Jackson Free Press

The city of Pearl is turning into a case study in ever-changing and ever-more-restrictive rental ordinances, which have some folks mad as hell.

Just about every city in America has rules governing rental properties. Those ordinances might cover everything from how to apply for a building permit to what defines a dwelling to outlining required safety equipment in rental units, such as smoke alarms and fire extinguishers.

But Pearl has gone too far, property owners and tenant advocates say.

In 2010, the Pearl Board of Aldermen passed an ordinance restricting the number of people who could occupy a rented apartment or mobile home. The ordinance requires a minimum sleeping space of 70 square feet for one person and 100 square feet for two people. The smallest unit intended for two people must be at least 220 square feet overall and have an additional 100 square feet for every additional occupant.

Bill Chandler, executive director of the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance, called it a "bedroom-police" ordinance, and it sets his teeth on edge. He claims that the ordinance is targeting low-income brown people—African Americans and Latinos—and is designed to keep or drive them out of Pearl. It threatens low-income people with fines and jail time should they exceed the limit without paying to apply for a residential occupancy permit—even if the additional resident is a newborn. And there's no guarantee that the city would grant the permit.

Chandler also has concerns about new ordinances, which the city's board of alderman passed in June. One particularly troubling section allows the city to inspect properties—without notice in some cases—to ensure properties meet city codes. But Pearl's Code Enforcement Division is part of the city's police department, and Chandler is worried that it may expose tenants to warrantless, illegal searches of their homes.

"That, like the bedroom ordinance, could be challenged in court," Chandler said. "What we need on both of those things are plaintiffs who are willing to come forward."

Pearl Mayor Brad Rogers has a somewhat more benign take on the ordinances. His city is having issues with owners who aren't keeping their properties in good condition, he said, making them unsafe for residents. The ordinances give the city ammunition to force those owners to provide safe, livable rentals to their tenants.

"What we put into place was a rental ordinance that makes sure our rental properties are, effectively, not slum properties," Rogers said. "I don't think you should be able to drive down the street and be able to tell 'that's an owned property, and that's a rental property.'"

Rogers says rental properties should provide for "the basic necessities of life," and that when landlords fall short on that standard, the city should be able to help them. Without the new ordinances, the city has no ability to assist renters who can't get landlords to fix or maintain their homes, he added.

"Right now, I can't do one thing about that," Rogers said. "I cannot do one thing. I have to look at them and say: 'I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do.'"

Pearl has not implemented the June version of its rental ordinances, Rogers said. That version is not final, and that section is one that most likely will change, he said.

Landlords say that some of the other requirements are financially burdensome and, for existing properties, could be logistically impossible to retrofit. Mandating that every rental property include a sprinkler system, an on-site siren, a phone and text warning system, and a storm shelter capable of keeping every resident safe from an F2 tornado, for example, could cost millions for a multi-family complex.

"Rental properties are a business, and I believe they should be treated like a business," Rogers said. "When you're in business, sometimes you have to put money back into your business."

The mayor doesn't put much stock in the owners' financial arguments, and said the ordinances address life-safety issues. "There's been no major loss of life, but it's only a matter of time, I'm telling you," he said. "And then people are going to say, 'Why didn't you have this code in place?'"

Landlords called for this story seem convinced the city is targeting them. No such mandates apply to single-family developments with homes for sale, they said, and the ordinances will prevent the city from attracting new, low- and moderate-income rental-housing developers and their potential tenants. That may be the point, the landlords opined, though it would be ironic given the city's push for new retail businesses, which tend to pay low wages.

They're also concerned that the city could retaliate if they complain, and none would speak on the record.

Instead, Pearl property owners brought in the big guns to do the complaining for them. Marty Milstead is the executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Mississippi. The Mississippi Multifamily Council is one of the HBA's divisions, and includes owners and developers of apartments and other multi-tenant properties. Milstead is negotiating with Rogers to make changes to the city's new rental ordinances, which he called "extreme."

"We've been working with the city of Pearl because, frankly, we feel some of the ordinances would put our folks out of business—or certainly would put renters out of a place to live," Milstead said. Though renters come from all walks of life and all incomes, he said, some of the changes Pearl is attempting to mandate would be "astronomical," and cause rents to rise accordingly, putting Pearl out of reach for low-income people.

"You just can't incur those costs without having some implications," Milstead said, adding, "As the ordinance has been adopted, it would be devastating for the owners and the tenants if changes aren't made. ... We're trying to bring some solutions to the table."

Milstead said the meetings have gone well and believes they've made some progress.

"I have heard the complaints of the property owners, and we are working on that," Rogers said, emphasizing that he's not an unreasonable guy. "... The only thing we've done over here is to make rental properties something we can all be proud of."