Fresno council passes new rules aimed at illegal housing sublets, tenant crime

To get tougher on blighted properties, Fresno wants to beef up its rules overseeing real estate management by expanding its authority to go after those responsible for problems at sites that are considered chronic “nuisances” within the city.

The city’s current ordinance holds property owners accountable for their property. But the proposed amendments introduced Thursday with a preliminary 6-0 vote by the Fresno City Council would also make property managers and tenants responsible for nuisance issues on property under their care or occupation.

Illegal subletting and division of houses or apartments, creating dangerous living conditions, is a key focus of the change. The city’s latest campaign comes after The Bee started an in-depth investigation into substandard housing in late 2015. The results of the investigation will be published in a special report May 8.

“We have one individual who has a track record of illegally subletting houses in the community, including the home that burned where (Fresno Fire Department) Capt. Pete Dern fell through the roof,” Fresno City Manager Bruce Rudd told the council. “Now with this change, if she continues to do this, it gives us the ability to address her for doing this citywide.”

City officials identified that person as Elenita Verano and say she has illegally sublet housing at six locations in Fresno.

Dern was on the top of a house that was ablaze in March 2015 when the roof collapsed under him and he fell into the burning garage. Dern suffered second- and third-degree burns over 70 percent of his body. He was engulfed in flames for more than a minute and 30 seconds. His firefighting gear provided some protection, but it was not fireproof. He was hospitalized for nearly six months to be treated for his injuries.

“Just as the physical conditions of structures and properties within the city can constitute public nuisances, so can too the behavior of persons …,” Rudd said in a staff memo to the council. “The abatement of behavioral nuisances is as important to the city in its fight against blight, decay, deterioration and crime as … nuisances created by physical conditions.”

The ordinance is an important tool for the city to use to either fine or take to court against those responsible for nuisance behaviors and criminal activity at problem locations.

“It’s important to realize we’re talking about repetitive problems,” said Del Estabrooke, the city’s code enforcement manager. “A good property owner can mitigate or eliminate completely these problems.”

While primary responsibility for neglect or criminal activity at a particular property will remain with the property owner, the revised ordinance will “include not only owners, but tenants, occupants, property managers and home owners’ associations” that govern condominium developments, Rudd’s report stated. “Every responsible party” will share liability for violations of the ordinance.

Among the conditions already considered nuisance activities are drug sales, use or possession; prostitution; unlawful gang activity; habitual noise disturbances; and illegally firing or brandishing a weapon. Additionally, repeated response by Fresno police for issues such as animal disturbances; violent crime; illegal consumption of alcohol in public; gambling, graffiti and trash that persists for more than two days; abandoned vehicles; or dangerous buildings can also trigger penalties.

The amendment adds several more categories of police calls to the list: nonviolent crimes including identity theft, fraud, possession of stolen property, burglary and theft; domestic disturbances; arguments loud enough to be heard from 50 or more feet away; drug possession, use, manufacturing, cultivation, sale or purchase; illegal gun sales, use or possession; harboring or concealing someone wanted on an outstanding arrest warrant; and illegally subletting or subdividing a home or apartment in violation of building codes and health standards.

Penalties under the ordinance can be stiff. A first violation will incur a fine of $1,000 plus costs for fixing the problems and enforcement. Repeat violations within a 12-month period will bring a fine of $10,000 plus abatement, administrative and enforcement costs. Additional offenses within a 12-month period can draw a fine between $10,000 and $50,000.

Councilman Oliver Baines said he supported the change, but cautioned that while it adds responsibility for tenants or occupants, owners should not relax. “Ultimately I don’t want property owners to think we’re letting them off the hook,” Baines said. “Property owners should still be on notice” that they will be held responsible.

A final vote by the City Council approving the changes to the law will come at the council’s first meeting in May. In the meantime, Rudd said, the introduction of the ordinance “will let us have some very frank conversations with property owners.”

The proposed amendment is the second step the council has considered in as many weeks to crack down on substandard housing and blight in the wake of the highly publicized revelations last fall of squalid living conditions at Summerset Village, an apartment complex that is home to dozens of low-income families in central Fresno.

Last week the council approved an urgency ordinance giving its code-enforcement hearing officers the immediate authority to not only levy fines against property owners who have been cited for serious code and safety violations, but also to compel them to make repairs under threat of increased fines and criminal prosecution on misdemeanor charges.

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 11:24 AM with the headline "Fresno council passes new rules aimed at illegal housing sublets, tenant crime."