Landlord groups are suing Pittsburgh to stop a rental registration program from starting this May. The Landlord Service Bureau and the Apartment Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh argue the program is unconstitutional because it puts an undue burden on landlords.
Pittsburgh City Council passed legislation in November to create a registry of residential rental properties and a new inspection requirement for those properties every three years. Buildings built before 1978 would be subject to a lead dust wipe. City officials announced earlier this month that the program would launch in May, and landlords would have until the end of the year to register their properties and pay associated fees.
But the landlord groups argue the fees for landlords to comply with the program are “grossly disproportionate” to the cost to operate the rental and inspection program.
When announcing the program would move forward earlier this month, Pittsburgh City Council members said the fees were necessary to cover the travel expenses for an inspector. A city spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit Thursday, citing a policy against doing so while litigation is pending.
There have been attempts by the city to launch a similar program since 2007. Former Mayor Luke Ravenstahl signed the first version of a rental registration ordinance in 2008. The Apartment Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh filed a lawsuit in 2009. The registry did not come to be.
Then in 2015, a similar lawsuit was filed when a new version of the registry passed council. A judge then ruled that the $65 per unit fee (for up to 10 units with the per-unit fee decreasing beyond that) was too high.
The current legislation lowered fees to $16 per application, a $5.50 inspection charge and $14 per unit. If a property is not inspected in a given year, the landlord will only be responsible for the annual registration fee.
But the lower fee is not low enough, the lawsuit contends. The groups argue the fees are a tax revenue stream for the city. Pittsburgh City Councilor Bruce Kraus said earlier this month the new fee structure was based on the cost of operating the program. Kraus did not respond to WESA’s request for comment Thursday.
The lawsuit also claims the program violates existing leases between landlords and tenants and that landlords “will be forced to evict tenants and terminate leases” if they can’t meet registration requirements. Landlords would be fined if they violate the terms of the program, but the ordinance does not require evictions of tenants.
The groups argue the program discriminates against landlords based outside of Allegheny County because they must appoint a local agent to respond to tenant issues. “In effect, rental property owners domiciled outside of Allegheny County are forced to become an employer,” they argue.
Kraus said earlier this month that the local agent requirement of the program is designed to assist renters who have struggled to get issues resolved at properties owned by out-of-town companies.
The lawsuit also challenges the lead safety inspection requirement for buildings erected before 1978. The complaint takes issue with buildings excluded from inspections like affordable housing units, owner-occupied rental units and college dormitory buildings. “These distinctions are not supported by any rational basis,” the complaint argues.
The groups are asking the court to declare the registration program and the lead safety inspections unconstitutional and to prevent the city from implementing it. The program is currently slated to begin in May with a deadline for landlords to register by the end of 2022. A hearing on an injunction has not yet been set.
