Letters: Rein in absentee landlords

Columbia needs a sharp and enforceable law to deal directly and quickly with the few landlords who hold our neighborhoods hostage.

Bad landlords know the dodges: stalling, appealing, 90 days to respond, false statements, fines that are never collected. They know that higher rents can be had by exceeding zoning limits, ignoring code requirements and charging by the room. With average rents between $1,800 and $4,000, profit feeds the greed. Blight and decline soon set in.

One garbage cart can’t handle one week’s worth of trash produced by eight residents. Cars clutter the streets as driveways were designed for two. Parties spill into streets because houses no longer have living or dining rooms.

Renters are at risk when building modifications are made without permit. Just four years ago, seven University of South Carolina students nearly lost their lives in an Olympia house modified without permit and illegally rented by the room.

No one wants the government meddling in their business. Permits and oversight can be annoying and tedious. But neighborhoods suffer a much heavier burden when landlords turn a blind eye to the destructive behavior of their tenants.

Without an enforceable ordinance, government is unable to monitor and fine nuisance properties. The end result: City residents lose the quiet enjoyment of their homes, and Columbia loses its family housing stock, ensuring the eventual decline of our inner city.

Kudos to our City Council for moving forward in adopting a landlord ordinance to address the plague of nuisance properties.

This story was originally published April 24, 2016 at 3:33 PM with the headline "Letters: Rein in absentee landlords."