A bill that supporters argue improves the quality of affordable housing in the city is set for a Baltimore City Council committee hearing on Tuesday.
The Judiciary & Legislative Investigations Committee is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. at City Hall to review the legislation proposing the licensing and registration of rental properties consisting of one or two units. Essentially, the bill would expand Baltimore’s existing multifamily inspection program to include smaller rentals.
“The main goals are to improve the overall quality of rental housing in Baltimore city, especially at lower levels of affordability, as well as to protect and preserve adjoining housing stock, and provide neighbors and city government with additional leverage when dealing with nuisance neighbors and properties,” Councilman Bill Henry, the legislation’s lead sponsor, said in a statement.
All pertinent city agencies sent memos expressing qualified support for the bill. The Baltimore Development Corp., the city’s quasi-public economic development arm, which is generally averse to new regulations, supports the committee backing the legislation. But the agency did warn the bill may create negative consequences, such as higher rents, increased vacant properties and fewer “mom-and-pop” landlords.
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