City Council reserves right to revoke rental licenses

Officials pass ordinance aimed at reducing criminal activity, noise

Mayor William Gardiner said there are a few rental properties the city has been having problems with, but said he was unable to recall the specific properties at the time.

However, he said, this ordinance does not specifically target those properties.

‘‘One of the properties has been a concern for more than a decade,” he said. ‘‘The property of most concern to neighbors is a single family home that has been rented out for many years. But the ordinance applies to all rental properties throughout the city.”

The city code already allows for rental licenses to be revoked if the owner fails to correct property code violations, such as cracked walls or ceilings, peeling paint or excessive garbage, within 30 days of being notified. Now landlords could also have their rental licenses revoked if there is repeated criminal activity or public nuisances on the property that the owner doesn’t acknowledge, Gardiner said.

‘‘The ordinance helps ensure, particularly for larger, multi-family properties, that the property owner is aware of crimes occurring on the properties. I don’t think there is currently something in place that informs the owner or property manager of crimes on their property,” Gardiner said.

A public nuisance is defined as when, within two years, a single-family rental property has four incidents of criminal activity or the presence of drugs, two incidents of drug-related crimes or four noise violations. One or two violations are allowed for multi-family complexes depending on the number of units.

Councilwoman Paula Perry (Ward 4) said that the way the ordinance is drafted, anyone who visits the property is affected—disturbances and crime can be caused by visitors as well as tenants.

In Prince George’s County, owners of properties leased for profit are required to have a rental license. Hyattsville requires an inspection by city code enforcement officers for multifamily housing every two years and single-family housing every year, Gardiner said.

Code inspections will not change. Code enforcement officers will still arrange with tenants and owners to inspect the property for license renewal. Officers will also perform neighborhood walking tours around the city to inspect for general code violations.

‘‘It’s only fair to property owners that as soon as one incident occurs [we advise them],” Hampton said. If the city decides to revoke the rental license, he said it will consult with the city attorney.

Multifamily housing is defined as a property that has three or more dwelling units, Hampton said. The city has 45 multifamily housing complexes.

All of the city’s single-family and multifamily rental property owners will be informed of the changes to the city’s code, Hampton said.

The Towers at University Town Center has 248 dwelling units and 910 residents. In a previous interview Chris Hanessian, chief operating officer of the University Town Center, said passing the ordinance makes sense because everyone benefits if the city is safer.

‘‘Obviously we want the city of Hyattsville to be absolutely as safe as possible,” he said. ‘‘There’s no question that some of these apartment owners need to be more serious about who they accept.”

E-mail Maya T. Prabhu at mprabhu@gazette.net.