CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)- The City of Charleston’s Public Safety Committee is talking about a program to communicate with landlords if livability issues arise at their property.
The Rental Registry Pilot Program aims to record the information of every landlord who owns a property across the city.
“What we’re really seeking is those properties that might be a one off or two off property owners,” said Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg.
From noise complaints and overflowing trash dumpsters to shootings, the city would use the registry to get in contact with landlords about issues.
“It adds some real accountability to the behavior of the tenants and also bring the landlord into being subject of some fines,” said Mayor Tecklenburg.
The update from to the committee from Robert Summerfield, who is the Director of Planning, Preservation and Sustainability, was prompted by the mass shooting that happened at a Memorial Day block party on the Eastside where multiple people were injured.
“So for rental registries you find these in a lot of cities that have a high rental occupancy. A lot of college towns have them and a lot of tourist and resort areas have them,” said Summerfield.
Neighbors across the Charleston peninsula, particularly in Cannonborough- Elliottborough, have dealt with landlords from out-of-state not being responsive about livability issues with their tenants. The registry would change that.
“(Registries) provide an extra layer of accountability for rental properties. Particularly when you have rental properties with an out-of-state property owner and they don’t particularly do a good job of communicating back to the local municipality about contact information,” said Summerfield.
While the program will begin on the Eastside as a test run, city councilman Mike Seekings wants the program to officially start as soon as possible.
“I think we should put this in place and institute it and if we have to phase it in because we have staffing issues then that’s fine,” said Councilman Seekings.
While the registry is a good start for Marion Hawkins, the President of the Cannonborough-Elliottborough Neighborhood Association, he wants more action from the city.
“I think it’s one step in the right direction, but ultimately these landlords do have commercial activity where they are generating a significant amount of income from these rentals,” said Hawkins. “These are pretty significant commercial enterprises by these landlords and it really warrants a business license.”
