Council Increases Fines For Violations
Housing code violations related to overcrowding or substandard physical conditions pose a challenge to the quality of life in many neighborhoods and a safety hazard to residents who live in noncompliant homes. In order to better enforce our local housing codes, the City recently established a Housing Enforcement Bureau, which has proven very effective in investigating and addressing complaints.
We took a second important step this week in adopting legislation to substantially increase the fines for housing code violations. The maximum fine for a first violation was raised from $250 to $2,500, and for subsequent violations from $1,000 to $5,000. These stiffer penalties will help ensure that irresponsible landlords no longer view penalties as an acceptable “cost of doing business.”