New Lansing ordinance requires landlords cover tenant relocation costs

Ordinance intended to benefit tenants whose homes were red-tagged

THURSDAY, JULY 31 — An ordinance requiring Lansing landlords to cover some tenant relocation costs from properties that have been declared unsafe has unanimously passed the City Council after key changes.

The measure, which takes effect immediately, requires landlords either to obtain an insurance policy that covers tenant relocation costs or agree to reimburse the city up to $2,550 for those costs. When landlords apply for or renew a rental certificate, they will now have to either show proof of such a policy, or sign an acknowledgment of the policy.

The ordinance is intended to provide security for renters, who might otherwise be left without a place to live if their homes are red-tagged. Next time a landlord applies for or renews a rental license, they must comply.

The ordinance’s original version, which Council President Ryan Kost proposed April 21, required an insurance policy covering relocation fees without exception.

At the meeting Monday, when the ordinance passed, Councilmember Trini Pehlivanoglu said she supported the ordinance because of the changes.

“Just as we cannot mandate residents to carry renter’s insurance, we’re not mandating that landlords carry this insurance,” she said. “It is an option. And for those reasons, I will support” it.

Pehlivanoglu also said the ordinance had gone through “several interactions over the last several years,” including before she joined the Council.

An inciting incident for the City Council to begin considering such protections was the 2023 red-tagging of  the 29-unit Holmes Apartments, 2222 W. Holmes Road, which led many residents to need temporary housing. The city paid for their hotel stay but sued to recover the costs.

Now, landlords would be required to reimburse the city in such a situation, negating the need for litigation.

At the meeting, Kost stressed that “small, mom-and-pop” landlords would not be required to find this insurance.

“If they have been a good landlord, they can opt out of this, understanding that they will be on the hook if something were to go badly with the rental, he said.”

Councilmember Adam Hussain called the ordinance “one of the more responsive and responsible things we’ve done during my time on Council,” adding it had been a long process involving “robust communication” and high attendance at committee meetings, which he called “where the real work is done.”

“Most folks were happy with where we arrived, no matter what side of the fence they started on,” he said.

Loretta Stanaway, who spoke against the ordinance during public comment, was unhappy with it. She said the ordinance would be unnecessary if the city properly enforced code compliance.

“What we’re doing here is failing to recognize that the city of Lansing has failed to properly staff and to properly implement its own zoning codes and compliance ordinances,” she said.

“We allowed these situations to develop. If we had the proper staff, the proper efficient workers, these situations would be getting inspected, they would be getting cited, and they would be being forced into compliance before anything ever reached this level.”

While there are remaining questions, specifics of the ordinance’s enforcement will be “worked out within the department level,” Kost said, adding this was “new territory for Lansing.”

Though there were concessions made to the original proposal, Kost said the ordinance was “the culmination of three years of work with the city attorney to get to this point.”

“It’s not everything I think we wanted, but it’s good, so I’m gonna support this,” he said.