The city's Housing Committee voted Wednesday in favor of passing an ordinance that would protect tenants by requiring landlords to document property damages using photographic evidence.
Ald. Eli Judge, District 8, proposed the ordinance last October to prevent landlords from deducting dishonest charges from tenants' security deposits. Judge said that many constituents contacted him in landlord-tenant disputes and were troubled by a lack of protocol.
What this does is it not only protects tenants, it protects landlords from frivolous suits. It shows proof,"" Judge said.
""[Landlords are] required to have photographic proof to show that the damages that they're claiming actually exist.""
Judge also amended the ordinance, adding that its purpose is to preclude landlords from fabricating waste or neglect.
While not required by law, check-in and check-out forms are currently used by tenants to document the condition of a property when the move in. Tenants that cannot resolve their deposit issues amicably must go to court.
Ald. Brenda Konkel, District 2, said tenants are underserved by the current standard. She said while most deposit issues are not fabricated, some are so extreme that a simple rule like the ordinance could easily resolve them.
""Real estate law has lots of disputes,"" Konkel said.
""Last year of several thousand issues that made it to state courts 3,000 were evictions and 4,000 were security deposit disputes.""
Judge reminded the committee the current dispute resolution process would remain in place because the ordinance adds to the landlords' burden of proof but does not remove the tenants' responsibilities.
The council heard arguments on the ordinance prior to voting.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said some of the damages that tenants are charged for would not show up on film. He said cleaning services and pet smell removal as two frequent expenses which photographs could not adequately document.
Verveer also said some apartments are impossible to tell apart based on photographs alone because of the common structure of units in a building.
""Many apartments are identical. I could take a picture of one apartment and not tell you if it's one or another '¦ a lot of them are similar or completely identical,"" Verveer said.
The committee decided the ordinance would not protect against all dishonestly, but agreed tenants would normally remember if they caused any major damages and the ordinance would be able to resolves those disputes.
The ordinance will now move to the City Council for a final vote.
