Columbia councilman wants crime, landlords study

On Monday night, Columbia City Council member Karl Skala asked city staff to consider researching landlords’ responsibilities in regulating tenants and reducing crime.

He said recent disturbances on Kelsey Drive in northeast Columbia near Rice Road were the catalyst behind his request.

“This is a recurrent theme in this area having to do with duplexes and some of the rental properties in this area,” he said.

While residents in areas of high crime tell ABC 17 News that rental properties are the problem, several city leaders and housing experts said rental properties are sometimes just a piece of a larger crime problem.

Glen Cobbins, a city consultant that works with families in low-income neighborhoods to address crime and poverty, said absentee landlords can sometimes be an issue.

“The thing about it is, if they want a good tenant, they should have better housing,” he said. “That’s just the bottom line.”

He said it is a two-way street though, because some landlords can’t afford to fix up their housing.

Councilman Mike Trapp, whose Second Ward encompasses much of the north neighborhoods, said the vast majority of landlords and tenants aren’t involved in criminal activity.

Bodie Drive, once a hotbed of criminal activity on the north side of town, has benefited from community policing and an increase in landlord accountability, Trapp said.

“Primarily, the people we need to hold accountable are the people engaged in that kind of criminal activity,” he said.

Renters should still have rights, though, Trapp said. He cited a Columbia Housing Authority policy for its properties that includes a low barrier to entry.

The CHA does a 5-year background check and if someone has a record past those five years, they are usually admitted to housing. There is an appeals process if they do have a recent criminal record but can prove they are on the straight and narrow.

Once the tenant is living in the property, there is a zero tolerance policy for most violent crime and criminal activity.

“That, I think, is the sweet spot of making sure everybody has a chance to have a place to live, but also ensuring that you’re not becoming a nuisance upon the neighborhood or infringing on the rights of other people to feel safe in their own home,” Trapp said.

While the CHA is a public organization, state law also allows private landlords and county courts to remove tenants if they’re involved in drug-related criminal activity or violence, even if there is no arrest.