CITY PASSES LANDLORD RULES

Langley City will make life tough for landlords who turn a blind eye to
their tenants' illegal activities.

Langley City Council voted 6-1 Monday night to impose stiff penalties on
landlords who do not report illegal activity to the police.

Only Coun. Jack Arnold opposed the bylaw, which will return to Council for
final consideration and adoption on May 14.

Under the new rules, landlords who either don't report or don't discover
illegal activities in the homes they rent out will be subject to large fees
before they can rent the property out again.

Such activities, said Langley RCMP Cst. Derek Gravelle, could include
crystal meth labs, marijuana grow operations, stolen goods stockpiles, and
prostitute "tricks pads."

"This gives us the tools in the community to deal with errant landlords,"
said Gravelle.

The bylaw only applies to residential premises, but a commercial offshoot
will come to Council soon.

If an illegal act is found in a house and the landlord reports it, the
owner will be spared several fees.

But if an illegal act is discovered by police and landlords don't catch it,
the City's building inspector will inform the owner that the building
cannot be occupied again until it has been inspected by police, health
officials, fire officials, electrical inspectors, and the building
inspector a second time.

The cost for all of those inspections could reach $1,200, not to mention
the cost of the repairs needed.

"If a landlord is diligent and reports a grow op, he won't be hit with
additional charges," said Coun. Terry Smith. "It's designed to go after the
landlord who really doesn't care."

A workshop is planned for early June where landlords will be given
information and tools on how to gather information on tenants.

Township staff are preparing a similar bylaw, which is expected to go to
Council in May. Council received its first briefing from police on Monday.