This podcast contains comments from the June 10, 2021 College Station city council meeting. Speakers include community services director Debbie Eller and councilwoman Elizabeth Cunha.

The owners of rental properties in College Station will be paying more to register their properties and will face increased penalties for not complying with the city's rental registration ordinance.

That follows a unanimous city council vote at their last meeting amending the ordinance to create a mechanism to address property owners who do not register their rentals in a timely manner.

There was no council opposition to increasing the annual fee from $15 to $60 dollars starting October 1.

The amendment includes an administrative penalty for failing to register within 30 days of initial notification. The amount increases the longer the registration is overdue:

31-45 days overdue $25.00 per day
46-60 days overdue $50.00 per day
61-75 days overdue $75.00 per day
76 or more days overdue $100.00 per day

Property owners could also be found guilty of a misdemeanor offense and be fined as much as $2,000 dollars a day.

Quoting the purpose of the ordinance, "is establishing a registration requirement for rental property owners so the City may expeditiously identify and contact the owner, if local, or owner's local contact person to obtain tenant information in the event of an emergency, public safety need or when a City, State or Federal law violation has occurred on or in the property." The words "disproportionate number of" violations were removed as requested by councilwoman Elizabeth Cunha.