Press Conference: Council Member Jarvis Johnson and Community Members to Demand Absentee Landlords Be Held Accountable!

For Immediate Release

December 29, 2009

Contact(s):

Offices of Council Member Jarvis Johnson Press Dept.

832-393-3009

832-978-0939

Press Conference: HOUSTON COUNCIL MEMBER JARVIS JOHNSON DEMANDS ABSENTEE LANDLORDS BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE TO PREVENT PROPERTIES FROM BECOMING DEATH TRAPS

Houston, Texas ---Council Member Jarvis Johnson will join community members in demanding safer housing for area renters. A press conference will be held on Wednesday, December 30, 2009 at 11:00am with Sharon Kendrick - the latest victim of a negligent property owner.

Two days after Christmas, Sharon Kendrick rushed from her home to escape flames seeping through her walls. Though the home she has rented for years didn't completely burn, she is now without permanent shelter and some belongings. Her despair is the result of a negligent property owner.

Council Member Johnson will speak on his proposed regulations to hold property owners more accountable at the press conference in front of Ms. Kendrick’s home located at 2321 Kirk Street, Houston, Texas 77020. All media is invited.

"This ordinance is a practical and common sense way to hold property owners accountable, and to prevent low-income people from becoming homeless," says Council Member Johnson.

Council Member Johnson has spent his tenure on Houston City Council advocating for stronger ordinances to hold landlords and property owners accountable for ensuring their properties pose no threat to its residents.

Part of the proposed Single Family Properties, Restricted Covenants, & Habitual Ordinances demands that landlords will have 48 hours to fix problems that Building and Safety Department inspectors believe are serious enough to threaten public safety.

"It is shameful that a property owner would willingly take the hard-earned money of its residents with no regard to the individual or family's safety,” says Council Member Johnson.

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