Writing about rentals

In early September, I wrote a story about the city’s law, which requires all rental property owners to register with the city. It’s an interesting subject because at that time the Office of Neighborhood Services knew of 22,715 rental units in the city. The implied thought there is that in a town with so many college students – over 30,000 of them – the actual number of rental units certainly exceeds that figure.

So, I wrote then of program to be approved by the city council to encourage landlords to register rental units by offering amnesty. The office’s thought was that many long time property owners were in non-compliance by not registering and were concerned that they would be prosecuted if they came forward. The other motive of the program was to raise awareness that the law existed, and the period would be a good time to comply with the law.

This week, months after, the story had fallen away from my mind’s attention, yet it was certainly time for a follow up. The period for amnesty had ended Nov. 15.

When my editor Scott brought to my attention a report by Leigh Britt, the Office of Neighborhood Services manager, I was ready to write a story about it.

The report seemed to show that the program was a success, having brought that number of known units to 22,940. I called Britt Wednesday morning to find out more about it.

I was most concerned with who was registering. I was wondering what the demographics of unregistered landlords were. Britt couldn’t say whom she expected in September. The program over, it was interesting that many of the newly registered properties were single-family homes and some trailers. This would indicate that organized professional landlords were already registered, but those who came into being landlords were not registered. In other words, I’ve read articles and seen books about how people manage when they unexpectantly become landlords.

Britt was very helpful explaining the how the program went. She’s the star of the story one could say.

But there’s a few things missing. In the report she mentioned an office assistant who came up the idea and the city attorney who may responsible for prosecuting non-compliant landlords. They would have made interesting sources, however they were busy with work while I was making phone calls, and I, a student-journalist, had a three-hour class in the middle of business hours.

My next step is the record request I’ll be filing for the landlords who registered. Britt couldn’t recommend a landlord source for me. I’d really like to answer who is an un-registered landlord and did they actually act in response to the city’s program. If there’s any news year here, I’d be interested in what my missing sources think.

Scott has directed to the Attorney General’s sample language for a sunshine request. We’ll see what kind of information come out of it.

Finally, the story is based on a report from Leigh Britt to the City Manager. When I heard the news, I wondered where it had come from besides a press release. Scott kindly showed me a new facet of open information on the city’s website. That means I’m ready to digging into all sorts of news from internal reports.