Sound off on Austin’s rental registry

The city of Austin is looking for feedback on its rental registration program. In 2013, after a lengthy process, the city adopted (and then promptly revised) a rental registry designed to keep track of “repeat offender” landlords who were bad actors in the city. Under the Repeat Offender Program, properties with a history of code violations register with the Code Department and submit to an annual inspection. In 2020, a city audit found that the program was ineffective and recommended that changes be made. Since the beginning of this year, the Code Department has been holding some conversations about what those changes would look like, and now the department has opened a public input survey, with plans to present proposed changes in October. The survey, which will remain open through June, is an opportunity to weigh in on the current program and make suggestions on what the revamped program might look like.