Is there a double standard here?

New Britain is a city of small landlords and many of the owners of three-family units, in particular, do not live in these buildings.

The city is considering a certificate of apartment occupancy requirement aimed at absentee landlords. The Herald has a report. It would require inspection and certification that meets housing code or face fines.

But I have to question the fairness of what the Common Council is considering. According to The Herald the proposal:

It would have required all three-family and above properties that were non-owner occupied to register the property and be inspected with the city before renting the units out.

If I understand this correctly, it means that owner-occupied buildings are exempt and don't have to meet the same standards of compliance. There is a double standard here and it’s a political one. Landlords hate this requirement.

The idea of requiring a certificate of occupancy has come up before. My memory may be faulty here, but I believe the city had a certificate of occupancy requirement that it rescinded because of landlord complaints about it. Many landlords didn't discover the need for a certificate of occupancy until a tenant stopped paying rent and then used the lack of certificate as leverage in Housing Court.

The latest certificate of occupancy proposal is being used as a hammer to go after bad actors, those absentee landlords who have let property fall into disrepair. If a certificate of occupancy was about ensuring safe housing, then the requirement would exist for any rental unit.

All landlords are required to meet housing code. But the city doesn't have enough housing inspectors to create an effective system to monitor and enforce housing conditions. It only responds to complaints.

Absentee landlord is a term that has a negative connotation attached to it but the vast majority of these property owners, I strongly believe, are hardworking people who pay taxes to the city and try to do the right thing. Most absentee landlords don't want to see the value of their investment decline. A bad tenant can cause mountains of grief and expense.

The city is going to have couple any certificate of occupancy requirement with an education program and reach out to landlords and try to help them from being ensnared in costly legal processes.