Worcester May Exempt Some Apartments From New Rental Registry: Council Vote

WORCESTER, MA — A Worcester City Council committee has voted in favor of a major change to the city's new rental registry, an effort to improve health and safety in rental units that councilors first unanimously approved in 2022.

On Monday, the council Economic Development Committee voted to change the registry to reduce fines, delay the deadline to comply with the law and exempt owner-occupied rental properties with three or fewer units from health and safety inspections.

City Manager Eric Batista previously sent orders to the council to change the fine structure and the date for landlords to join after an uproar over the registry in April. District 3 Councilor George Russell asked for the exemption for some owner-occupied buildings, comparing the carve-out to Boston's rental registry, which exempts owner-occupied properties with six or fewer units.

The law requires landlords to pay a $15 per-unit registration fee ($5 annually each year after), with a 10 percent discount for people who register online. There's no registration fee for owner-occupied rental units. Landlords must also pay $50 per-unit for health and safety inspections, increasing to $100 per re-inspection. All the fees will be used to recoup some of the cost of setting up the program, Inspectional Services Department Commissioner Christopher Spencer has said, including the hiring of new inspectors. The registry also collects owner emergency contact information, including phone numbers.

Landlords have petitioned councilors to outright repeal the law. But the registry was approved by councilors following the Gage Street fire that killed four people in a building whose owner had a history of health and safety complaints. The law also followed the deaths of several firefighters in fires inside rental properties. District 2 Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson, who chairs the Economic Development Committee and whose district includes Gage Street, underscored the overall need for the law during Monday's meeting while also supporting the changes.

Worcester building inspectors have historically only been allowed to view common areas inside rental properties. Spencer told councilors Monday that inspectors need to get inside rental units to make sure they are up to code and legal. Tenants who lived in the Gage Street building have said the building was being run as an unlicensed rooming house.

Over the last two weeks, two major fires have damaged rental properties in Worcester. A May 29 fire in the Main South neighborhood killed two people living in a triple-decker. A fire at the Washington Heights complex last week displaced nearly 40 people and left two tenants seriously injured.

The orders will be up for discussion at the June 18 council meeting. Even if council votes in favor of the exemption for some owner-occupied buildings, City Manager Eric Batista would have final say over such a change.

In a statement Tuesday, Batista neither supported nor disapproved of the exemption.

"The administration remains fully committed to the implementation of a robust rental registry program and its purpose to ensure that rental units in the city are safe and livable, as well as provide first responders with critical information in emergencies. We look forward to a discussion on the city council floor," Batista said through a spokesperson.