[StBernard] St. Bernard ready to alter rental law

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Wed Dec 6 20:03:22 EST 2006


By Karen Turni Bazile

The St. Bernard Parish Council appears poised to rework a controversial
rental law that detractors said was racially discriminatory.

After an executive session, the council on Tuesday unanimously proposed
eliminating the clause in the law that forbids the owners of single-family
homes to rent to anyone not a blood relative without the government's
permission, unless the property was rented before Katrina. Now, the council
proposes that all such rentals be first approved by the Parish Council.

The council, in passing the rental ordinance with the blood relative clause
last September, said it wanted to protect home values in the parish by
maintaining neighborhoods with mostly owner-occupied houses.

James Perry, executive director of the Fair Housing Action Center, declined
to comment Tuesday.

The parish has not enforced the ordinance and recently agreed not to enforce
it until some of the legal questions are answered.

The council will vote on the amended law Dec. 19.

Councilman Craig Taffaro, who proposed the initial law, said Tuesday's
changes show that the parish's true intent was to protect property values by
maintaining owner-occupied neighborhoods -- not to discriminate.

"I think it strengthens our position to reinforce the importance of
encouraging homeowner occupation in R-1 zones," he said. "We eliminated any
question as to the intent of the ordinance and broadened the opportunity for
ownership to be achieved."

Councilman Lynn Dean, who has adamantly opposed the law, said he supported
Tuesday's proposals because he is satisfied that the changes didn't
discriminate against anyone.
"We took out that terrible wording that it only could be rented to blood
relatives," he said.
The law's proponents said its aim is to prevent investors from buying
damaged homes, making minimal repairs and then renting them out, which could
depress home values in traditionally owner-occupied homes.

Also Tuesday, the council proposed amending the same housing ordinance to
allow residents to let someone else live in their home as long as they file
what is called a "bond for deed" with the clerk of court's office. The
current law considers such a bond no more than a rental agreement.

A bond for deed is a contract to sell real property in which the purchase
price is to be paid by the buyer to the seller in installments and in which
the seller, after payment of a stipulated sum, agrees to deliver title to
the buyer.

That measure will also be voted on at the council's Dec. 19 meeting.
. . . . . . .
Karen Turni Bazile can be reached at kturni at timespicayune.com or (504)
826-3321.





More information about the StBernard mailing list