Starkville updated its rental housing code in March. Rental owners now must register with the city and pay a $15 fee per rental housing unit. 
Mayor Lynn Spruill said the amendments to the rental housing code (page 415) were needed because several apartment units in town became uninhabitable, and the city wanted to avoid that from happening again. The updates allow code enforcement officers to inspect the residence even without permission of the owner.
“I think it helps keep them (the property owners) accountable,” Spruill said, “and allows us to have a better handle on making sure that … project or complex stays in a condition that people can be proud of, and they can be safe living in.” 
The city has a complaint form on its website where apartment tenants can voice concerns about their rental properties. This is how code enforcement officers know to inspect certain units. Spruill said the complaint form is not new, but it allows city officials to hear concerns.
The property maintenance code defines what conditions are acceptable for housing. The CDC also provides guidelines for standing water and tall grass. 
If an officer drives by and notices appearance flaws on the outside of a complex, the officer may contact the owner of the property to see inside. If the owner denies the request, the officer may visit the municipal judge and get a warrant for a property inspection of the inside of the apartments.
“Usually if it’s not kept up on the outside, it’s not kept up on the inside,” said Starkville building official Stein McMullen.
Spruill said the rental housing code is needed to ensure rental housing units are up to standard and are in good living conditions.
McMullen said the updated code allows code enforcers to know what properties are in the city and who owns them.
“It gives us that database of who owns it so we can find them a lot sooner and have a little more enforcement power to get it done quicker without having to go through a whole, long process,” McMullen said.
Spruill said all rental housing owners are subject to the code, and the city plans to treat them equitably.
“If you own rental housing, then this is the way we’ve addressed it,” Spruill said.
Spruill is a property owner, and she said she paid her registration fee and is happy to give code enforcement officers permission to inspect her properties if needed.
“I’m proud of my properties,” Spruill said. “I keep them up.”
Revised code is “part of the change”
Starkville Strong founder Brandi Herrington said the rental housing code update is a step in the right direction.
“This is a culmination for us; having this code enforcement be put down the way it is and out there feels like a win for Starkville Strong,” Herrington said.
Herrington said the rental housing code issues were spotlighted by the Catherine Street evictions.
The Catherine Street evictions occurred in August 2021 when Ferretti Property Services of Cleveland, Mississippi, suddenly issued eviction notices to the apartment residents. The evictions received recognition from news media throughout the state and nation sparked by Mississippi Free Press article by Nick Judin.
“They’re part of the story. They’re part of the change,” Herrington said about the Catherine Street eviction victims.
Herrington said in some cases, apartment rental owners would turn over quickly, leaving dilapidated conditions for the next owner to fix. The cycle would continue to repeat until the living conditions are uninhabitable.
The Catherine Street apartments had multiple different landlords over the years. Most operated from out of town. Spruill blamed absentee landlords as part of the rundown housing problem.
“It’s not the local people for the most part that’s the problem,” Spruill said. “It’s the people who do not have on-site visibility for their own pieces of property.”
Herrington said stricter code enforcement can prevent evictions like Catherine Street.
“Code enforcement is the first step in putting responsibility and accountability where it needs to go,” Herrington said.
She said the loopholes in the old enforcement were exposed, so people are more aware of the problems now.
“There was a system there before, but it wasn’t an efficient system,” Herrington said. “Pinpointing that as part of a problem I think is what catapulted this; it became a catalyst of this next step to sort of put accountability back into place.”
Herrington said Starkville’s low-income housing is separated from the rest of the community. Also, she said the city lacks affordable housing. She said keeping affordable housing up to code provides a nicer atmosphere for tenants and owners.
“People are going to see the benefits not just for the tenants, but for the landlords as well,” Herrington said. “You provide a better, well-kept place, then they might be more likely to take care of it, and that’s mutually beneficial.”
Spruill said city ordinances are updated when issues are highlighted for city officials, and they need to improve an ordinance’s language. Additionally, ordinances are updated when state and national laws are changed.
Starkville previously had two code enforcement officers, but one officer switched jobs, so the city only has one now. Spruill said the city is hiring another officer soon since the city is required to have two.
Affordable housing facility updates
Starkville Strong and The Village nonprofit group tried to start an affordable housing facility in Maben, Mississippi. Maben citizens and town officials shot down the idea in a Board of Aldermen meeting last fall. The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors also disapproved of the idea when Starkville Strong representatives approached the board.
Herrington said the affordable housing facility would need to be in Starkville to best serve Starkville Strong’s community. So, she said, she can see good reason in why the Maben plan did not work out. She said Starkville Strong is working on an affordable housing facility in the city, but details will be arranged in the future.
“We decided that we would look for a facility here, and we’re in the process of that,” Herrington said. 
Spruill said affordable housing in town is due to supply and demand. She said two projects are in the works on Reed Road and West Side Drive and another down Sand Hill Drive. The apartment complex on Reed Road is called Park Grove, and people are moving into the units now.
“I think, from that perspective, we’ve got new affordable housing coming to town,” Spruill said.

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Heather Harrison | The Reflector

The Catherine Street apartments sit mostly abandoned after the evictions last fall.