The Benton Harbor City
Commission approved a
I resolution Monday, May 7,
tbat would reduce tbe rental
registration fees for landlords.
Every unit dwelling, multi­
ple unit dwelling, boarding
house and lodging house -will
have to be registered annually
with the' Department of Public
Safety, Division of Building
Inspections for the City of
Benton Harbor.
The revised rental registra­
tion ordinance requires any in­
dividual who acquires partial
or complete ownership of a
uni t(s) must give written
notice of the type of ownership
and addresste ) within 30 days
of acqui i tion to tbe Depart­
ment of Public Safety,
Divi ion 0 Building Inspec­
tion .
City Attorney John Po telh
said if a person sells their rent­
al property· to another in­
dividual, and they fails to
notify the City within 30 days
of the ale in writing, they are
ubject to pro ecution.
The ordinance tates that no
certificate of 'compliance will
be issued to nonresidents, out
of the State of MiChigan. The
landlord mu t have a desig­
nated party living in Michigan
to manage the property and
provide name, add res and
telephone number of thi per-
on to the city. This designated
person will be the one to ob-
tain the application form for
the rental properties.
"'We've had serious
problems with out-of-state
landlords who we can't serve
tickets on", said Po telli, and
"we are requiring that those in­
dividuals now have to bave
designated agents for the State
of Michigan for them to get a
cerfiticate of compliance."
Rental units must be
registered from July 1st until
the following June 30. No cer­
tificate of compliance will be
issued unless the complete ap­
plication form is accompanied
by payment of an annual
registration fee of $30 'per
single unit dwelling; $25 per
unit for a multiple-unit dwell­
ing; and $10 per room for
boarding or lodging hou c .
AJl unit in these structure
must be registered at the same
time.
The rental units must have
an annual inspection by the
city inspectors. If there is any­
thing that has to be corrected.
the owner will have 60 days to
do it. After 60 days a reinspec­
tion will be conducted.
The ordinance requires that
all payments received after
July 1st of each year will bc
assessed a mandatory $25 late
fee designed to reimburse for
added administrative costs.
Any person, owner or
designated responsible party
convicted of violating any
provision of the ordinance will
be punished by a fine having a
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maximum of $500 and with a
minimum of $25 for the first
conviction and a minimum fine
of $100 for the second convic­
tion and a minimum fine of
$150 for the third and e ch ad­
ditional conviction, amI/or 90
days in jailor both.
There have been many com­
plaints from landlords about
the high rental registration fee
since they were raised last
year. Some landlords raised
the rent on their properties to
compensate for the registration
fees.
I The city has been charging
$65 per single unit dwelling;
$54 per unit fOF a multiple-unit
dwelling; and $22 per room for
boarding or lodging houses.
At the commi ion's
workshop Thursday, May 3,
City Manager Steve Manning
id he is all in favor of the
rollbao on th rental regi tra­
tion fees. He also aid tbe city
hould go after the landlords
that are not paying th ir taxes.
Manning said the Depart­
ment of Social Service i in
th process of sending notices
out to e landlords, giving
them six montbs notice, that
effective January 1991, that if
the property that the landlord
owns does not have a current
certificate of occupancy and if
thc property that the landlord
owns has any deliquent (axe
or assessment, the Depart­
ment of Social Services will
not let their clients live in it.
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POC:lINO-ICOI04 � fWC& JCa WELCOME-
INSURED
Commission r Charles
Yarbrough ab tained from
voting because said he was
not satisfied w th the city's
codes.
In other busi ss the com­
mission voted 0 sell eight
city-owned prop rties, four of
the properties being sold
through Bent n Harbor
Homeste d pr gram. The
propertie through the Homes­
tead Program include, 770 Ter­
ritorial. to Walter William ;
948 Lavelle to Catherine Had­
ley; 390 North Hull to Robert
and Laverne Whitfield; and
1181 Agard to Preston and EI­
zene Tillman.
Through the Home tead
program the buyers purchase
the property for SI. 0, but
have to bring the property up
to city code within nine
month of purchase and must
agree to live in the borne for
five years.
The other propertie in­
clude, a hou e at 119 Apple
S1. to Emcry McClendon for
$300; a hou at 965 Colum­
bus to Christian Outreach and
Rehab Development (CORD),
for $3 0; a house at 1021
Monroe to Roseanne
Castleberry for $3,100; a
hou e at 475 North McCord to
Gregory Norwood for $300.
CORD plans to rena Hita
the home and ale. All of the
properties were adverti ed for
bid, according to city official . '
The commi ion al 0 voted
unanimously to nd a letter to
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the Blossomtime Inc. asking to
extend the route of the Blo
somtime Parade ne t year
down Main Street to Paw Paw,
Avenue, ending in HaU Par _
Commissioner Charles
Yarbrough said wi th the
parade extending down Main
Street the minority vendors
, would get "a chance to sell
their wales."
Calvin Britain's
Parent Breakfast
Club M ets
The Parent Brcakta t Club
committee will meet Thursday,
May 17. in th Library of Cal­
vin Brit in Elem ntary School.
209 E. Britain Avc. All parents
with child/children in Benton
Harbor Area School' arc in­
vit d.
At The Library
Movie for: children are
hown on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Movie hown on May 19th in­
clude: "My Dear Uncle Sher­
lock". Be ide book, the
Junior Department ha ca t­
t ,record album. tudyprints,
book-ca eue ombinatio ,
and t aching aid which may
al 0 be checked out.
. Hobby Show
The Annual Hobby Show
will be h Id Saturd y, May 19,
from 10 a.m.- p.m. and Sun­
day, May 20. from 11 a.m-5
p.m. t the Cook Energy Infor- •
mation Center. off 1-94 on Red
Arrow Highway in Bridgrn n,
Michigan. Admi ion is free.
Come Oft down to:
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(616) 925--2418
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