Fri Jul 30 2010
I am very disturbed that the city of Stow is considering charging a fee to landlords. We should first call it what it is, which I see as a discriminatory tax levied against a group of small business owners.
The logic and basis are flawed. That would indicate to me that the idea has not been thoroughly researched or consequences thought out.
First, the idea that the city is willingly putting itself in a position to arbitrate tenant-landlord disputes is alarming especially considering that the comment was made that it will not require any additional staff members.
The city will be called upon to resolve even the most trivial disagreements -- most of which will be so subjective and time consuming as to be considered a waste of resources.
In our capitalist society, the market has always driven change, not government involvement. Tenants always have the option of moving in the case of an unresponsive landlord. If the landlord does not take care of the property, then no one will want to rent there, and the landlord will be forced to make the necessary changes.
If the intention of this proposal is truly so that property values will go up, then an appearance and safety ordinance would have been proposed to include all residents, not just ones in rental properties.
The fees charged would have unintended consequences of either raising rents during an already difficult economic period for struggling families, or driving landlords out of the city by reducing an already thin profit margin.
Landlords are actually in a position to take excess real estate off the market, which would in turn drive up property values.
Why is the city looking to create more problems for itself by getting involved in issues best left in the private sector?
Parker Platt
Stow
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