The New Orleans City Council on Nov. 3 passed a “Healthy Homes” ordinance designed to ensure the habitability of rental units in the city, but some observers question the measure’s effectiveness due to its lack of regular safety inspections.
Originally, the measure contained provisions for inspections of apartments and other rentals in New Orleans at least every three years, but the final version of the plan contains no such provisions. Instead, inspections would be subject to renter complaints about substandard dwellings with defects such as a lack of working plumbing or ineffective heating.
A staff attorney with Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS) said that the final version of the ordinance may end up not helping some vulnerable low-income renters and allowing some rental units to deteriorate.
“A complaint-based system that does not include an affirmative inspection requirement puts the burden of enforcing the law on tenants (though the ordinance does allow others to make code enforcement complaints on tenants' behalf),” attorney Hannah Adams told the Louisiana Record in an email.
SLLS cannot advocate for or against ordinances since it receives funding from the nonprofit Legal Services Corp. But Councilman Jean Paul Morrell did invite SLLS to provide comments on the ordinance when it was being developed, Adams said.
“We shared with the City Council that the final version of the ordinance will protect many of our clients who face retaliatory eviction for requesting repairs or making complaints to code enforcement by providing a defense in eviction court,” she said. “It will not protect our clients who may have fallen behind on rent because of the COVID-19 pandemic or a family emergency.”
A companion ordinance would set up an assistance fund for tenants who have to move when units do not meet basic health and safety standards.
“In all, the (Healthy Homes) ordinance offers more protections to tenants who complain about health-threatening conditions than we had previously,” Adams said.
In a prepared statement, the executive director of the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center said the passage of the ordinance means that New Orleans has joined 43 other states in providing renters with protections against landlord retaliation.
“We remain disappointed about council members’ decision to remove regular inspections for larger and corporate landlords from the ordinance, especially given the outpouring of support in favor of a robust and meaningful Healthy Homes ordinance,” Cashauna Hill said in a prepared statement.