Will Atlanta stop subsidizing landlords for imminent housing code violations?

Legislation stuck in City Hall limbo aims to prevent property owners who violate housing codes from getting city grants — and could even get them back retroactively.

If passed, the measure could prevent struggling landlords from taking advantage of city benefits, including tax breaks from Invest Atlanta and rent voucher contracts from Atlanta Housing.

Atlanta City Council member Byron Amos in February proposed the resolution “to urge the Mayor, Invest Atlanta and Atlanta Housing to refrain from providing public funds or tax abatements to beneficiaries with criminal charges or civil actions not tried against the properties they own.

In short, landlords who are at risk of violating code for neglecting necessary maintenance or allowing unsafe living conditions for tenants – like those named in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution The “Dangerous Dwellings” series would be penalized financially.

“If developers receive public funds to operate in our city, then they must respect the neighborhoods in which they operate,” Amos said. Atlanta Civic Circle Wednesday. “In my opinion, they should not receive public funds (if) their properties are below average.”

But since February, Amos’ proposal has remained in the council’s Community Development and Social Services committee. Essentially, city leaders still don’t know how to put it into practice.

“I have requested that it be held (in committee) to give my office, the administration and our legal department time to work on the language of the legislation to ensure that it is accurate, fair and fair,” Amos said. “There is no timetable as to when this will move forward.”

One of the main stumbling blocks: a clause in the resolution that says: “This withholding of funds will extend retroactively through 2022, ensuring accountability for past actions and fostering a culture of legal compliance and accountability.”

When asked how the retroactive directive would work and how it could be enforced, Amos replied: “These are two questions we are working to answer now. »

In theory, the legislation would apply to landlords the city is investigating as part of its Safe and Secure Housing campaign, which has launched housing code enforcement and surveillance actions against 27 properties since its launch last May .

But the legislation is not yet clear how residents of properties under investigation for code violations might be affected. For example, what happens if an apartment complex loses the rental voucher contract that helps low-income residents with housing?

Invest Atlanta and Atlanta Housing did not respond to a list of questions at the time of publication.