New Bedford City Council passes tougher fines against scofflaw landlords to 2nd reading

NEW BEDFORD – City Councilors voted unanimously Thursday to pass to a second reading Mayor Jon Mitchell's stepped-up fine schedule aimed at scofflaw landlords who repeatedly rack up code violations.

The second reading OK by the board is needed for full approval.

The council also amended Mitchell's original version to make it a little less strict.

The current graduated fine schedule requires 25 separate violations before city inspectors can issue the maximum $300 ticket. The fines start at $25 after an initial written warning.

Mitchell's proposed fine structure reached the maximum $300 penalty after seven violations, starting with a warning and then increasing in $50 increments for each violation to reach $300.

Council OKs slightly less strict version

The board Thursday approved Councilor Shane Burgo's amendment to make it eight offenses before reaching the $300 threshold, starting with a written warning, $25 for a second offense, and then $50 per offense until the $300 threshold is reached on the eighth offense.

Burgo said that would provide a layer of protection for those who made a mistake with no ill will while still going after the large-scale offenders as intended.

Crack down on repeat offenders

The idea behind the stepped-up fines is to crack down on repeat offenders.

Close to 600 properties have had more than 10 violations in the last five years, Mitchell said.

Of those properties, 177 had between 20-49 violations, 49 had 50-99 violations, and 12 had more than 100 violations.

There's a carrot as well as a stick in the updated ordinance, he said.

If problem landlords go without any new violations in a year's time, they can start with a clean slate - that is, a written warning before the fines start adding up again.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Scofflaw New Bedford landlords face tougher fines