Lansford Borough Council heard a presentation on rental licensing, inspections and enforcement on Thursday morning.

Mark Pronio, who has worked as a code official in Shenandoah and West Mahanoy Township, talked about rules he developed and found success with in the field.

Council President Bruce Markovich said that Pronio is considered an expert in this area, dealing with blight, rental licenses and similar issues that small towns through the area have.

“We just wanted to get some input from him, as to maybe some changes that we have to make in the future to address ongoing issues,” he said.

Council will be taking what they learned back to their committees and see how they want to move forward, Markovich said.

“We need to readjust what we have here. It hasn’t worked,” he said. “We changed our rental program last year. We’ve had a lot issues with it.

“We have to streamline it, get everyone on board and make sure we have a successful program here,” Markovich said.

Pronio talked about proactive things that the community could do with enforcement, as well as the value of having a rental program in a community which has a large influx of people renting, not owning.

Communities, like Lansford, can take control of their neighbors and protect their neighborhoods, he said.

“The ordinances are a big, first step,” Pronio said, noting that Lansford has strong ordinances in this respect. “But what helps is enforcement activities that have been proven to be effective.”

Landlords will quickly realize they will benefit in the long run through rental licensing and inspections, he said.

“It benefits them, because their property values will go up,” Pronio said, “And it will improve the quality of tenants when we inspect them, regulate them and make sure that they are good places to live.”