Louisville, KY · Member since 2015 · 166 posts · 83 votes
I live in Louisville, KY and they ( the city) just recently started to require all rental properties to be registered with the city. I have spoken with a few other landlords and no one really knows the purpose. Its easy to do online and is free( at least for now). I've already registered mine but if you don't do it by March 1st you could be fined $100 a day. I'm assuming they're are trying to catch people dodging taxes????
The City of Louisville's main explanation for creating this rule and collecting property owner's information is to streamline their ability and accuracy to contact actual landlords. The information is not suppose to ever be public, but we'll see what happens with that down the road. I think it will mainly be used to enforce zoning issues and crackdown on negligent property owners. I think you're also suppose to be able to get the city's help if you have any legal grievances against a rental owner as well. Overall, the rule doesn't seem like it will impact the owners and landlords who are being responsible. Slumlords be on notice.
Cities/municipalities requiring registration, licensing or occupancy permits for rental units is quite common. We have recently started working in a City which requires occupancy permits - the stated reason is so they can assure standards of accommodations and track available inventory in the various quatiers - but you rest assured taxation is a motivation.
The City of Louisville's main explanation for creating this rule and collecting property owner's information is to streamline their ability and accuracy to contact actual landlords. The information is not suppose to ever be public, but we'll see what happens with that down the road. I think it will mainly be used to enforce zoning issues and crackdown on negligent property owners. I think you're also suppose to be able to get the city's help if you have any legal grievances against a rental owner as well. Overall, the rule doesn't seem like it will impact the owners and landlords who are being responsible. Slumlords be on notice.
I just got my first property under contract in Louisville and we will close some time in March. I assume we will have a set amount of time to register after closing or maybe once it is occupied. If you have any thoughts or words of wisdom, I am all ears.
Boston, MA started doing it a few years back too. They charge like 50 dollars for 3 years. It is suppose to know all of the rental properties and know all the owners. Suppose to eventually have inspections and all that.
While I am not thrilled, I have registered my properties under the new regulation. My guy assumption would be for 2 primary reasons:
1 - streamlined process to contact properties owners when necessary
2 - identify which properties are rentals and keep a closer eye on compliance with city ordinances, including taxes for short-term rentals
As you can imagine these things go hand-in-hand. Now they can directly contact the owners when issuing a citation. I have a suspicion landlords will see a slight increase in citations since the property inspectors will know which properties to target. Also, with the rise of Airbnb, I think the city wants to make sure they get their fair share of taxes.
Just a guess, but not all is bad. (i.e.) - I've been trying to get the landlord of the property next door to my rental to cut down the 100 ft maple tree next door that is dead. A large branch finally fell on my tenants car a few weeks ago...hopefully the city inspector can get ahold of the owner a little quicker before it happens again :)
All non owner occupied properties including vacant land need to be registered in Baltimore City. It is a $30 fee. The fine is up to $500 and it can triple to $1500.
Many who have registered in louisville have noted a sharp uptick in fines for dereliction of property over on the Facebook Page louisville landlords love section 8.
@ JustinBrown Hey Justin, correct you cannot register a property you do not own yet. Just make sure you do not forget once you take ownership of the property https://louisvilleky.gov/government/codes-regulations/rental-registry
Here is a link to the registration site
@Kevin Allen The explanation from @William Osborne is largely correct, however there are a couple of quick points. First, if your property gets cited, the information in the rental registry does become public as part of the case file. Both the City Council and Code Enforcement were clear about this. What's not clear is whether they will be publishing phone numbers and email addresses. If it's your own property, chances are the info is public record anyway. If it's owned in a llc, or land trust or you manage for others, the situation may be a little different.
Second, this statute ostensibly arose out of an effort to 'do something' about all of the vacant properties in the city. Apparently, this is one of the most frequent complaints Council Members get. The regulation only covers properties that are rented or intended to be rented. Thus, vacant and abandoned properties aren't really addressed and it looks a whole lot more like a way to target landlords.
VERY LITTLE was done by the city to communicate the regulation. There are over 130,000 rental units in the city, per their own study. I imagine a great many landlords are going to be surprised.
Yes, I heard very little about this. I contacted four other landlords who was very thankful for me giving them a heads up. Three of them had no clue about it. $100 per day fine could add up very quickly. That's per property. No idea if they will try to hold people to that. I think I would try to fight it if I hadn't heard anything about it. Does anyone know what the time frame for getting future purchased homes registered?