Kent program fines landlords who ignore crime problems
Police spend a lot of time at apartments because multiple-dwelling complexes generate many calls for service.
Kent has a lot of apartments - on the East Hill, the West Hill and in the valley - and police are rolling out a plan to address crime at rental properties. The ordinance, approved by Kent City Council in September, rewards landlords who do what they can to keep their properties crime-free, and it fines those who ignore criminal activity.
Most of Kent’s rental properties are well-managed, police say. But the bad apples who allow crime to continue pollute the neighborhoods.
“We’re trying to develop a carrot approach rather than a stick,” Kent Police Sgt. Mark Gustafson said.
The Safe Tenants and Rentals program (STAR) waives the business-license fee for participating landlords. To receive benefits, landlords must screen the backgrounds of tenants and management employees, have tenants sign a crime-free agreement along with the apartment lease and maintain the property according to city code requirements.
If police notify the landlord of criminal activity on the property, the landlord is required to take certain steps, such as reporting the crime or evicting the tenant, to prevent the crime from happening again.
If crime continues in the same unit or by the same tenant, the landlord will be penalized. Depending on the property owner’s standing with the safe rental-housing program, fines range from $250 to $1,250.
As Kent grew, crime increased along with the population. In 29 years with the Kent police, Gustafson said he’s seen crime at rental properties rise dramatically.
A program like this is imperative to keep housing crime-free in Kent, said Hannah Rudnick, manager of the 207-unit Alderbrook Apartments.
The STAR program is about forming a partnership with rental-property owners to keep crime down, Gustafson said.
About five years ago, the Alderbrook Apartments had crime problems, Rudnick said. Management saw a steady decrease in crime after they started working closely with Kent police.
An undercover officer paid attention to safety issues at the complex and was a resource for apartment managers, Rudnick said.
The information gathered by police gave managers the documentation needed to evict problem tenants, Rudnick said.
Police hope that partnering with rental-property owners will be effective in tackling problem spots in the city, such as 27th Place South. This dead-end street is crowded with two large complexes and several rows of fourplexes.
The neighborhood has been an active hot spot for crime and is close to a high-crime stretch of Pacific Highway South known for drug activity and prostitution, Gustafson said.
Most of the fourplexes are individually owned, and they have no on-site management, Gustafson said. Some landlords screen their tenants, but others don’t.
Because the housing is so close together, the problems of one unit spill into the entire neighborhood, Gustafson said.
Along with the beginning of the safe rental-housing program, police will add officers to a neighborhood-response team. The department will put one officer in each of the city’s three patrol areas to regularly interact with the community.
The more an officer gets to know a neighborhood, the better police can address crime, Gustafson said.
Lauren Vane: 253-234-8604 or lvane@seattletimes.com