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Attachment A <br />Rental Housing Code Staff Report – April 18, 2012 <br /> <br />role later that year. The remaining DAC members were serving a two-year commitment that <br />expired September 2011. <br /> <br />In advance of the 2011 sunset and at the recommendation of staff, the Council approved an <br />ordinance to extend the sunset date to September 30, 2012 for further evaluation of the code. <br />Much of that evaluation is summarized in this report. <br /> <br /> <br />CORVALLIS COMPARISONS <br />Earlier this year, staff and representatives from the owner and tenant community traveled to <br />Corvallis and met with their program staff. Those making the trip with staff included: <br />Norton Cabell, Rental Owner and Chair of the Housing Policy Board <br />John VanLandingham, Lane County Legal Aid attorney/Tenant Representative <br />Jim Straub, President of the Lane County Rental Owner’s Association <br />Eric Hall, Architect and Rental Owner <br /> <br />The Corvallis program was the model on which the Eugene program was based. The visit <br />confirmed the programs remain similar in scope and administration. <br /> <br />Some notable differences between the programs included: <br /> <br /> <br />Late fees – Corvallis charges $100 per unit whereas Eugene charges $20 per account with <br />no limit on the number of units an owner’s account may contain. <br /> <br /> <br />Corvallis inspects on average, two complaint-based units annually, whereas Eugene <br />averages closer to twenty cases annually. For context, Eugene has three times the units <br />of Corvallis but considerably more than three times the cases. <br /> <br /> <br />Corvallis developed their program over several years with considerable community and <br />owner involvement whereas Eugene’s program used the Corvallis code as the model and <br />largely skipped public engagement in the code development stage. <br /> <br /> <br />Corvallis makes enforcement cases available online through the City website. All <br />documents, case notes and photographs are viewable online. <br /> <br /> <br />Eugene’s program has a relationship to the building enforcement staff whereas Corvallis <br />staff is perceived as separate from the inspectors and enforcement. <br /> <br /> <br />This table on the next page provides a finer level of comparison between similar program details. <br /> <br />2 | Page <br /> <br />