SitemapActivists demanding the city take efforts to protect residents from predatory land contracts took to Youngstown City Hall on Tuesday to demand action.
Members of the Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods – including local neighborhood leaders and members of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. – brought the draft of an ordinance before Youngstown City Council’s Committee on Community Planning and Economic Development.
Elder Rose Carter, ACTION’s executive director, led a group of more than 30 members and concerned residents to pressure the city to pass legislation to force property owners to obtain a clearance from the city before they rent or lease a property using a land contract.
The legislation would require owners to alert the city to the contract, have the property inspected and earn a certificate of compliance through the department of Property Code Enforcement and Demolition before being cleared for rental.
“We’re not saying land contracts are bad, but we need to make sure that they’re fair,” Carter said.
Under land contracts, prospective owners pay rent to a seller for a predetermined number of years before having the option to purchase the property.
However, the contracts often push the burden of maintaining, repairing and dealing with financial issues attached to the property onto the renters, offering them no protections that would otherwise be available to traditional renters or mortgage-holders. This leaves renters open to any number of pitfalls, including pouring thousands of dollars into repairs or agreeing to rent a property that is, unbeknownst to them, in foreclosure. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here.