Just over a month after the implementation of Butler’s rental ordinance, council members are considering a landlord incentive to improve renting in the city further.

The rental ordinance has been in effect since Jan. 1 and has seen minimal problems besides an early glitch on the city’s website.

“It seems to be going very smoothly besides ironing out a few technical glitches,” Mayor Bob Dandoy said.

According to Councilman Don Shearer, who spearheaded the ordinance, landlords have been doing well at submitting documentation.

“We haven’t heard many complaints from landlords or our fire department,” Shearer said.

So far, around 10 properties have submitted the property condition report and necessary photos to the fire department.

According to Shearer, landlords only need to submit that specific documentation when on-boarding a new tenant.

“The number might seem low, but that is only because that is submitted when getting a new tenant,” Shearer said. “Occupancy report numbers are much higher.”

Shearer mentioned that other municipalities have shown interest in implementing their own rental ordinance after learning about the city’s.

“I was reaching out to other municipalities to ask about some of their ordinances and they ended up asking me questions about our rental ordinance,” Shearer said.

Looking forward, Shearer said the focus will be on offering proper training for landlords. Four specific topics are expected to be offered: fire safety, understanding of the Tenant-Landlord Act, lease-writing and performing background checks on prospective tenants.

“We are looking into offering an incentive to landlords who complete the trainings,” Shearer said. “If they do, we’re looking to label them ‘gold-star landlords’ to give them a PR boost.”

Landlords would also need to have no prior abatement issues to receive the incentive.

Details of the training and the incentive are still developing.