Holding landlords accountable

I'll have more to say about this later in the week, and on Shooting the Bull on Sunday night, but this N&O editorial makes some of the basic points.

New rules coming up for a vote on the full City Council would require that all Raleigh rental properties be registered with the city. Their owners would pay an annual fee of $30. Own more than one unit in a building? The charge is $10 a year for each extra unit. Importantly, police could fine owners $100 for loud parties.

Despite complaints that the annual fee amounts to a de facto rent increase, these sums are reasonable and well-targeted. The money will pay for a staff to find and respond to problems related to the PROP ordinance. And all rental properties will be on record, as they should.

This is what the ordinance has needed all along, a dedicated staff, a complete list of rentals and some teeth. Solid, problem-solving enforcement will help bring more properties into good repair, and induce problem tenants to behave better. That helps renters, unit owners and their neighbors -- at 3 a.m. and all the time.

Wanna be a landlord? Guess what? You're now in business. And, like all businesses, you need a business license.

Got a problem with that?

Let me get the world's smallest violin out again.