Crescent
City has an equally old selection of homes. Add the issues of
drainage, storms and poverty, and it is easy to see how the shelf life
of some of the older structures that give the city its charm can also
contribute to its structural weakness. What's more, many
landlords live in other areas of the country and appear to be less
interested in keeping up their properties than in collecting rent.
"New Orleans is unique in that so much of our rental housing
stock is very old in general," said Cashauna Hill, director of
the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center. "This is a city that
is 300 years old. What we find is that it is not just low-income
renters who are forced to deal with substandard living conditions.
Because there are no health and safety standards and no rules about
the ways in which landlords must engage in the business of renting
housing, tenants at all income levels are left to hope that they have
a landlord who will be fair and who will make repairs as
needed."
Even when landlords are not responsive to requests for repairs, the
fear of being evicted or blacklisted for reporting problems keeps many
tenants from speaking up. Renters who were interviewed for this story,
in fact, did not want their names disclosed for fear of retaliation.
All of them related stories of issues running the gamut from leaking
plumbing; holes in floors, walls and ceilings; broken or nonexistent
appliances; mold, rot, insect and vermin infestations.
Relying on the anti-retaliation provision alone is insufficient and
risky for renters, said Clara Potter, a staff attorney with the
Southern Poverty Law Center's Economic Justice Practice Group,
which is supporting the efforts of fair housing advocates.
Eliminating the affirmative inspections was a blow to organizers and
renters because, Potter said, "If landlords know they are going
to be on the hook no matter what their tenant says to the city,
that's a much stronger set of protections for the tenant."
READ MORE
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