Nathan Mai-Lombardo proposes changing how landlords manage their properties in Mexico, as part of an effort to improve the state of code enforcement in the city.

Some property owners appeared at the June 23 Mexico City Council meeting to express their concerns with some new code enforcement measures that Mai-Lombardo, deputy city manager and community development director, would like to impose. Around two dozen or so people attended the meeting. Some speakers asked about the necessity of the proposed changes, logistical issues and cost burdens.

Some proposals were tabled by the council. Mayor Steve Haag said in an email to the Ledger that city staff will conduct interviews and gather information and that council will have at least one work session if not more on the matter. He said “this will not be a fast process” and that council will “allow city staff to do its work, and we will also allow stakeholders to have more time to share their views on the matter.”

Eleven people spoke during public comment at the meeting, after Mai-Lombardo discussed the proposed ordinances earlier in the meeting. Those proposals tabled by the council were: 

• Landlord licensing process, which will be a once annual registration for each landlord, with one permit covering all residential rental properties they have.
• Occupancy permits for residential rental properties, with the occupancy permits being valid from the initial occupancy until change of occupancy. An interior and exterior inspection is required before each change in occupancy. “Adding these to our code will result in dramatic improvements in both the quality of life for many residents and in the physical quality and appearance of our housing stock and neighborhoods,” the June 9 agenda memo stated, with the above proposals being in Article 2 of the newly created Chapter 43. Commercial properties are already required to do these inspections, Mai-Lombardo told council.
• Vacant property registration in Article 3. “Vacant property registrations were specifically developed by the state legislature and granted to cities as a blight abatement measure, and have been adopted in many cities across the state,” the June 9 agenda memo stated. “They have a demonstrated ability to help get properties improved. It lets owners of vacant properties know we are tracking them and obligates them to report to us, as opposed to buildings being left to sit with no communication or eyes on them.”

Mai-Lombardo, who spoke about the ordinances at the June 9 meeting, said there were four Code Enforcement and Property Maintenance Regulations ordinances updates under consideration. Council approved some proposed ordinances on June 23, including one that amended offenses and nuisances in the city code, in that it moved code enforcement measures to a different chapter in the code and kept the portion regarding police citations. 

During discussion of a proposed ordinance, under Article 1, Mai-Lombardo said that article included readopting the International Property Maintenance Code to put into Chapter 43 of the city code.Mai-Lombardo said later in an email that part of the new property maintenance guidelines requires that owners of empty and occupied buildings maintain windows and doors as opposed to boarding them up, with this measure seeking to maintain a higher quality and vitality of neighborhoods.

He added that buildings under construction or renovation are not subject to this rule.

After Mai-Lombardo spoke at the meeting, council approved withdrawing Article 2 and Article 3 for further discussion.

Adair Hathaway, who lives in Paris and owns rental property in Mexico, was among the attendees at the meeting who spoke and said he didn’t oppose the occupancy inspection program - he said he has dealt it with other towns where he has invested in - but said he wondered how the city would deal with implementation of inspections and the control mechanisms to keep that landlord from renting the property or transferring ownership.

“Within the inspections, don’t just target the landlords, look at any and all properties within the community,” he said. “That’s how all of the other towns that do this does it - it’s not just targeted at the landlords.”

Mark Rogers of Mexico said he has been a landlord for 35-plus years, said he doesn’t see a problem and that code already exists. He wanted to know why he would need a license to be a landlord.

“I know that gives you an enforcement tool - that bothers me,” he said. “If you can pull my license, what do I do for a living?” 

He said as long as a landlord keeps up his property as far as mowing maintenance and safety, no one should tell that landlord when they have to remodel.

Chris Williams of Mexico told council that under the proposal that bringing a property up to current city code will be costly and will “cause you a lot of problems.” He said when a person tries to sell a home and has to meet a number of current codes, it can be problematic when it is an older home, and that can diminish the value of a house. Williams, a former Mexico council member, said council has often asked for more housing and this development of bringing houses up to code didn’t make sense to him, especially in a community that is full of older dwellings.

Gary Johnson of Mexico, touting his experience as a contractor for more than 20 years, said he wanted to know who was going to do inspections, how far the inspections will go and what the city was trying to accomplish.