We, the undersigned, are concerned citizens who urge our city leaders of St. Albans, WV to act now to draft and ultimately adopt an ordinance comparable to the other cities in West Virginia listed below which lead a clear path to eviction of tenants of rental property who consistently violate laws and/or the city ordinances for clutter/accumulation or rubbish, challenge landowners and/or landlords to effectively manage and screen tenants, and ultimately impose a punishment upon landlords and/or renting entities of those individuals.

Several surrounding cities in West Virginia have proposed and/or enacted similar city ordinances which allow the city to punish landowners and/or landlords for the crimes of their tenants, including but not limited to: drug trafficking, prostitution, and illegal gambling.

Some examples from other cities are:

Winfield, WV - If police are called to a rental two times in two years for drugs or other illegal activity, the tenant can be fined. On the third trip in two years tenants can be evicted. City judges assist with the eviction process.
Huntington, WV - If there are two felony offenses at a property within a year the landlord has 30 days to abate the issue, which means simply to evict the person. The landlord would face a daily fine of between $100 to $500 for not evicting the tenant.
Nitro, WV- If a tenant is arrested and convicted, a landowner will be provided with a warning from the city. If the person is convicted for a second time, the city will fine the landowner $500 a day until the issue is solved, with eviction being a possible option.
Martinsburg, WV - Property owners are subject to fines if they fail to take appropriate action to abate the problem after 30 days of notification. Compliance stipulations including: evicting problem tenants, other actions to prevent the recurrence of illegal drug activity, and mandating criminal background checks on future tenants to insure they are “free from convictions for prostitution; illegal gambling; illegal possession, storage, or delivery of or trafficking in controlled substances, or other illegal drug activity.”
Parkersburg, WV - The ordinance affects “drug and gang houses, houses of prostitution and other disorderly houses.” Property used for the commission of a felony or two criminal offenses within a 12-month period would be declared a public nuisance. Anyone owning, managing or controlling such premises who encourages or permits illegal activity or “fails to implement reasonable and warranted abatement measures” would be subject to a fine ranging from $100 to $1,000 a day.

We feel the city desperately needs this this ordinance and swift enforcement of it to help slow the criminal element which has taken hold of our city, continue the beautification, and business attractiveness that the Mayor and Council have worked so hard on the last two years.