Welcome to the 2024 East Lansing Charter Amendment Committee's Official Website
There's No Place Like Home!
Welcome to the 2024 East Lansing Charter Amendment Committee's Official Website
There's No Place Like Home!
Your support will help us get this initiative passed in November! Thank you!!
In essence, the amendment would prohibit the city from restricting “relationships of persons living together as a household or residing in homes or interfere with rights of owners to live with persons of their choice, so long as they are not rent-paying tenants.”
"We heard from East Lansing homeowners who cannot help a friend in need under current law. A friend may be trying to escape an abusive spouse. An unrelated, unemployed friend may need a short-term place to live. A family may need a place to live after losing a home to foreclosure....Homeowners cannot invite visiting scholars to live as guests. The city currently criminalizes owners and these relationships and subjects them to a fine. The amendment fixes this by allowing unrelated persons who do not pay rent to be lawful guests."
1. The City shall not restrict in any way relationships of persons living together as a household or residing in the home, or interfere with the rights of owners to live with persons of their choice, as long as such persons are not rent-paying tenants.
2. Persons in military or other federal service assigned outside the area will qualify for a house-sitting exemption for the duration of their service.
3. The City shall maintain current and accurate records of all zoning and rental license violations, which shall be open for public inspection and copying during business hours.
4. To enforce zoning, occupancy, or rental housing laws, the City must first notify owners and occupants of the violation by issuing an Order and allowing at least seven days to comply with the law.
5. A person who after receipt of the Order fails to comply by the deadline may then accrue fines for that violation and be subject to penalty as a civil infraction.
6. If a person has previously been found by a Court to have violated a zoning, occupancy or rental housing law, a subsequent violation of the same type may be charged as a misdemeanor if that violation is proven to be knowing and intentional.
7. When the words "renter", "rental unit", "lease", "tenant" and "occupancy" are used in the Charter or ordinances, their meanings shall be defined according to state law.
In 2013, two years after moving from her East Lansing condo to a new home, state Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou was hit with a stack of 33 tickets and more than $18,000 in fines from the city after she allowed a friend to stay in her condo rent-free until she sold it...
Tsernoglou was ticketed for violating East Lansing’s city housing code, which states that “occupancy of any dwelling by any person other than the owner of record shall be presumed to require a rental license.”
If you are an East Lansing registered voter and haven't signed the petition yet, send us an email at eastlansingcac@gmail.com to reach one of our volunteers. We look forward to spending the time necessary with you to outline the proposal in detail so you can make an informed decision. We especially look forward to having you register your opinion at the ballot box November 5, 2024!