In every city and town, whether in the boroughs of New York City or smaller cities here in upstate New York, there are always going to be some rundown houses and buildings.

In some cases, the conditions of these propertiesgo beyond the control of the owners, but in the case of many buildings in Oswego, the poor conditions are due to the greed and carelessness of the landlords who own the properties.

Many students at Oswego State live off campus and some of those students come here looking for a place to live without being familiar with the area. This leads them to take the best deal they can find, not only because of the additional cost, but also because the number of students who live off campus can make it difficult to find a good place. Unfortunately for some, this leaves them subject to being taken advantage of by some of the questionable landlords in Oswego. 

Recently, two properties that were rented by students were condemned by the city of Oswego’s Code Enforcement division after Mayor Barlow began his crackdown of what he referred to as the “slum-lords” of the city. This was one of the promises Barlow made during his campaign. For many years, the landlords of this city have taken advantage of lenient code enforcement for rental properties.

The mayor also proposed an increase in the price of rental permit fees from $30 per unit for three years to $150 per unit for three years. The increase in  rental permit fees will go toward allowing the city’s Code Enforcement division more resources, which they would need to perform their duties.

As a longtime resident of Oswego I feel this is a step in the right direction to not only help improve the city, but to make it so students who live off campus can find suitable housing without having to give in to unsuitable living conditions to save money on rent.

Barlow has long been an advocate for changes that are needed to improve our city. His initiative effort which he hopes will not only bring more families to Oswego, but more businesses as well. Ending the decades-long leniency that allowed these landlords to take advantage of the system and make money from it is something that Oswego has needed for a long time.

The new efforts in code enforcement will fix the problems with landlords, shady ones or otherwise and will help to correct issues with many other properties in the city.

Many landlords who are doing the right thing feel they should not have to pay the price for those who are not. This may cause other landlords to shift the costs of the higher fees onto their renters, which is the wrong attitude. If you did not want to pay for the crimes of others, maybe you should have policed the actions of your fellow landlords.