By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — For more than a year, City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn has pushed for stronger renter protections, one city ordinance at a time. In June, two of her measures became law: the Rental Unit Habitability Enforcement Ordinance and a resolution requiring the city to prioritize safety violations. Now those protections are being put to use for renters living in the kinds of conditions the measures were designed to address.
As The Paper’s City Desk reported, renters now have more power to call on the city when their housing conditions are unsafe or unacceptable. In winter 2024, Fiebelkorn pushed through a law requiring cooling in all rental properties, making cooling an essential housing requirement alongside heat. But some landlords didn’t follow the rules, leaving tenants sweltering through last summer’s heat. In June, Fiebelkorn was joined by Councilors Nicole Rogers, Stephanie Telles and Joaquín Baca, who pushed a bill that directed the city’s code enforcement division to prioritize violations that affect renters’ health and safety over lower-priority code complaints like weeds or litter. Priority violations include heating and cooling, running hot and cold water, blocked exits and ventilation. Now, renters at one apartment complex are using the city’s new enforcement tools to push for action.
Now renters have more power to call on the city when their housing conditions are unsafe or unacceptable. Today, Keller and Planning Director Alan Varela shared findings at a press conference downtown about an apartment complex where tenants banded together and asked the city to step in. Tenants at Mont44 Apartments, 4401 Montgomery Blvd. NE, reported sewage backing up into units, an ant infestation that left a baby with bites requiring daily steroid medication and broken air conditioners that have left residents struggling since 2023. KOB was the first to break the news on the apartment’s problems.
The tenants organized with Olé. And said they each called code enforcement separately but didn’t get work done until they unionized and called Bassan.
“The fact that tenants had to unionize to get action tells me that renter protections are seriously needed,” Fiebelkorn told The Paper. “I’m glad my most recently passed protections are working to help folks who need protection from their landlords.”
A Planning Department spokesperson confirmed to The Paper’s City Desk that Code Enforcement is using Fiebelkorn’s cooling ordinance in its enforcement at Mont44. The June law requiring Code Enforcement to prioritize health and safety violations also helped speed up the response. But the spokesperson said tenants coming together and requesting a coordinated inspection was instrumental in getting the investigation underway.