Published: Friday, October 15, 2010

By Evan Brandt ebrandt@pottsmerc.com

POTTSTOWN — In the face of impassioned comment from both sides of the issue, Borough Council Tuesday unanimously adopted new rental rules which some say are a long overdue measure to get poorly maintained rental properties under control.

Landlords argue the rules could drive all the “good” landlords out of town.

The new provisions require certain lease addendums which limit the number of people in a rental residence and require tenants to prevent “disruptive conduct,” which can permit the landlord to “immediately terminate the lease.”

Other rules, nearly all of which are based on an ordinance recently adopted in Gettysburg, require a nearby property manager for absentee landlords and require landlords to be up-to-date on fees, fines and taxes.

Rental licenses must now be renewed annually. Properties without a rental license cannot legally be occupied.

In the area of water, sewer and trash fees, council also unanimously adopted Tuesday night a change to borough policy that allows for the water to be shut off at rental properties where landlords have not paid their water and sewer bill — an action that was, until recently, restricted to owner-occupied properties.

The unpaid bills by landlords had piled up to more than $700,000 over the years, and at the insistence of the Pottstown Borough Authority, which owns the water system and employs the borough to manage billing, borough staff put together a procedure to shut the water off at delinquent properties that does not violate landlord-tenant laws.

Recently, Pottstown Borough Council President Stephen Toroney told a group of concerned property owners that the landlord with the most unpaid bills — Marc Simmons, who owed more than $40,000 — settled up with the borough after receiving a registered letter that kicked off the new shutoff procedure.

There was no lack of input to Borough Council prior to Tuesday night’s vote, as 12 people stepped up to the microphone during the meeting.

In the case of the landlords, they universally said the new rules are too strict and would have the opposite effect than the one desired by council — that the new rules would drive the “good landlords” out of town and just leave the “bad” ones.

“The flavor of this ordinance .. I don’t know why, but it just seems like it’s open season on landlords,” said landlord Anthony Porreca.

He said the same stringent property maintenance rules should be applied to homeowners as will be applied to rental properties.

Landlord John Owens said, “I understand it’s supposed to target the negative ones, but the side effect is that it will affect the good landlords, that will look at these heavy-handed things and probably end up going to other areas.”

Bonnie Pappas, a Realtor, said she is frustrated because she finds there is a “large pool of investors who tell me, ‘Don’t show me anything in Pottstown. It’s too hard to work there.’”

She said many landlords “are tired of being tarred and feathered in the media, or on websites,” and that the new rules council adopted have the potential to “turn some good landlords into bad ones.”

Landlord Anil Dhem said given the borough’s poor record of enforcing current regulations, he does not see that Pottstown has adequate staff in the code enforcement department to enforce any of the new regulations.

Landlord Mike Mumma said he understands the results council wants, and sympathizes with them, but said, “This ordinance goes about it the wrong way. It’s going to send people away.”

Activist Katy Jackson was joined by North Charlotte Street residents Anne Ettore and Jon Caron, all of whom outlined difficulties they have encountered because of residents of rental properties in their neighborhood.

“I know there’s a lot of heat on landlords right now and I know there’s a lot of landlords here tonight, and I feel sorry for you because there are some slumlords here in Pottstown,” said Caron. “The properties are unkept. The buildings are in poor condition. No background checks are done. Criminals, I mean, some of these people would rent out to Charles Manson.”

“We’re trying to take back our neighborhoods. We’re confronting these people. The police are called and they tell us to stay in the house or go on the back porch,” said Ettore.

“We are tired of not being able to sit and enjoy our front porches and being able just to talk, peacefully,” she said.

Jackson, who is active with the groups Code Blue and Citizens for Pottstown Revitalization, said while she supports the new regulations, she also supports more active policing and more aggressive code enforcement by the borough.

“It was never our intention at Citizens for Pottstown Revitalization or Code Blue to see the good landlords run from our community,” Jackson added. “We want them to stay. We want to work with them and we value their input into the process.”