Patrick Rose has been living in East Lansing since 1988 but didn't personally brush up against the city's regulation of house guests until the mid-2000s.
At that time, Rose's nephew, a college student, was staying with him and his family at their home.
One day, Rose, an attorney, noticed a city inspector was parked in front of his home, taking pictures of his nephew as he was leaving. He discovered that the city was preparing to issue fines against his family for violating city ordinances that dictate whether guests can live with a homeowner for extended periods.
Members of the same family are generally allowed to live with one another under the city’s framework — but Rose said that at the time, the city did not include nieces or nephews under those definitions.
“This introduced me to the arbitrary and unjust enforcement of this law in my own personal family circumstances,” Rose said.
While East Lansing has since amended its policy on allowing nieces and nephews as guests, the incident motivated Rose to join a campaign to amend the city charter and address housing rules that organizers say put residents in unfair circumstances.
Supporters of the campaign say the city's ordinances prevent residents in most circumstances from having “unrelated persons” stay in their homes for more than 30 days, forcing fines and potential criminal charges on households where guests and friends are residing and penalizing elderly residents that have a live-in medical provider.
The group is gathering signatures for a petition with the goal of getting a ballot proposal before voters this fall.
“We hope that the city voters will fix this, because the city council for a very long time has refused to fix it,” Rose said.
But members of the East Lansing City Council are pushing back against the proposal, accusing the campaign of promoting falsehoods, claiming many of the group’s concerns are already addressed in the city’s housing code.
The officials also say the charter amendment would have wide-ranging consequences, severely undercutting the city's ability to create rental property restrictions that they argue have provided stability to neighborhoods.
Organizers say the amendment will protect residents’ civil rights
Supporters for the amendment say East Lansing’s current ordinances force homeowners to meet very specific requirements to allow long-term guests.
Mark Grebner, an Ingham County Commissioner and attorney, said he has been confronting East Lansing’s housing regulations and defending residents for over 30 years. He said homeowners facing housing code violations have to confront fines that can cost up to $500 per offense and potential misdemeanor charges.
A city spokesperson did not respond to WKAR’s request for information about the number of housing ordinance violations city inspectors have issued, as well as the total amount collected in fines for the offenses.
“If they're not paying rent and somebody is allowing somebody to live with them, the city should just leave it alone,” Grebner said.
Grebner drafted the campaign’s proposed charter amendment language. He said it would protect a homeowner’s right to have non-relative guests live with them for an extended period and make it easier for childcare providers and caregivers to stay without having to meet certain requirements.
The amendment would also require the city to give notice to homeowners and tenants that occupants are violating housing policy and give residents at least seven days to come into compliance.
East Lansing resident Kath Edsall, who is working on the charter amendment campaign, takes issue with the current policy, arguing the guidelines are selectively enforced and reliant on complaints from neighbors.
“My guess is a lot of people don't understand that it's even out there,” said Edsall. “Who would ever think that I can’t have my best friend from college come stay with me for six months?”
“I’m sure people are breaking the law all the time without realizing that they’re breaking the law,” she added.
City officials allege the campaign engaging in "disinformation"
Two members of the East Lansing City Council say the initiative is misguided and would upend city rental regulations.
Councilmember Mark Meadows, who helped institute many of the housing restrictions in question while he served on the council in 1997, said the city already allows friends, cousins and other guests to live with a family.
“They can have any guests they want,” Meadows said. “They can stay there as long as they want to as long as they're not paying rent, so I don't know what they're talking about.”
His interpretation of the proposed charter amendment is that, if it were to be adopted, it would upend the city’s ability to prohibit new rental properties in certain neighborhoods — a policy approach that he claimed has helped limit growth in student rentals and provide stability to single family neighborhoods.
“It's not crafted very well if they meant to do something else,” he said.
Councilmember Erik Altmann went a step further in his assessment of the campaign, while conceding that the city can do more to teach residents about the housing code.
Altmann alleged at this week’s city council meeting that community members are spreading disinformation about its policies. Responding to a written question, he said the city already has exemptions for residents to have a live-in medical caregiver.
Organizers for the campaign said the proposal would not overturn rental restrictions, arguing the city is misrepresenting how broad the permissions are for long-term guests and care providers.
In a written memo shared earlier this week, the group said the city should not “allow City officials to mislead homeowners” into circumstances where they may face “unfair and unjust” fines for having someone stay with them.
Organizers are hoping to gather enough signatures of support from at least 5% of registered voters before Aug. 13. That could allow the proposal to go before voters on the November ballot.