The photo ordinance will be considered at the Housing Committee tomorrow at 5pm in room LL-110 in the Madison Municipal Building (215 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.).
There is a notable adjustment to the ordinance that I will be introducing tomorrow. A very fair concern was brought up by a notable Madison property owner that, given the language in the current version of the ordinance, landlords would not be able to deduct something from a security deposit on ANY damages unless they had photos for every single damage. The adjustment I am currently working with students, property owners, and the city attorney’s office to craft will shape the ordinance to make sure that landlords can claim deductions for the damages they have authentic photographic proof of, but not the things they have no proof of. The seemingly possible “All or nothing” language in the current ordinance, I found, was an unacceptable violation of basic fairness to property owners. If there are true-blue damages caused by a tenant, damages that a property owner should be compensated for, then it is fair to make sure that a property owner can be reimbursed for them. With that said, the ordinance still protects students and still accomplishes, completely, what I had originally intended with this ordinance.
I hope students who have an interest in this ordinance can find their way to the meeting and share their thoughts on it. If you have any questions, or would like to discuss anything about this ordinance, please feel free to call (6083226358, use area code) or email (district8@cityofmadison.com) and I would be happy to have a chat.
Expect some general thoughts on the process this ordinance has gone through over the past couple weeks.
