http://www.dailygazette.com

Quoted Text

SCHENECTADY
New version of responsibility law would cover local landlords too
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

   The city’s proposed Landlord Responsibility Act has been extended to apply to all landlords, not just those who live far from Schenectady.
   According to the latest draft of the law, everyone who owns property in Schenectady would have to register with the city and provide contact information, including home phone numbers. Landlords who live outside Schenectady County would also have to designate a local person as managing agent; landlords who live within the county can designate themselves.
   If they do not register, or they register with deliberately incorrect information, they could be fi ned $100 to $500 per week until they correct the situation.
   The Schenectady City Council accepted the stricter version of the law at Tuesday’s council committees meeting. They will vote on it after holding a public hearing at 7 p.m. on Sept. 24 at City Hall.
   Council President Mark Blanchfield, who proposed the law, said he hopes it will allow city officials to reach owners quickly in emergencies. Some landlords have deliberately hidden from process servers sent to notify them of fires and major code violations. In one instance, a landlord ignored frantic messages from the city while her building slowly collapsed on State Street.
   “I want, at the very least, someone on the ground to deal with the problem without having to go too far,” Blanchfield said. “You could designate a tenant to be managing agent, if they were responsible enough to make the phone call to you.”
   The law also incorporates the existing rental certificate rules, but changes those rules in two small ways.
   First, landlords would be required to post the city’s trash collection schedule in every rental unit, in addition to the current rules forcing them to post the rental certificate.
   Secondly, landlords who rent a unit without the certificate — which can only be issued after the unit passes a building inspection — would face higher fines. Right now, the fine is $200 to $500 for each violation. Under the new act, first offenders would be fined $150 to $250, but repeat offenders would face a fine of $500 to $1,000 for every day in which they do not have a rental certificate.
   The higher fines would only be used if the landlord intentionally refused to apply for a rental certificate, according to the latest draft of the act.
   Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden said he raised the ante for repeat offenders after some landlords received relatively small fi nes in court.
   “This will limit, to some extent, the discretion the judge has to do a slap on the hand,” Van Norden said.
   If the law passes, city officials may notify landlords by sending a letter with the tax bills. In that case, the law would take effect on Jan. 1, 2008. However, council members have not yet decided whether to take that route.

  
  
  

Sounds like the city legislating for the entire county to me.  Is there a reason that we have County Legislators if the city is just going to do it?

Maybe they would like to talk to Mr.Marotta.....I wonder if he owns property in the city??

I can see this in some cases, as there are a lot of mfh that are owned by companies who live out of state. Take Southgate for example. It is generally referred to as 'welfare-gate'. The owners live in NYC and pay a maintance person to take care of it. IT IS A MESS!!!!
I drove through Schenectady today, as I had to go there on business.....WHAT A FREAKIN' MESS!!!  I was at a stop light on State Street and there were 2 cars in front of me. The light was red. So the guy in the first car got out and went to talk to the guy in the second car. I guess they were freinds. They had their nice little conversation while the light turned green. People were blowing their horns and ya know what? These guys could have cared less!!!!

BUT, let's not forget how great the two blocks of State Street look!!!