Idaho cities have every right to protect residents from predatory rental practices
Debate over a bill regulating rental fees had less to do with rental fees and more to do with how much authority the state allows cities to have to regulate business activities within their boundaries.
More precisely, the question for Idaho legislators was, how much power should cities be allowed to have over businesses in responding to a problem and protecting residents from predatory business practices?
The House Business Committee on Tuesday voted along party lines to pass a bill that essentially strips authority from cities and counties to regulate rental fees and deposits.
Specifically, the law, if passed, would nullify an ordinance in the city of Boise that caps application fees.
The first problem with the bill is that it’s in reaction to one specific case: Boise’s ordinance. Legislators shouldn’t make state law based on one example.
Next, it takes away local government control.
“Like many of the members here today, the (Idaho) Association of Cities also believes that the government closest to the people governs best,” Julie Hart, the association’s representative, told the committee.
Finally, a simple blanket ban across all cities doesn’t recognize the differences between cities such as, say, Boise and Melba, Ketchum and New Plymouth, McCall and Inkom.
What may be a problem in Boise, may not be a problem in Melba. But if this law passes, the city of Boise won’t be able to address it.
And there is a problem in Boise. Landlords were reportedly charging exorbitant application fees to prospective tenants. Landlord Michael Prentiss, who opposed the bill, testified that he saw the books of one landlord who charged as much as $190.
Even the lobbyist for the Idaho Apartment Association and the representative from the National Association of Residential Property Managers, who both favored the bill, conceded that there are bad actors that need to be regulated.
“It’s the Wild West in Idaho,” when it comes to rental regulations, Paul Smith, lobbyist for the Idaho Apartment Association, said in testifying for a bill that makes Idaho even more Wild West.
Boise City Council members were simply responding to a problem in the city of Boise, where the rental market is so hot, it’s easy for bad actors to take advantage of people desperate to find an apartment.
Boise’s vacancy rate is around 1.1%, an unhealthy level that favors landlords over tenants and creates a power imbalance.
If we really want young people to stay in Idaho, we should be doing what we can to protect them from predatory landlords and property managers who are capitalizing on that power imbalance. Yes, the government does have a role in regulating businesses and protecting consumers from unethical business practices.
Some of the people favoring the law gave their reasons for opposing the city’s ordinance, arguing that it was too low, for example.
If someone has a problem with Boise’s ordinance, bring the complaint to the City Council and change the ordinance. That certainly would be much easier than going to the Legislature and getting a law change that affects the entire state.
The Boise city ordinance capping application fees was brought by City Council member Lisa Sanchez, who testified Tuesday against the bill.
If the ordinance was bad policy and unpopular, one would think Sanchez would have been voted out of office in a heartbeat. That’s how the government closest to the people works. Instead, Sanchez won reelection in November handily.
Rep. Joe Palmer, R-Meridian, conceded: “There are bad players. A few of them. But there are bad players.”
Then where’s your bill to deal with bad players, Rep. Palmer?
This is the bill you brought, and it’s not a bill to protect tenants. You brought a bill to protect landlords. You said it yourself: “We need to be a business-friendly state.” How about being citizen-friendly?
Idaho legislators should leave cities alone and let them solve the problems that are unique to their cities.
This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 12:27 PM.
