Merced considers putting tougher rules on landlords. What we know
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Merced City Council to consider ordinance to target landlords with repeated code violations
- Proposed rules include fines, licensing, and public notification requirements
- Officials aim to draft ordinance within 60 days and finalize within 120 days
Cockroaches, black mold and water damage were among the things Merced City Councilmember Shane Smith said he saw when he met with tenants at a local apartment complex.
“I mean, it’s disturbing to me,” Smith said. “So, you know, as a city, we need to do something to address those sorts of concerns.”
Now, the City of Merced is taking steps toward enforcement against the city’s worst-offending property owners with a potential chronic offender ordinance.
The ordinance could require the city to identify and track the worst offending landlords and their properties, create stronger protections for tenants facing eviction from those homes and introduce a licensing system that puts tougher rules on landlords with a history of violations, according to meeting documents.
Fines could also increase for repeat offenders. Penalties could include administrative fines, civil penalties or liens for chronic offenders, city documents say. Cornwell said a chronic offender could be a property owner with three violations over a 12 month or 24 month period during the July 21 meeting.
“I can say it could be a series of violations over a finite period of time that would get you inside that chronic offender zones,” City Attorney Craig J. Cornwell told the Merced Sun-Star.
Property owners who make the necessary changes to become code compliant could be eligible to have the chronic offender designation removed.
Cornwell also mentioned an accompanying tenant protection ordinance that would require landlords designated as chronic offenders to notify both prospective and current tenants of the property’s status. The tenant protection ordinance is conceptual and would need to be developed as a companion measure to the chronic offender ordinance.
Smith and Councilmember Sarah Boyle have championed this issue.
“There have been properties within my district over the last four and a half years that have been an ongoing issue, and so that’s why the policy came about,” Boyle said.
A report on the potential chronic offender ordinance was delivered by Cornwell at their July 21 meeting. He said the ordinance would take a “targeted approach” while not casting undue burden on compliant landlords.
Councilmember Smith told the newspaper he would like to see the city publish a list of the top 10 offenders.
“So, by focusing the ordinance on a top 10, it allows us to do two things: we can focus the resources where it matters, but also the city can make an example of some bad landlords at the start,” he said.
“And once other slumlords see how some have been treated they’ll hopefully voluntarily comply,” Smith said.
City Attorney Craig J. Cornwell is confident he can bring a draft ordinance back to the city council within 60 days. Smith, who has championed the issue with Councilmember Sarah Boyle, would like to see a final ordinance presented to council within 120 days.
This story was originally published July 28, 2025 at 4:36 PM.
