Landlords being held accountable

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MABLETON –After years of south Cobb residents complaining about subpar living standards caused by absentee landlords, the Mableton City Council is preparing to take action.

The city is moving forward with an ordinance aimed at establishing better living conditions and strengthening methods of enforcement for substandard rental homes.

The City Council discussed the Safe and Healthy Housing and Property Ordinance during Wednesday evening’s council meeting.

Mableton Mayor Michael Owens said the ordinance has been in the works for a long time.

“The basic premise around this is very simple, that every single resident of the city should live in a safe and habitable house,” he said.

Owens said the proposed ordinance defines specific living standards and strengthens local enforcement of Georgia House Bill 404, the Safe at Home Act.

The Safe at Home Act, enacted in July 2024, provides protections for renters including requiring landlords to keep properties livable, however, the act does not define habitability.

Owens said the city’s proposed ordinance means to fix the lack of definition.

“Being specific about mold, specific living conditions around rodent infestations, unsafe structures and any other thing that could compromise one's ability to basically have the basic wellbeing of having a residence,” Owens said.

The ordinance specifically notes subpar habitability standards as inadequate or non-functioning heating, water or electrical systems, structural damage or roof leaks, infestation of pests or vermin, non-remediated mold or moisture, obstructed entrances, conditions that jeopardize physical safety and conditions that expose residents to rain, moisture or cold air.

“It lays accountability clearly on those who may not be held accountable, allows us to go even further for those who are repeat violators and gives us power to put liens on properties, abatement costs and many other things that we feel they need to put in place,” Owens said.

The ordinance also holds tenants accountable for their treatment of property.

“It is the duty of all tenants and occupant of property within the city to not willfully or negligently destroy, maintain, deface, damage or impair such property in a manner which makes such property become a public nuisance,” the ordinance reads.

Under the ordinance, any property that is determined through investigation as not properly maintained will be declared a public nuisance, subject to action by local authorities to remedy the property.

Councilman TJ Ferguson asked Owens if the ordinance was strong enough and could create change in a timely manner.

City attorney Emilia Walker-Ashby responded that the ordinance provides the city two methods of enforcement for remedying subpar housing standards: Citations and using nuisance code to close, demolish, force the sale of, place a lien on or abate a property.

Walker-Ashby said the second, more aggressive action comes when citations do not fix issues.

“Now, from a practical standpoint, when you issue citations, when you're dealing with a slumlord, the basic economy of slumlording is to budget your slumlording,” she said.

She said negligent landlords often budget for citations because they are anticipating fines.

“But, the bottom line is that for them, sometimes if you're able to operate as a slumlord in a jurisdiction that allows you to do that, it is cheaper to pay that jurisdiction $40,000 in fines than it is to do $1-$2 million dollars in upgrades,” she said.

Walker-Ashby also said that, to combat frequent changes in ownership to avoid punishment, the proposed ordinance allows a notice of lis pendens, meaning new property owners are subject to the same orders or fines as the previous owner.

Councilwoman Debora Herndon asked if there was a plan in place for residents living in spaces where renovations or construction may displace people from their homes.

“If it gets to the point where you have kids who are going to get sick and you have people who are going to die, then even though it is a burden, you have to empty the units that pose that health risk,” Walker-Ashby said.

Ferguson also asked if there was a plan in place to communicate with residents.

“What's the thought process about how we support residents and give them enough time to be able to find something else or what?” he asked.

City Manager Bill Tanks said a plan has not been put in place as of now.

“If we could figure that out on the fly right here, then we are very good. That takes sitting down, planning and coming up with strategy,” Tanks said.

“It's a lot more complicated than just what this ordinance does. What y'all are voting on tonight is to give us some type of authority to begin action,” Tanks said.

Owens said the proposed ordinance is not aimed at solving displacement.

“That is not something that we're going to sort through in this ordinance. This is directly pointed at the landlords,” he said.

Because the council heard a first reading of the proposed ordinance, no action was taken during the meeting.

Continued housing outcry

The first reading of the proposed Safe and Healthy Housing and Property Ordinance comes on the heels of public outcry from residents living in the Riverside Parkway area.

Three apartment complexes in particular have been the subject of resident complaints for unsanitary and unsafe conditions: Five 7 Five, Residence at Riverside Row and Silver Creek Crossings apartment complexes on Riverside Parkway.

At the previous council meeting on Aug. 13, members of the public gathered to voice complaints about poor housing conditions and advocate for immediate action resolving dilapidation in their apartment homes.

At Wednesday’s meeting, four of the seven total public speakers voiced continued apartment concerns.

Denise Woods, a resident of Five 7 Five Riverside Apartments who spoke at the previous council meeting, said there has been little change.

“There's little to no updates except for they did some lawn care, which was not even adequate. I'm still dealing with whatever critters are living between my roof and my ceiling,” she said.

Monica DeLancy, founder of We Thrive in Riverside Renters Association, who also spoke at the previous council meeting, thanked Owens for listening to concerns about negligent landlords.

DeLancy also asked that when redevelopment eventually occurs, it does not come at the cost of displacing people.

“Our goal should not simply be to remove blight, but to build equity, prevent displacement and hold landlords accountable while ensuring residents are safe, healthy places to call home,” she said.