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ORDINANCE NO. 16,767
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5 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING LITTLE ROCK,
6 ARK. ORDINANCE NO. 16,659, TO
7 CLARIFY THAT A TENANT MAY BE
PROSECUTED FOR CAUSING HOUSING CODE
8 VIOLATIONS; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
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11 WHEREAS, Little Rock, Ark. Ordinance No. 16,659 (May 17,
12 1994) establishes regulations and procedures for inspection of
rental housing units and for penalties for violations thereof;
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14 WHEREAS, the ordinance does not clearly provide that a
15 tenant or other person having care, custody or control of the
16 unit may be legally responsible for causing noncompliance with
the housing code; and
17 WHEREAS, it is the intent of the Little Rock Board of
18 Directors to so provide.
19 NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF
20 THE CITY OF LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS.
21 SECTION 1: Little Rock, Ark. Ordinance No. 16,659 is
22 hereby amended to add the following section:
23 Section 8 -586. Tenant Responsibility.
24 (a) It is a violation of this article for any person
25 having care, custody, or control of a rental housing
unit to damage, destroy or tamper with the unit
26 thereby causing noncompliance with the housing code.
27 (b) Before the city can issue a citation under this
28 section, the owner shall provide the code enforcement
officer with written documentation signed and dated
29 by the tenant indicating that the condition causing
noncompliance did not exist when the tenant took
30 possession of the premises. This document shall be in
a form approved by the building official.
31 Furthermore, the code enforcement officer shall
32 determine that the tenant in possession of the
premises damaged, destroyed or tampered with the unit
33 thereby causing noncompliance with the housing code.
34 SECTION 2: EMERGENCY. The intent of the Little Rock
35 Board of Directors to clearly establish that tenants or other
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persons in control of a rental housing unit are responsible
for causing housing code violations must be clearly
established in the ordinance. Therefore, this amendment is
necessary for the proper application of the Rental Inspection
Ordinance for the health, safety and welfare of the citizens.
It is hereby declared to be an emergency measure and shall
become effective immediately upon passage and approval by the
Board of Directors.
PASSED: October 18, 1994
ATTEST: APPROVED:
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