Unruly neighbors? The law is now on your side
Laurie Blake, Star Tribune
When groups of teenagers started coming and going at all hours from a rental duplex in St. Louis Park's Aquila neighborhood last year, residents saw their quiet corner of the city change.
One resident had to fend off a purse snatching as she passed the duplex on her way to work. Another neighbor found teenagers scrambling over the roof of his garage to escape police. And everyone objected to the teens walking down the street five or six abreast, flagrantly blocking the path of cars and, in one case, banging in the door of a driver who honked at them.
"Lots of people said they were afraid to go out," sai! d Betty Deane, who has lived in the neighborhood for 38 years. "It made me feel really badly because it's been such wonderful, wonderful neighborhood.'
Eventually the renters were evicted, and peace and quiet were restored. But the experience convinced St. Louis Park police that they needed more legal power to deal with problem renters. The city is now the latest in a string of suburbs, including Mounds View, Hopkins, Burnsville, Bloomington, Woodbury and New Brighton, to adopt laws cracking down on rental properties that draw repeated police calls.
The calls are for everything from loud parties to gang activity.
With a new ordinance that takes effect Aug. 10, St. Louis Park will require landlords to evict tenants who deal drugs, commit violent crime or repeatedly disturb neighbors. If they fail to evict tenants at the prompting of police, landlords face a $750 a month fine.
Brooklyn Park, which already has a rental ordinance, is consider! ing going a step further by seizing rent at poorly maintained ! properti es and holding it in escrow until repairs are made.
Lease must list bad behaviors
St. Louis Park police say rental property generates a disproportionate number of police calls. Last year, six of the 10 most frequently visited addresses were rental properties.
The ordinance requires landlords to pay $25 for a day of training on how to maintain safe housing. They also must use a lease that spells out behavior that will lead to eviction if tenants are arrested, ticketed or frequently warned by police.
The owner of the duplex that set off the push for the ordinance in St. Louis Park, Anthony Vogel, said he favors it and thinks it will give landlords needed leverage in dealing with renters. Vogel, of St. Paul, said Thursday that the duplex in the Aquila neighborhood is his first and only rental property, and he was naive about bad behavior by renters. He said he didn't know his renters were plaguing the neighborhood until police called ! and he was "heartbroken" to hear it.
Another owner of rental property in St. Louis Park, Jeff Fine, said the ordinance puts an unfair burden on landlords, who "don't have police powers."This is nothing more than the bureaucrats in the city of St. Louis Park and our elected officials coming forth publicly with an excuse for not addressing criminal issues and problems that exist," said Fine, who owns apartment buildings in the city through his company Fine Management.
Dan Goldman, another St. Louis Park rental property owner, said most landlords get rid of troublemakers on their own and drug-free, crime-free lease provisions are nothing new. "The property owners who operate their properties the right way right now -- this doesn't affect them."'
Other suburbs take action
Other communities report favorable results with the ordinances.
In Hopkins, where 65 percent of housing is rental, the city adopted its ordinance in 2003. Po! lice sent out 78 notices to landlords during the first few yea! rs and 2 0 so far this year, said police Capt. Tony Hanlin. Landlords notified three times about the same problem could lose their license. So far all problems have been solved after the first or second notice, Hanlin said.
Likewise, in Brooklyn Park, if police are called to a rental property three times, "you have lost your license to rent," said Gary Brown, director of engineering and building inspections for the city.
To gain even more control over problem landlords, Brooklyn Park is considering a program to seize rent at properties that are not properly maintained. "We think that will get the landlords' attention," Brown said.
Brooklyn Park is also stepping up oversight of problem rental properties as part of its Neighborhood Action Program aimed at reducing crime and improving life in the city. Already, 175 unlicensed rental properties have been identified and licensed, Capt. Jeff Ankerfelt said. And in a sweep last week, 20 people were arrested includ! ing people who failed to produce rental agreements, and one property was condemned.
Residents in Brooklyn Park have praised the push to improve neighborhoods and reduce crime -- violent crime spiked 26 percent in 2006 over 2005, though it has dropped 4 percent so far this year. "There's a consistent theme [to the public response] ... there's a sense of hope out there," Ankerfelt said.
Burnsville adopted a rental ordinance in January 2006 after having repeated police calls over several years to four properties around the city, said police Sgt. Jeff Witte. "You should be able to live next door to a good neighbor and you want your neighborhoods to be safe," Witte said. "That's what we are trying to promote."
In St. Louis Park, Deputy Chief of Police Kirk DiLorenzo expects the new ordinance to be used sparingly.
"It gives the owners a tool if they have a problem tenant and it gives the city a tool if we have a problem owner," he said.
Residents in the Aquila neighborhood such as Deane welcome ! the chan ge. "I think it's going to make landlords responsible -- that's what they need."
Laurie Blake • 612-673-1711 • lblake@startribune.com
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