Scranton Council Passes New Rental Registration Law
By: Eric Deabill
Updated: March 23, 2012
Scranton, Lackawanna County - The city of Scranton is getting ready to take a tougher stance on landlord and tenants.
City council approved a new rental registration law at its meeting Thursday night.
The new law is expected to replace an ordinance from four years ago that many people say was never really enforced.
Jim Abbott has lived in Scranton for 23 years.
He's happy to hear the city is strengthening its rental registration law.
"I think it's a good idea. I think people should keep their properties up," Abbott said. "I know right in this neighborhood, a couple blocks from here, we have some pretty bad situations."
The new law will require landlords to register their properties and pay a $50 site license for each property. They will also have to pay $15 per unit.
Renters would also have to submit to a safety inspection, which would include a check on heating, water, smoke detectors and fire escapes.
Tina Williams has rented an apartment in Scranton for about a year and thinks it's a good idea.
"You have electrical, you've got your plumbing, if these things aren't working properly, you get fires," Williams said.
The new law is also expected to help the city create an actual listing of rental units. Right now, that doesn't exist.
"It's kinda scary that people can come in from wherever, pick up a house and set it to sale and not have any responsibility for it," Mike Passero said.
Peter LaMandre, President of the Greater Scranton Board of Realtors, gave input to city council as it developed the law.
His organization supports the idea but says he still has concerns about how it will be enforced.
"I still am concerned that they will lack the manpower to actually inspect this unknown number of rental properties. It's hard to budget for something if you don't actually know how many you're going to be inspecting," LaMandre said.
