Rental Housing Advisory Committee

General Information

The Rental Housing Advisory Committee is appointed by County Council with the advice and consent of the County Executive. The committee is comprised of nine members.

Legislative Authority
New Castle County, Chapter 19, Rental Code, adopted by County Council on June 28, 2005, signed by the County Executive on July 11, 2005.

The Rental Housing Advisory Committee is appointed by County Council with the advice and consent of the County Executive.

Committee Members

The committee is comprised of nine members, eight have been appointed to date. The code provides for broad based representation on the committee. It requires the following as it relates to the make-up of the committee:

Two representatives from the New Castle County residential rental landlord community, one of which must belong to the Delaware Apartment Association or a similar successor organization; two representatives from the residential tenant community, at least one of whom shall represent a tenants’ advocacy organization; one representative from the New Castle County Association of Realtors; two representatives from New Castle County civic organizations; one representative from the Delaware State Housing Authority; and one community representative with experience in housing and related issues;

The committee members are as follows:

Mr. William H. Dunn Millcreek/Limestone Civic Alliance	Ms. Linda Farrall-Smith Delaware Apartment Association
Ms. Deborah I. Gottschalk, Esquire Community Legal Aid Society, Inc.	Mr. Matthew Heckles Delaware State Housing Authority
Mr. George Losse’ Claymont Community Coalition	Mr. Michael Morton, Esquire Delaware Apartment Association
Dr. Steven W. Peuquet University of Delaware Community Research and Service	Mr. Robert Weir New Castle County Board of Realtors
Assistant to the Committee: Mr. Albert D. Washington Assistant Land Use Administrator

Committee Responsibilities

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

1) Advising the Department of Land Use on matters of policy and implementation of the registration, inspection processes and approve changes to the Tenants’ Rights Guide.

2) Study the effectiveness of the processes and suggest changes for improvements. Propose additional rental unit inspection criteria, and review the random inspection process.

3) Maintain ongoing dialogue between the Department of Land Use, landlords, tenants, civic associations and the community.

4) Make recommendations to County Council regarding changes to the Rental Code.

Meeting Schedule

The Rental Housing Advisory Committee has no meetings scheduled at this time.

Providing Input

All meetings are open to the public and testimony is welcomed. Questions and comments about the Rental Housing Advisory Committee and agenda items may be directed to Al Washington at (302) 395-5579. Public comments regarding applications should be submitted in writing either 1) by e-mail to LandUse@nccde.org (Subject – Rental Housing Advisory Committee); 2) via fax to (302) 395-5545; or 3) by U.S. Mail to Rental Housing Advisory Committee, 87 Reads Way, New Castle, DE 19720.