[Durham INC] Opposition to a bill to limit how housing inspections can be done

[Lorisa Seibel]

In addition to the INC Resolution, I encourage individuals to contact  
their legislators with concerns about these bills in the NC Senate and  
House.
The "Click Here" link below makes it very easy to send a message to  
your representatives.
Please forward this to people across North Carolina.
Thanks.  Lorisa
---
Support Safe Homes for North Carolinians-Urgent Action Needed!

Please contact your legislators about SB 683 / HB 554, Residential  
Building Inspections.

These bills would significantly limit the authority of counties and  
municipalities to properly ensure the safety of a community’s rental  
housing through inspection and registration.

Counties and municipalities need to be able to protect the health and  
safety of all North Carolinians and prevent substandard housing. Safe  
and healthy homes are critical for economic development, children's  
education, and the safety of neighborhoods across our state.

Click here to take action!

This link helps you send a quick message to your legislators.

Please forward to others in North Carolina.

Lorisa Seibel
Durham Affordable Housing Coalition
400 W. Main St. Suite 408, Durham, NC 27701
(919) 683-1185 ext. 25
(fax) 688-0082
Lorisa at dahc.org
www.dahc.org
===
On May 25, 2011, at 11:04 PM, Pat Carstensen wrote:

At the delegate meeting last night, we heard about another bad bill in  
the NC General Assembly.  This is my version of an INC resolution  
against it.  I'm not sure I've read correctly what the bill will do,  
so that may need to be updated.  Regards, pat

----

WHEREAS, rental units in the City of Durham should be maintained in a  
safe and habitable condition and comply with will city codes and  
standards applicable to rental housing in Durham; and

WHEREAS, establishing a cycle of inspections of rental housing units  
in Greensboro and Asheville resulted in a significant decrease in the  
number of complaints and substandard units (while requiring less  
staff); and

WHEREAS, Durham’s Neighborhood Improvement Services has begun a  
promising Periodic Rental Inspection Program; and

WHEREAS, Senate Bill 554, which is currently in the General Assembly,  
would significantly limit the ability of Inspections to do their job  
by, for example, requiring equal treatment of rental and owner- 
occupied units, forbidding licensing of rental properties, allowing  
routine inspections only if there is “reasonable cause” to think there  
may be issues, and even banning a requirement for landlord training; and

WHEREAS, this is part of a worrisome tendency in the General Assembly  
to take away local rights,

THEREFORE, the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham (INC) resolves that  
SB 554 should be opposed, and to carry out this opposition,  
appropriate representatives of INC should (1) ask members of the  
Durham Delegation to oppose this bill, (2) ask Durham City Council to  
pass a resolution opposing this bill, and (3) ask other neighborhood  
organizations in the state-wide network to add their voices to the  
opposition to the bill.
_______________________________________________
Durham INC Mailing List
list at durham-inc.org
http://www.durham-inc.org/list.html

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://rtpnet.org/pipermail/inc-list/attachments/20110526/30e1b06c/attachment.html>