City Council’s delays disrespect good landlords

Each of us owns residential rental property in Fresno. We are small-time landlords, not members of the California Apartment Association. We do have this in common with CAA members: each of us relies on the income from our rentals, so we absolutely need our properties to show profits.

That said, we each spend the amounts required to maintain our rental units in good condition. We do not worry about an inspection of our tenants’ homes: we know that they comply with California law. The city’s failure to hold all landlords to this standard puts at a disadvantage those of us who play by the rules.

We also know that investments in our properties are investments in our neighborhoods, our city, our families, our workforce and our tax base. They mean we recognize the value to us all of healthy and safe housing for tenant families.

We are deeply disappointed that the council failed Thursday to introduce a systematic rental inspection ordinance for adoption before the end of December.

Good landlords have nothing to fear from such an ordinance.

This story was originally published December 10, 2016 at 1:54 PM with the headline "City Council’s delays disrespect good landlords."