Security deposits and the wording regarding their return was a heated issue discussed at Monday’s workshop meeting of the DeKalb City Council.

“No other item took more time than the issue of security deposits. Everybody has their own ideas of how to deal with returns from security deposits,” Paul Rasmussen, director of the DeKalb community development department said in reference to the time spent by the fact-finding committee to make recommendations to the city council.

The proposed landlord-tenant ordinance will be heard for a first reading at Monday’s DeKalb City Council Meeting at the DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 S. 4th St.

Several hypothetical situations were brought before the fact-finding committee by the council, in which many of the provisions included in the ordinance were not specifically addressed. The committee said that most of those issues would have to be addressed in a court of law, and that the ordinance was not all-encompassing and left some room for a judge to determine what was fair on a case by case basis.

Susan McMaster, owner of Horizon Management and member of the fact-finding committee, was concerned about a landlord’s rights to enter an apartment. According to the proposed ordinance, a landlord has the right to enter an apartment “upon reasonable notice and at reasonable times.” Reasonable notice is described as one hour prior notice in advance of entry, or in the event of an emergency.

McMaster was concerned about her ability to prove that tenants are breaching their leases in any one of several ways, and used pets in an apartment as an example.

Her concerns were addressed before the council by Jim Mason, owner of Mason Properties and also a member of the committee.

“This situation is already provided for in the ordinance,” he said. “Landlords are allowed to enter for maintenance, a landlord would simply have to notify the tenant that they are receiving notice that the landlord thinks they have a pet. The landlord then, after giving notice, can show up and prove or disprove the validity of the accusation.”

The fact-finding committee made its final recommendations to the council at the Oct. 8 meeting, but is still charged with the responsibility of creating a tenants’ rights handbook and the creation of a model lease.

“We have seen a surprising number of leases that did not conform to state laws,” Rasmussen said. “The model lease will do so.”

The model lease will be an example lease that landlords can use as a lease, or for direction on creating a lease that will comply with new regulations if the ordinance is passed.

The council asked that the committee be available to reconvene if directed to at any time by the city council. Many of the committee members expressed agreement to do so.

The public was denied questions or comments by Mayor Greg Sparrow, who said that he would not allow the public to slow workshop meetings. He said the public will have an opportunity to express their concerns at Monday’s city council meeting.