Letter: Hold landlords accountable

The article “Council vote gives tenants more time” (Madera Tribune, Nov. 23) highlighted the great work done by the city, passing an emergency ordinance protecting the 200+ residents. Great work!

Many of Madera’s population rents from apartment complexes like Laguna Knolls or private landlords. Tenants, including myself, have lived in non-maintained homes renting from slumlord-like landlords who leave necessary home repairs unattended for months on end.

Fresno County passed an ordinance enacting the Fresno Inspection Improvement Act, providing tenants an avenue to hold landlords responsible for negligence.

As the days become cooler, and 6 months from now when the afternoons are scorching, tenants should have the basics of electricity and air conditioning.

More often than not, landlords are not having property inspection and register their home as a rental property.

As Madera grows and becomes bigger, more and more homes will have tenants, and if we would like to have Madera be a bright and beautiful community, having a system similar to our neighboring county would be a good idea. Each county is different and handles housing in different ways. With that said, investigating the RHIA would be an area of interest.

— Andrew Contreras,

CSU Fresno student,

Madera