New Bedford mayor proposes increased fine increments for irresponsible landlords

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WLNE) — A proposal submitted to the New Bedford City Council by Mayor Jon Mitchell would accelerate the fine schedule for irresponsible absentee landlords.

The change was announced in Mayor Mitchell’s inaugural address on Jan. 1 and introduced in a filing to the city council Thursday.

The proposal would change the threshold of 25 separate violations before receiving the maximum fine of $300 to seven violations.

Current penalties start at $25 and increase in increments of $25 until the maximum is reached after 25 offenses.

The new proposal would start with a warning and jump to $50 increments for each violation.

585 properties have had more than 10 violations over the last five years.

177 of them had between 20-49 violations, 49 had 50-99 violations and 12 had more than 100 violations.

“The City’s current fine schedule has proven inadequate to curb the irresponsible management practices of some landlords,” said Mayor Mitchell. “Some of them have violated the trash ordinance so often that it is evident that they are simply ignoring their fine tickets … in part because the current fine schedule does not create a strong enough incentive for repeat offenders to change their management practices.”

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