Neighborhood services vary in Columbia
Office of Neighborhood Services will help tenants with various issues.
Published Feb. 2, 2010
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The Office of Neighborhood Services opened in January at 3901 S. Providence Rd. The office can serve as a resource for students moving off campus and focuses on code violations on rental properties.
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If a rental property doesn't receive a complaint for three years, it might be six years until it's inspected again, sometimes allowing places to deteriorate without notice.
But a new Columbia office has teamed together housing experts to give residents and students a centralized place to reach out to when dealing with poor property or unresponsive landlords.
The Office of Neighborhood Services, 3601 S. Providence Road, opened Jan. 4 and features six departments of experts who aim to keep Columbia properties up to snuff. The office includes three building inspectors, one health inspector, one police office, a neighborhood response coordinator, a volunteer program coordinator and a half-time prosecutor.
"One of our aims is to educate the public so we can make it more clear that there should be rental compliance," office director Leigh Britt said. "People shouldn't be living in an unsafe condition, and students are certainly a big chunk of renters."
Under the Rental Unit Conservation Law, all landlords are responsible for obtaining a certificate of compliance, which shows they are following city building and health codes. One large project the Office of Neighborhood Services is taking on is sending letters to all the rental properties in Columbia to urge them to obtain the certificate.
To get one, a landlord must pass an inspection by one of the office's three professional inspectors. If a student or anyone else is curious about a property they're looking into or the property where they live, they can check whether that rental unit complies with building and zoning codes.
Some common building code violations include peeling paint, broken windows, damaged or cracked sidewalks and gutters full of debris. The office also aims to check into health violations, such as stagnant water, tall weeds or accumulations of trash.
Building inspector Bruce Martin said students should not only check whether a rental unit complies with code but also carefully read the lease and tour the unit before renting.
"Don't sign a lease without looking at the property. A lot of times students are looking for a place and they're so desperate to find somewhere they won't even look at a property," he said. "The landlords can promise fixes, but some will and some won't."
The office can also help students work with unresponsive landlords, but staff members advise that students contact their landlord first if they have a complaint.
"If a tenant is able to communicate with landlords, that will be the fastest solution to the problem," Britt said. "If they feel they can't get an issue resolved, we can go out there."
Representatives from the new office will be at MU's Off-campus Housing Fair, which is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Feb. 17 in Memorial Union.