Baltimore County landlords Tuesday urged lawmakers to repeal a first-of-its-kind rental licensing and inspection program they said unfairly targets responsible property owners.

Members of the Baltimore County Council are already poised to extend the deadline for landlords to have their units inspected and registered with the county until Oct. 1. But Tuesday, they heard testimony from landlords who said the program won’t do anything to improve tenant safety and should be canceled altogether.

“The people who aren’t abiding the laws, the scofflaws you are targeting, aren’t going to listen to this either,” said Douglas Celmer, who owns two rental units in Essex. “All you’re doing is applying more fines and fees to honest taxpayers like me.”

The law, passed in a 4-3 vote in December, requires rental buildings with one to six units to be inspected for functioning electricity and plumbing, safe windows and ventilation, and hard-wired smoke detectors. Certain rental homes are exempt, including group homes and units that are owner-occupied with no more than one additional unrelated occupant. Violators face a $1,000 fine.

This story continues below
Advertisement

Councilman Bryan McIntire, the panel’s only Republican, is sponsoring legislation to repeal the program, which is expected to generate $1.5 million in licensing fees. Representatives of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors testified that 64 percent of property owners surveyed said they are in compliance with the new law at an average cost of $200.

Jody Landers, executive vice president of the organization, said only Montgomery County has a similar rental registration program, but does not require pre-licensing inspections.

“Complaints will not drop,” Landers said. “Code enforcement will still have to go out and do inspections. You are just layering on costs.”

But some community leaders said the program is important for tenants of rental property, and their neighbors. Yara Cheikh, who owns  rental properties, said the program requires landlords to be accountable.

“It’s windows and rails and alarms,” Cheikh said. “It’s not larger issues of the quality of the unit, but the safety of it.”

On Monday the council will vote on the program, as well as a proposal to increase fines for parking violations — in some cases more than doubling the current rates which have not been changed since 1991.

Councilman John Olszewski, a Dundalk Democrat, challenged the proposed rates on Tuesday, calling them too “steep.”

“It’s tough times out there and these fines are getting significantly increased all at one time,” Olszewski said.

jmalarkey@baltimoreexaminer.com