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The clock is ticking for landlords to obtain licenses spawned by one of the most controversial ordinances in recent Lawrence history.

Landlords who own rental homes in single-family-zoned areas of the city have until the end of the month to get a city license. But city officials say of the "thousands" of homes that possibly fall under the new licensing ordinance, only 20 have been registered.

	It costs $25 a year per property to register a home. Homes will be inspected at the time of registration; thereafter once every three years afterward. To find out if a home is in a single-family zoned area and thus subject to the ordinance, go to www.lawrenceplanning.org/ documents/rszones.pdf. To license a property, go to the Neighborhood Resources Department office at 1 Riverfront Plaza, Suite 110. The application can be found online at www.lawrenceneighres.org/ biforms/rentalapplication.pdf.

"We expect them all (to get licensed), but to be honest I think that will not happen," said Barry Walthall, codes enforcement manager for the city.

The licensing requirement grew out of the battle over unrelated people living together in rented single-family homes. That debate was settled in early 2001 with an ordinance that lowered the number of unrelated people who could live together in such homes from four to three.

City commissioners then decided to begin licensing and inspecting rental homes in single-family-zoned areas, as a way of tracking and enforcing the new limit.

Those properties must be licensed, at a cost of $25 a year for each home, by Feb. 1. Violators could be fined from $225 to $1,000.

Landlords have already started to register their properties, but that doesn't mean they're happy about it.

"A lot don't think of themselves as landlords," said James Dunn, president of Landlords of Lawrence. "They see themselves as having an investment their house they used to live in that they rent out now."

That will make compliance with the ordinance spotty, he said.

"I've talked to people who have rental property ... who don't plan to register," Dunn said. "They just figure they're out of the loop."

But there are benefits to the new system, Dunn said. With licensing comes an inspection to make sure the home is livable; the homes will be inspected once every three years afterward. The city's inspections department has added two new inspectors to do that job.

"These houses are going to be cleaned up a little bit because of this," Dunn said.

Some of the first landlords to license their houses say the process has been smooth.

"It was not a problem," said Marilyn Lynch, who licensed one home that met the licensing requirements. "I put the money in, made the appointment for the inspection, they inspected it and found some items to repair, and I repaired it. They re-inspected it today and I think it's a done deal."

Before the ordinance takes effect, however, some minor tweaks will be made. Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday will consider two amendments:

l The ordinance will be changed to reflect a new state law that landlords cannot provide the city with a list of tenant names unless 30 days has passed since a public health or safety violation has been cited against that particular property.

l Clarification that registration does not apply to group homes, adult care homes or other institutional uses allowed in single-family areas.

The commission meets at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets.

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