WARWICK — Legislation passed recently by the General Assembly clears the way for the city to require absentee landlords to register with the city and provide up-to-date contact information.

State Rep. Al Gemma, who sponsored the bill along with Sen. John C. Revens Jr., said it was in response to a request from the City Council, as council members look for ways to make it easier for the municipality to enforce minimum housing standards, and other codes and laws, when rental properties are involved.

Gemma said that Democratic Councilwoman Helen Taylor has been the driving force in the push for the state to give the city the authority to require out-of-town rental property owners to register with the city.

Taylor yesterday said she has been working on the issue for years, motivated by recurring problems where residents live next to rental properties that are in violation of housing codes and other city ordinances.

Although the city does its best to enforce all of its ordinances, Taylor said that properties owned by absentee landlords have proved to be a frustrating challenge, because tracing the ownership back to tax records often leads only to a corporation name or a post office box.

“If someone owns property in this city and rents it out, we need to have the owner’s correct address and phone number,” Taylor said yesterday.

She said that the details of the registration process have yet to be worked out, but it will most likely involve registration with the city’s tax department.

Taylor said that there have been too many instances where the city, despite its best efforts, could not find the owners of properties that were becoming nuisances in their neighborhoods. One residence in the Hillsgrove area was a problem for more than five years, she said, and all attempts to find the owner led to dead-end corporations.

Gemma said he believes that Providence is the only other city in the state that has a way of keeping tabs on the identity of absentee landlords.

He said he felt it was important to get the enabling legislation requested by the council passed because, as a former council member, he knows the importance of having a legislative delegation that will represent local issues at the State House.

Also, he said, his experience on the council has made him all too familiar with the problems that Taylor described in trying to track down absentee landlords when there are problems with a property.

“It’s frustrating,” Gemma said. “You’re a council member and you’re made aware of a property in your ward that is rundown or overgrown and the city [authorities] can’t find anyone to call.

“The city can search records and still not come up with a name or a number,” Gemma said, “and that not only takes time, it costs the city money.”

bpoliche@projo.com