COLUMBUS, Ohio — As Columbus City Councilmembers work toward finishing legislation for its Housing For All initiative, they continue to discuss ways in which there can be more accountability when it comes to rental properties and landlords.
"We have to have accountability. There has to be stronger accountability for if you're going to be providing housing in the city of Columbus,” councilmember Nick Bankston said.
City Council announced the Housing For All legislative package in March 2023, with a goal of passing 13 pieces of housing policy in 18 months. So far, seven policies have been passed. With several more to go, councilmembers explained some roadblocks they’ve encountered which they’re finding ways to work around.
"My office has opted to shift our efforts in another policy that will allow us to achieve some of the same goals,” Bankston said.
Bankston is referring to their efforts to create a rental registry in the city. It would serve as a resource allowing tenants and regulators to contact owners of rental properties when issues arise. It would also establish a sustainable revenue stream to support rent-based initiatives like affordable housing. Due to legal complications, Bankston said he is instead proposing an ordinance requiring property owners to designate a local agent in charge.
"They will be required to provide their contact information where they can be reached in the event of an emergency at the property which is something that we don't currently have,” Bankston said.
The local agent would also be required to be physically located in Franklin County or an adjacent county approved by the city. Bankston said the hope is to crack down on predatory bad actors.
Dimitri Hatzifotinos, an attorney representing the Columbus Apartment Association, said the increase in revenue could be counterproductive to the council’s other goals.
"If you do a rental registry and you charge per unit on a rental registry, you are gonna increase the cost to live for a tenant… and when those rents go up, that is gonna cause more evictions, that is gonna cause more people to have to be dispossessed from their housing,” Hatzifotinos said.
Councilmembers also discussed several other initiatives, including creating requirements for landlords to notify tenants about rent increases with landlords giving at least 90 days' notice for rent increases of 3% or higher
"We didn't see just a double increase, we saw triple and sometimes quadruple the rent increase in our community. I don't know very many people that can navigate that,” councilmember Shayla Favor said.
The council is also working on legislation to provide counsel in eviction court and regulations for housing wholesalers, all of which they’re hoping to vote on before the end of the year.