"This will go down on your permanent record."

That's the message to bad tenants and landlords in a city law being proposed by Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray.

The proposal, which will go before City Council members later this month, would create a list of problem tenants. Landlords could check the list before renting to tenants who jump from apartment to apartment after causing problems.

The bill also establishes a three-strikes-and-you're-out policy requiring landlords to evict tenants after three disruptive incidents within a year. Failure to do so could result in a $500 per month fine, 90 days in jail or both.

"This puts it on the landlord and the tenant," Gray told City Council members Monday during an introduction of the bill to council's Community Development & Planning Committee.

The bill being presented is the sixth draft of an ordinance that city officials have been working on for more than a year. It comes out of the recommendations of a Rental Housing Task Force appointed by the mayor.

The proposed city law is based on language from ordinances in Lebanon and Allentown, where the requirements have been successfully implemented, said Gray.

City police, fire and housing officials have been involved in drafting the bill, and it has been discussed in general terms with the Lancaster County Association of Realtors, Gray said.

It will have its first reading before a full City Council on Jan. 27. Council members may vote on the proposal Feb. 10. Council members may call for a public hearing before a vote is held.

Randy Patterson, the city's Economic Development & Neighborhood Revitalization director, said many of the provisions in the 15-page bill already exist in city law, but are rewritten and repackaged in the proposal.

Key additions include:

• Defining disruptive conduct, such as loud music or damage to property, as an incident investigated by city police, but not necessarily rising to the level of criminal charges being filed.

• Requiring there be a person living in Lancaster County to be responsible for each city apartment.

• Requiring display of the rental occupancy license in each apartment. The license would include the name and telephone number of the responsible agent and city housing complaint number, and evenings when trash and recyclables are to be placed curbside.

• Requiring landlords to begin eviction proceedings within 10 working days of receiving notice of a third disruptive conduct incident, or the landlord will risk losing the rental license.

• Requiring landlords to send written notice to the city whenever an apartment is rented.

• Establishing a penalty of a $500 fine per month, per residential unit, 90 days in jail or both for failure to evict disruptive tenants or failure to get an annual license.

"The fines are steep, but the idea is not to make the net so fine that you catch the minnows. The idea is to catch the problem tenants and the problem landlords and to improve the overall quality of housing in the city," said Gray.

The mayor said he expects "95 percent" of city landlords will not object to the provisions within the bill. The city is trying to address problems with the remaining landlords.

"It's been our experience that the worst tenants come with the worst landlords," he said.


Staff writer Bernard Harris can be reached at bharris@LNPnews.com or 481-6022.