EASTON, Pa. — Easton is aiming to revive a landlord training program with even more information and resources for property owners and tenants in an attempt to improve housing in the city.
Councilman Frank Pintabone — a landlord himself — announced plans for the program Thursday afternoon, with further details provided by Redevelopment Authority Deputy Director Michael Brett, RDA Program Manager Haley Weber, and Mayor Sal Panto Jr.
The new program, which will be developed with Pintabone, city administrators, the Redevelopment Authority of Easton, and the nonprofit housing authority organization HOME Easton, will be a revamped version of an initiative that originally launched in 2015, but fizzled out within two years due to participation being voluntary.
Program details
As Pintabone explained, the new version of the landlord training program will be mandatory, with landlords in Easton paying an extra $10 on top of the annual $75 paid for a renters’ license renewal. Landlords will be able to complete the required training online, likely with an open-book exam at the end, to be certified for renewal.
“This program, we're going to relaunch a new and improved annual landlord training program, [and] it will create the basis for a larger, more well-rounded program that serves property owners and tenants alike, represents the city's commitment to quality housing for all residents, and enables the city to engage continuously with tenants and landlords, as well as gather important information relevant for policy making,” Pintabone said.
Some components for the program include lessons on fostering stronger relationships with tenants and families, fighting discrimination, facilitating better understanding and connections with Section 8 vouchers, building relations with the community outside the landlord/tenant connection, creating a proactive approach to respond to tenant concerns, seeking expert advice for issues, and broadening understanding of other people’s experiences.
Pintabone said he intends to present the program to council in February for approval. An employee will be in place by March, with Weber finishing the online modules leading into May, when they hope to have a functional online platform. Registration for landlords is set to begin in August.
"So we'd like to give three to four months of time that they can go on do this training, and we can actually get the word out where it's not just getting launched August 1," Pintabone said. "And you know, by August 31 you need to have this done."
Pintabone hopes the program could lead other municipalities to create their own version, or perhaps inspire legislation across the commonwealth.
The program is structured to run for two years off previously allocated ARPA funding, along with at least one full time dedicated employee.
As Brett put it, the previous iteration of the program was a “passion project” of the RDA program manager at the time, thought it was largely aimed at just making and keeping the neighborhoods safe.
Brett said the old version “treated landlords and tenants like criminals,” while the new version aims to improve beyond that.
“In order to reduce the crime, we're really looking at engaging landlords and tenants in a more productive manner, treating them more like community members," Brett said. "When you have a neighborhood like the West Ward that is pushing 60% tenant occupied, it's a demographic you can't ignore if you want to see your city move forward and transform, so the basis of this is really more of an engagement than training."
Engagement and enforcement
The program will aim to connect with landlords who may have entered the market during the short sales in the 2010s, or family members who inherited a rental property.
“This is intended to bring those landlords in and help them be better."Michael Brett
“This is intended to bring those landlords in and help them be better,” Brett said.
“This is designed to bring in tenants and teach them how to be productive community members, what their rights area, what fair housing is, what they should expect from their landlord, what code standards are expected by the city and truly engage all the stakeholders that are involved in the city.”
As Weber put it, the improved program goes beyond a single in-person lecture to a more “ethical framework of neighborhood development.”
Rather, it may offer “an online interface that will be like training modules that we can also update regularly,” Weber said. That might include new information each year as regulations change, more open-ended questions for exams, and a push to maintain contact between the city and landlords.
“It will also give us constantly up to date information about the landlords and their thoughts, and give us another, more direct way to engage with them throughout the year.”Haley Weber
“We can also gather survey data through that app as well, so we can post survey questions," Weber said. "We can post updates about events that we hope to fold, like workshops, so that will be sort of the conduit for information gathering that I'm foreseeing in the future once I start actually creating that interface part of the program so it will serve more than just complimenting the document and training the landlords."
“It will also give us constantly up to date information about the landlords and their thoughts, and give us another, more direct way to engage with them throughout the year.”
Pintabone later added the site could serve as a repository of information, offering landlords tips about leasing, codes, background and credit checks, maintenance issues, and more.
A partnership with North Penn Legal Services may also lead to monthly training sessions with landlords and tenants, Pintabone said.
Panto acknowledged that modern generations’ relationship with their residences have changed, with more people than ever renting as opposed to purchasing, indicating the new program could become even more of a necessity as the world of housing changes in the years to come.
“So we need to do a better job knowing that the paradigm has shifted. We need to do a better job of training people, both the landlords and tenants. And I think that'll really be beneficial. I think making it mandatory is a good idea,” Panto said.
