Columbus City Council wants to get money back from landlords whose apartments are condemned, forcing the city to fund temporary housing for displaced residents.
One council member said new legislation being introduced Monday would help if situations like what happened the last two years at Latitude 525 and Colonial Village occur again. Over 1,000 people were displaced from the two condemned apartment complexes were forced to shutter and Columbus had to use funds to help.
Columbus City Council Member Shayla Favor said this legislation will allow the city to force bad actor landlords who do not willingly pay for the costs of relocating of tenants to pay up.
Columbus had to foot a $9 million bill to help many of those families find temporary housing in hotels and motels. A lot of that money was used for translation services, since many residents at Colonial Village were believed to be immigrants trafficked from Haiti.
"The reality here is that we don't have enough units right now to accommodate all families at price points if we have mass displacements continuing to occur like this. So it is an incentive, if you will, to curb future bad behavior," Favor said.
Favor said she and the city are proud of the work they've done with groups like the Community Shelter Board to help the residents. But Favor said the funds used to help the residents find emergency housing could be used on other projects.
"What has transpired at Latitude 525 and Colonial Village is nothing new. We have had mass vacates that have happened in the past due to properties not being up to Columbus City code. But in all of those instances, the city and the county and other agencies have to come together in order to put an ad hoc group together and provide resources to support those residents during that time of displacement," Favor said.
Favor called the cost a "hefty price tag" that the city has to pay when these mass vacates do happen.
Favor said Columbus City Council will begin considering the new law on Monday.
Also on the agenda are two other pieces of legislation aimed at housing. Both pieces of legislation would direct the city to create two different registries to be published publicly to track vacant or foreclosed properties in Columbus.
