Problematic rental properties in San Marcos will need to clean up their act if they want to keep doing business in the city.

City Council approved the first of two readings of a rental nuisance abatement program with a 5-1 vote on March 3. Councilman Ryan Thomason voted against the program and Mayor Daniel Guerrero was not present at the meeting. The program’s creation came after years of complaints related to trash, noise and parking issues stemming from rental properties. “This is a long-term solution to nuisance issues inside of properties that are being rented out and absentee owners and absentee management situations,” Fire Marshal Ken Bell said. “That’s all this does. This is not the silver bullet, but long term we can actually fix things.” Under terms of the program, property owners who receive two notices of violation in a 12-month period and fail to correct the violation will have to register for the program. If a property receives five or more violations within a 12-month period or if a property receives two or more citations in a 12-month period the property owner will be required to register as well. Bell said the program will require property owners to adhere to reporting requirements and, if violations continue, could cost them their right to rent out their properties. The Sagewood neighborhood, near Craddock Avenue and North LBJ Drive, was one of the topics during City Council’s discussion of the program on March 3. The city performed a study of the area in the recent past and found that almost 80 percent of the rental properties’ managers were located outside the city. Council members said the area gets littered with trash each year as renters’ leases expire, and they move out. “We can be cumulative now,” Bell said. “We’ve never been able to be cumulative on a property that’s for rent with issues relating to trash and other issues.” City Council raised the question of whether the program and its ability to suspend a property owner’s right to rent were constitutional. City Attorney Michael Cosentino said as long as due process is given to the property owner, the program would likely hold up legally. “After two or three times you’re going to start feeling the impact when you allow people to throw stuff out on the front lawn and walk away from it,” Bell said. “We’re not going to allow it anymore.”