HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Housing Commission is expected to make a recommendation to the city council within the next couple of months about the rental registration program.

What that will be is still to be seen. “The committee is looking at how can we incentivize the good landlords…and then hopefully, market pressures will put pressure on some of the bad actors to either change up their business practices or maybe decide is it worthwhile to stay int he landlord business,” Ryan Hvitlok City Planning Director said.

Hivtlok says some type of license and the incentives could be a way to improve the situation. “The most recent idea would be some type of a licensing process with the ability that the city could revoke that in very extreme cases and then kind of doing away with the inspection program (interior). And then kind of offering incentives for the landlords.”

Hvitlok admits there is still a long way to go before the final recommendation can be made to the city council. He also wanted to stress the need to communicate with landlords on any new program. “Once we get this in a form that we feel comfortable with, a final draft type version, then we’ll certainly be reaching out to the landlords association and having that conversation.”

Hvitlok says they hope to continue to have better communication between the city and landlords, but admitted it’s still really up to the council to make the final decision.