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Council directs mayor's office to expand renter protections, educate tenants on rights
Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn looks up at the screen above her for general public comment on zoom during the City Council meeting at Civic Plaza in January.
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The Albuquerque City Council unanimously passed a resolution Monday directing the mayor鈥檚 office to hold landlords accountable for the standard of living provided to tenants.
The resolution calls for all rental units to have proper heating and cooling, and for pest infestations, structural hazards, electrical and plumbing issues to be addressed in a timely manner. If action isn鈥檛 taken by the landlord, the resolution says a tenant can withhold rent.
The resolution is the latest effort from its sponsor, Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn, with the backing of Mayor Tim Keller鈥檚 administration, to empower the city鈥檚 renters, who account for 34% of the population, according to statistics from the Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance.
It follows a previous piece of legislation Fiebelkorn put forth requiring landlords to provide cooling to tenants that passed on a 5-4 vote in December.
鈥淩enter鈥檚 rights are human rights, and every tenant in Albuquerque deserves a safe, habitable place to call home,鈥� Keller said in a statement Monday. 鈥淪trengthening enforcement to make sure rentals meet basic standards of dignity and safety is a fundamental step toward housing justice.鈥�
The resolution calls for at least one code enforcement staffer to respond to calls and educate tenants on their rights. There are currently three vacancies in the 50-person department.
鈥淭his is really my attempt to make sure that the city is providing assistance to folks who need it, who are renters,鈥� Fiebelkorn said. 鈥淭his is a really quite simple way to do so, we鈥檙e just saying that we should prioritize helping renters through the system.鈥�
There have been over 5,000 calls to the city鈥檚 311 line related to housing issues over a three-month period, Kevin Sourisseau, chief financial officer for the Keller administration, told councilors Monday.
While voting in favor of the measure, Council President Brook Bassan expressed concern about the administration鈥檚 ability to enforce the policy, citing the vacancies.
鈥淗ere we are with legislation that I think has really good intentions, and I really am questioning if we鈥檙e going to actually be able to do anything with it,鈥� Bassan said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to take away from the current code enforcement officers. They鈥檙e already overworked. They are already working very hard.鈥�
Councilor Dan Champine, who told the Journal back in December that he owns some rental properties himself, expressed support for the measure.
鈥淚 want to applaud my fellow councilors鈥� effort on this. This hits really close to home for me, in the sense that there are a lot of bad apples,鈥� Champine said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 tarnishing the name of good owners, providing wonderful homes for people to live in.鈥�
