City of Danbury Looks to Shut Down Overcrowded Rentals

According to the News Times, local honchos want to stop the overcrowding of rental homes and apartments in Danbury due to safety concerns. This is not the first time this has been brought up or the first time the city has raised concerns, but it is the first time that the local officials have admitted they cannot change anything without the help of the landlords of the properties in question.

Local authorities want to start to register landlords. Here's where it gets interesting. They (the landlords) would have to get safety inspections from the city, and would also have to add an anti-crime clause to a renter's lease. The landlords who don't cooperate would be charged higher taxes and utilities. Nothing is "set in stone" according to officials via the News Times.

Cool -- good luck with that. Our Government has "head jerk" reactions. Meaning they can get banged in the knee with a hammer, then let it go. Then, get hit in the beanbag with a hammer, let it go and wait for you to hit them in the head to really react. It's way too little, too late.

Now, you have to deal with the existing renters. Any landlord -- and I have been one -- will tell you that having to evict anyone, for any reason, is a huge struggle. If it's not your sole business, and you don't have the resources like having lawyers on retainer, then you are screwed.

You also have to deal with the landlords. Sure, you can put these new rules in place for future landlords and their renters, but that is not where the problem is. The problem is with existing landlords. Now, you have to spend city time and money getting the landlords to comply, then you get to start to try and evict people.

Then, let's say you do all of that. You now have a largely illegal, homeless population on the streets of Danbury. What to do? My guess is that this plan is not as much of a plan as it is a stalling tactic to say that a local safety issue is being addressed.

I'm not going out of my way to criticize my friend, Mayor Mark Boughton, or his colleagues. This problem planted its seeds long before he was on the scene, but it's going to be difficult to fix to say the least. Mark Boughton and other local officials can't sit back and do nothing, so I do commend them for trying, but it will be a process.

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