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Ord 892: Rental Licensing Requirements City Council Work Session Initial DRAFT Review; 7-12-22 Page 5 • Lines 253 – 289. License denial, suspension, or revocation. This section provides clarity on how the city will make decisions regarding licenses, the process to be used, effects of decisions, and the rights of owners and tenants during the denial / suspension / revocation process. o Lines 254 – 289: Grounds for Denial, Suspension, or Revocation. These lines identify 16 different reasons the City can use to justify denying a license, or taking a previously approved license away from an owner. Having pre-defined justifications to act against a license will provide a solid legal defense should the City ever be sued by an applicant or license holder. This expands upon the current list outlined in Section 13- 164(1) of the present ordinance. o Lines 290 – 294: Revocation and Suspension Options. This subsection gives Council options when acting against an issued license (i.e. there can be a middle ground whereby a license is temporarily suspended until issues are addressed). o Lines 295 – 302: Notice. This subsection describes the notice process the City will implement to make sure an owner knows their license may be suspended or revoked, and clarifies that while there will be a hearing before the City Council, the hearing will not be an official public hearing as defined in statutes which require mailed notice to surrounding properties and publication in the City’s official paper. The number of calendar days’ notice to the license holder can be raised or lowered (while more research can be done to confirm, I believe we’ve seen as low as 7 days and as high as 20 days in other ordinances). Ultimately legal will be asked to weigh in on any standard we propose. o Lines 303 – 309: Hearing. This subsection describes the hearing and how it will be conducted. Council’s determination can be made upon a “preponderance of the evidence” (i.e. Council believes there is a greater than 50% chance that the issues of concern are legitimate). o Lines 310 – 323: Final Decision. This subsection outlines the Council’s options upon conclusion of the hearing. Within this section, we set up an option whereby Council can order that rent payable during the suspension or revocation be paid into an escrow account to be maintained by the City. Those funds could then be used to pay for costs of abating violations at the property, and remaining funds would be returned once all issues had been addressed. While not something the City would ever want to employ, having the option will be an important tool in the right circumstances. Timeframes for when a new license can be acquired on lines 321 and 322 should be discussed. o Lines 324 – 331: Appeal of decision to deny or not renew. This subsection describes an owners rights if staff decides to deny a license application. o Lines 332 – 337: Notification to Tenants / No New Rentals. This subsection states that the City will notify tenants if their unit or building is affected by a suspended or revoked license, and prohibits the licensee from letting, renting, or allowing otherwise vacant units to be occupied during the suspension or revocation.