Members of Virginia Organizing and tenants from Richmond'9s Third and Ninth districts urged the Land Use, Housing and Transportation Standing Committee on April 15 to move the city'9s rental-inspection ordinance forward quickly, to include firm district-creation deadlines and to avoid the use of the word "blight."

Rachel Heffner read a statement on behalf of Marquetta Fisher, a Richmond resident and Virginia Organizing chapter member in the Third District, saying the group supports a strong rental inspection program but warning that a proposed clause prohibiting rent increases where landlords make no investment would likely violate state law and could delay the ordinance. "The Virginia code doesn't allow for these type of stipulations," the statement said, arguing the council should pursue rent stabilization at the state level.

Benny Gates III, a Ninth District resident, told the committee he supports the inspection program and asked the city to build safeguards against displacement and to expand the city'9s family crisis fund to assist tenants who might be affected by enforcement. He also requested the ordinance avoid the word "blight," recommending the term "deteriorating" instead, citing options in state code that could reduce confusion.

Dream Boyd, a tenant in the Third District and member of Virginia Organizing, said tenant councils are valuable but warned against requiring them by ordinance or funding source, arguing mandatory councils often become a formality rather than a sustained organizing effort. Boyd urged the administration to bring the ordinance to the committee as soon as possible and asked for monthly progress reports and a deadline for when inspection districts will be created. "We have been waiting years for the basics of this program," Boyd said.

Why it matters: speakers framed the ordinance as an enforcement tool against negligent landlords and as a potential lever to improve housing conditions citywide; they also stressed legal and implementation limits set by state law and asked council to avoid drafting choices that could delay the program.

The committee did not take formal action on the rental-inspection ordinance at this meeting. Members requested administration follow-up and updates to the committee in coming months.