Landlords in the city of Detroit are up in arms, but people who care about children say "It's about time!"

It's taken too many years but the city of Detroit finally said to landlords: "If you own a home or an apartment building in the city and you rent out the home or apartment it is your responsibility to make it lead free."

Is it going to be expensive for landlords? Yes. Is this new ordinance going to cause rent to rise to compensate for the testing and removal of lead? Probably.

I have a feeling though that parents of children who live in these homes and apartments within the city would gladly pay higher rent in order to protect their children. I also have a feeling that many other cities will now follow suit and be drafting their own ordinances. It's going to be an interesting year ahead watching all of this unfold within the city of Detroit and hopefully within other cities in Michigan.

It's about damned time.

The text of the Detroit News article regarding the passing of this ordinance can be found here.