Durham renters propose a ‘Tenants Bill of Rights’
Alex Prolman is a nursing assistant at UNC Hospitals, and even he couldn’t figure out why he and his roommates were getting sick.
It turns out the ceiling in his old apartment leaked when it rained. He said the issue went unaddressed for years.
“The best that we could get from the landlord was roughly a quarterly spraying of thin sealant on the roof that would work for about two hours worth of rain before the water would come into our apartment again,” Prolman said. “It was obvious that the attic was becoming a mold factory.”
“Frankly, I think it’s a failure of public health officials that mold itself is not a part of the current minimum housing code,” he said.
Many renters like Prolman are experiencing similar challenges. Now, they are asking Durham city leaders for new protections.
Bull City Tenants United presented a draft Tenants’ Bill of Rights with 13 recommendations to the City Council on Thursday.
The recommendations would:
- Make the inspections process more accessible to tenants.
- Revise and expand the city’s minimum housing code to ensure that it covers the health, safety and quality-of-life issues tenants are facing.
- Make it illegal for landlords to collect rent while a unit is in violation of the minimum housing code
- Expand and reform the use of direct repairs so that the city more effectively uses its power to directly fix problems when landlords won’t.
- Require that tenants be compensated when repairs don’t take place in a timely manner.
- Better regulate parking and towing to make landlords responsible for ensuring that tenants and invited guests will not be towed from spaces guaranteed by tenants’ leases and to end the exploitative use of towing fees.
- Clarify utility billing and increase landlord responsibility; make it harder for landlords to bill tenants unfair amounts for utilities.
- Protect tenants’ right to organize and from retaliation when they engage in organizing.
- Work toward rent control where possible.
- Require resident approval for renovations which aren’t necessary for health and safety to make it harder for landlords to use renovation as a tool for gentrification.
- Establish a Ban the Box ordinance for rental applications covering past evictions, criminal history, and other categories.
- Ban the use of unenforceable lease terms and fund a third-party entity to provide free legal review of leases for tenants.
- Notify tenants (in addition to home/landowners) about zoning changes.
Nearly half of all Durham County households rent. The tenants group wants the city to require inspections and repairs.
“You need to beef up your inspections office and go after properties that have repeated complaints,” member Stella Adams told the council.
The city’s legal team said the city is limited on how it can address “the legal possibility and process for making the recommendations” feasible at the local level. They provided a chart and feedback about whether each recommendation is achievable.
During their discussion, council members said they are able to expand the city’s inspection hours to nights and weekends, provide an interpreter for tenants who don’t speak English, and allow tenants to anonymously report issues.
Mayor Pro Tem Jillian Johnson and council member Mark-Anthony Middleton asked if the council has adequate resources to implement and enforce the changes.
“If we pass the ordinance, we have to have the people to deal with the complaints that are raised under that ordinance,” Middleton said.
The council and city manager will reconsider the recommendations at a future meeting.
This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 3:29 PM.