On September 10, 2023, Tulsa City Councilors passed an ordinance focused on improving living conditions and housing standards for Tulsa residents. The ordinance amends the city’s property maintenance code. The updated language lets code officials require landlords with violations to consult an architect, makes the city respond to housing emergencies within the hour, and articulates the city’s rental occupancy standards in plain language. State Rep. Melissa Provenzano said: “Routine inspections of rental units seems like a common-sense approach to making sure tenants are taken care of, and plain-language understanding of their rights as a tenant makes good business sense.” Tulsa Real Estate Investor Association President Kathy Portley said she’s heard complaints that the inspectors are being overzealous since taking the new approach. Councilor Phil Lakin told Portley that the council would take her concerns into consideration to improve the ordinance over time. Councilor Lori Decter Wright, who proposed the ordinance with Lakin and two other councilors, said it means the city doesn’t have to wait on complaints from vulnerable residents. “Those people are not protected from complaining about black mold, from complaining about screens not being on their windows, from complaining about just those basic things that they’re legally required to have when they’re signing a lease” she said. The amended ordinance went into effect immediately upon its passage.
