Carlisle Rental Housing Task Force recommendations; Rental inspection ordinance shot down.

Last month, I wrote about the Carlisle Rental Housing Task Force and its efforts to advise Carlisle Borough Council regarding a potential rental inspection ordinance.

Yesterday evening, the task force finalized its recommendations. Those recommendations did not include a rental inspection ordinance:

But the audience was only interested in one of the 19 bullet points put forward: "rental units need to be inspected (interior and exterior) on a regular basis."

The task force's two-hour meeting at Borough Hall concluded with a vote on the most controversial aspect of the group's work. But both sides had said all they had to say at previous meetings and there was no discussion on the issue, which failed by a 5-5 vote.

The audience was heavily populated by landlords and spontaneous applause broke out after the inspection motion failed.

Carlisle Sentinel

The Task Force recommendations did include a number of items that have failed in other jurisdictions or are illegal, including mandatory lease amendments (such matters are governed solely by state law), mandatory registration (which requirements are usually ignored by a substantial percentage of landlords) and a residency requirement. The recommendations also include a voluntary inspection program.

These recommendations will not be considered by Carlisle Borough Council until at least September.