Proposed Ordinance In Greensboro Opens The Door To Proactive Home Inspections

In Greensboro, a proposed ordinance giving housing inspectors broader powers is under consideration. Planning discussions began shortly after hundreds of minimum housing code violations were discovered at the Summit-Cone Apartments. That's where five refugee children died in a fire in May. Dozens of families were later forced to leave after the city condemned the complex.

Council members met with a variety of stakeholders to explore ways for the city to be more proactive. Under the proposed ordinance, if one apartment is found to have a safety hazard, all units would be open to inspection.

Greensboro Housing Coalition Director Brett Byerly applauds the council for seeking input from housing advocates, property managers, and builders before drafting changes to the existing inspection laws. But he cautions that, if enacted too quickly, the new ordinances could lead to more homelessness.

“If we go out there gangbusters, and start inspecting and condemning units, we saw what happened with Cone and Summit,” says Byerly. “People had a month to get out of there, they knew these condemnations were coming, and yet here we are moving people into extended stay hotels. We could have a mass exodus of really poor and vulnerable people. Putting people out on the street is a definite byproduct of this that could be problematic.”

Other unintended consequences might actually benefit non-compliant property managers, Byerly says.

“We also have to be careful that we don't actually give some of these bad landlords a tool to empty their places out. I mean, people are potentially being denied their due process in a court eviction process. So, if I was a landlord and I just wanted to get rid of people, I could just stop fixing things.”

The law also allows inspectors to make periodic inspections of a building if it has had four incidents of unsafe or unsanitary conditions during the course of one year. In those cases, landlords may be forced to pay penalties and face condemnations if left uncorrected.

The council may take up the new measures later this fall.