12-22-08 Council Workshop II Minutes

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL DECEMBER 22, 2008 tenants. However, there are times when there are a number of police calls to a unit, and the property owner should be aware of this situation. The Attorney reported that the code of conduct provisions are a tool for the City and property owners to work together to obtain high standards of housing. There was discussion by the ownership about the difficulty to evict tenants and the fact that housing courts typically favor tenants over ownership. It was pointed out that the easiest means for eviction is for non-payment of rent. Blesener indicated that there is responsibility on the part of ownership to work with the Sheriffs Department on problem tenants. Echtenkamp agreed, but noted that many times the ownership is unaware of what is happening between tenants and the Sheriff's Department. The Adminisri•ator indicated that the goal is to work in partnership, with ownership being informed of policing problems, tenants being given the proper notices by ownership, and the process followed to evict problem tenants. The Administrator stated that the City understands that there are some situations that ownership cannot control. He indicated that the ownership would not be penalized for those situations. Lisa Peilen, MN Multi-Housing Association, indicated that the issue is that of balance and reasonableness. She indicated that owners do not want problem residents, and have the same goals as the City for their property. The question is what can the property owner reasonably know and do something about. Peilen again pointed out that evictions are tough to get in Minnesota, again with non-payment of rent being the easiest eviction. Peilen also indicated that most cities do not have calls for domestic abuse as a code of conduct provision since the State protects people that make those calls. Peilen stated that embezzlement is another crime that property owners cannot be expected to know about. McGraw asked what would be a reasonable expectation relative to tenant behavior for property owners to know about. He also asked whose responsibility is it to check with the Sheriff's Department. Ecktenkamp reported that owners would invite the Sheriff's Department to inform them about police calls. Ecktenkamp indicated that the Sheriff's Department does not typically contact the property owners about tenant problems, and he expressed surprise about that. Allan stated that she assumed that the Sheriffls Department was in contact with the property owners. Joanne Solis, Manager of Lakeside Apartments, indicated that she receives monthly reports fi•om the Sheriffs Department. Allan indicated that she would want to have Sheriffls reports on a daily basis if she were a multi- family property owner.