There’s new hope for scores of renters in Albuquerque who face issues such as a lack of running water, a lack of hot water, substandard heating and cooling, front doors that don’t lock, appliances that don’t work, pest infestation and unsafe stairwells.
The Albuquerque City Council unanimously passed legislation Monday night that directs the city’s Planning Department to hire a full-time code enforcement officer dedicated exclusively to prioritize such complaints. City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn authored the legislation and said that while most landlords respond to tenant concerns sufficiently, there were enough “bad actors” to warrant a new position and enhanced enforcement.
“This is my attempt to make sure that the city is providing assistance to renters who are trying to find their way through the process to get whatever problem they’re experiencing fixed,” she said.
Fiebelkorn said many renters with urgent issues don’t have the time or resources to take their complaints through the court process.
“Right now they’re on their own in a lot of cases,” she said. “They want to take it through the court system, but they have no idea how to do so and quite frankly don’t have the money to start that.”
Councilor Dan Champine, himself a landlord, agreed that it was the city’s few, but significant, “bad apples” that sully the name of responsible property owners.
“This hits really close to home for me,” he said. “We need to get this done, because that small percentage that’s tarnishing the name of good owners who provide a wonderful home for people to live in is something that needs to be fixed.”
The legislation, which passed on a 9-0 vote, has the support of the city’s Planning Department, which hires and oversees the work of code enforcement officers. The city said it received about 5,000 calls through its 311 system related to housing issues in the past three months . The city’s current budget allows for 50 code enforcement officers; there are currently three vacancies.
“Let’s start with one person who is dedicated to answering calls from tenants with life-safety issues in their homes who can really help them through the process,” Fiebelkorn said. “They can get out there as soon as possible to issue the original citation; they can explain the rights to the tenants — that person is going to be the one that’s helping them.”
The measure is the latest renter protection effort to be driven by Fiebelkorn. Late last year, councilors approved her bill that ensures tenants have cooling systems installed in apartments and living units. Fiebelkorn is also a proponent of repealing the state’s prohibition on rent control. A bill to repeal the prohibition is currently stalled in the New Mexico Legislature with just a few days left before the end of the legislative session.