DAVENPORT, Iowa — A Davenport community group is proposing an ordinance excusing tenants from paying rent if the City decides a house or apartment is unsafe to live in.
The Quad Cities Tenant Alliance is suggesting that city leaders adopt a rent abatement ordinance.
"If there is a situation where the landlord won't bring things up to compliance, rather than giving them fines, they can abate rent," alliance member Gavin Gassmann said.
The ordinance would allow City staff to give an owner notice to fix up a rental property they deem unsafe or unhealthy. If they don't make repairs in time, staff can stop the landlord from charging rent until the fixes are made.
"When there's not heat or power or it's not safe in their apartment, they shouldn't be paying rent. They know that," Gassmann said.
The Alliance held an informational meeting on Monday, June 3, which included a question and answer session with Iowa City Lead Housing Inspector Stan Laverman. Iowa City has used a similar ordinance since 2017.
"The fact that a landlord can't collect rent the next month grabs their attention more than anything," Laverman said.
Laverman said the ordinance is a useful tool that doesn't add too much work for inspectors.
"In seven years, we've used it 14 times, which isn't a lot, but the fact that my inspectors have the ability to do rent abatement is probably more valuable than actually doing it," he said
The Alliance says four aldermen already support the ordinance: Ben Jobgen, Jade Burkholder, Tim Kelly and Mhisho Lynch. Lynch is not only a realtor but also has a plumbing and heating business in the area.
"As a mechanical contractor, we go into homes or apartments, and we see folks that haven't had heat or adequate running water or even hot water for that matter for sometimes weeks to months on end, and that's unacceptable," Lynch said.
Gassmann said the Alliance is aiming to have city council vote on an ordinance by August, which gives aldermen enough time for work sessions and hold several readings of the proposal at council meetings while also allowing landlords and the community to give feedback.
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