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6A Guide to Proactive Rental Inspection Programschangelabsolutions.org <br />program. She explained, “[i]t’s quite clear that a complaint-based system is no longer <br />sufficient if we want to maintain safe housing conditions for all residents, especially our <br />most vulnerable – the poor, the elderly, the non-English speakers.”26 She noted that “[f]or <br />the vast majority of properties named in the slumlord lawsuits [initiated by the Attorney <br />General], DCRA had not received any recent complaints from residents of those buildings. <br />And for the worst of the properties, we never received a single complaint.”27 <br />PRI Programs May Preserve Neighborhood Property Values <br />(and a Locality’s Property Tax Base) <br />One of the lessons localities have drawn from the foreclosure crisis is that it is crucial <br />to prevent concentration of blighted properties, in part because poorly maintained, <br />substandard housing can have a negative effect on neighboring property values. By <br />addressing housing conditions proactively, and by quickly identifying and targeting <br />exterior substandard conditions alongside interior code violations, proactive rental <br />inspection programs can ensure that properties don’t become blighted, thereby <br />preserving property values. From a financial standpoint, this benefits landlords and <br />homeowners. Maintaining neighborhood property values also benefits the entire locality <br />because it preserves the local tax base. <br />PROTECTING TENANTS FROM <br />RETALIATORY ACTIONS <br />Most states have laws that protect <br />tenants from landlord retaliation <br />when they submit complaints <br />regarding housing safety. California <br />law, for example, prohibits a landlord <br />from retaliating against a tenant <br />for complaining to an appropriate <br />agency about the habitability of <br />a rental unit.23 The law prohibits <br />retaliatory rent increases, service <br />decreases, eviction, or threats of <br />such.24 In some states, localities <br />include protections within their local <br />laws. <br /> However, even when tenants <br />have legal protections, they may <br />be hindered from asserting these <br />protections due to limited resources <br />and insufficient availability of <br />affordable or free legal services for <br />low-income tenants.25 <br />Proactive PRI programs may help <br />to reduce tenant fear of landlord <br />retaliation, as well as actual <br />retaliation, since the inspections and <br />compliance actions are prompted by <br />a municipal program rather than by <br />tenant complaints.