South Bend faith communities are calling on the city to tighten its Rental Safety Verification Program and step up enforcement against problem landlords. We Make Indiana hosted a safe housing assembly Sunday at Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church.
"Everybody deserves safe housing," said Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Keith Witherspoon. "Everybody deserves working elevators. Everybody deserves heat in this cold winter that we just had."
Advocates shared stories of tenants living in unsafe conditions, like a lack of heat and hot water, black mold, or, in one case, a rat infestation. Ruby Brower from Berean Transformation Center said these issues go beyond maintenance. They’re a question of public health.
“Everyone deserves to live in a safe, healthy place, especially our children,” Brower added.
Now, advocates want the city to require annual inspections of properties with repeat violations and to levy fines per unit, not per building. They also want the city to take legal action to collect fines on large-scale landlords within 30 days.
Kay Farlow, founder of the IMPower Center, said the city often focuses enforcement on local homeowners because it’s easier and cheaper than going after out-of-town landlords. "We know there are millions of dollars of uncollected fines for housing code violations in South Bend," Farlow said. "The city may do inspections and send out notices of code violations, but the big landlords know that the city won’t collect."
Mayor’s Office Chief of Staff Darryl Scott didn’t directly agree to the requests, but said the city was committed to taking all available options. Similarly, Common Council President Canneth Lee said the council would have to make sure that levying fines per unit is legal, before making the change.
But council member Oliver Davis dismissed that as a “cop-out,” saying elected officials have a responsibility to try to make it legal, if it isn’t. "If a law is hurting our families, hurting our people, we have to work to change that law and to advocate for legislation on the local and state level for that," Davis said. "So, we just can’t say, ‘Well, we’re going to do what’s in the law.’ We are the people who help make the law."
Going forward, faith communities plan to hold a prayer vigil on May 30 at Karl King Tower for those experiencing issues at the property.
Ian Thompson, a member of Faith Baptist Church, said meeting the needs of vulnerable residents is required by the Christian faith. “In fact, he was so serious about this, Jesus said that if we don’t do this, one day, we may hear, ‘I never knew you.’ That’s how important this is,” Thompson said.
We Make Indiana is a financial supporter of WVPE.
