The Greensboro City Council is set to vote on Tuesday on changes to a local housing commission’s powers and duties despite concerns from some local advocates.
The Minimum Housing Standards Commission hears appeals of alleged code violations. A new amendment would remove its ability to inspect homes under investigation.
City Attorney Lora Cubbage said at a work session earlier this month that the change was proposed out of concern for residents’ privacy and due to the commission’s role as a quasi-judicial board.
“A judge could never go to a house and inspect it and then sit on the very case that that particular judge has went in and saw beforehand, couldn't comment on it, couldn't sit on it, would have to recuse from everything about that particular matter," Cubbage said.
The amendment would also remove the board’s ability to study rental rates. City staff said in the work session that North Carolina is not a rent-controlled state, which limits the city’ ability to act on any findings.
Advocacy group Guilford For All said in a Facebook post that if the changes are approved, it would make it “harder to identify unfair pricing and protect safe housing.”
Terrell Dungee, a local advocate with the American Friends Service Committee, says he’s concerned the move would take away oversight from what’s going on in Greensboro’s rental market.
"We know that Real Page has been used in inflating the rental rates in North Carolina, and that our Attorney General has taken Real Page to court around this, and having the opportunity to study our own rental rates could give us opportunities to catch some of that," Dungee said.
The vote comes just before a new slate of city council members is sworn in in December.