The City Housing Committee has not met since July, leaving all potential housing legislation and ordinances stagnant in anticipation of the committee’s reformation.

Several pieces of legislation are waiting to go through the decision process. One item most pertinent to students is the proposed “Nuisance Party Ordinance.”

If the ordinance passes, people found violating housing ordinances related to underage drinking and noise complaints will be added to a “nuisance party list” that adds additional financial penalties and the possibility of eviction.

Another ordinance would push student apartment showing dates back to December or January, giving potential residents less time to view an apartment before signing a lease.

The Housing Committee’s inactivity, however, prevents these or any other ordinance from going through. As a result, students will remain unaffected by both ordinances at least until the committee is restructured.

Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, said a main reason for the committee’s hiatus is its five vacant seats. Without these members, he said, the committee is often forced to cancel meetings.

“Certain committees will go into hibernation or only meet on occasion when necessary,” Resnick said. “However, Housing Committee has the need to meet – we just keep on missing quorum.”

The committee has also suffered because several members have recently resigned, he said.

Mayor Paul Soglin said the city is holding off on filling the empty spots until the 2012 Executive Operating Budget is finalized.

“We’re in the process of reorganizing the housing committees and didn’t want to make appointments of permanent members without knowing exactly where the budget leaves us next year,” Soglin said.

Soglin said he has received no backlash from the community about putting the committee on hold while waiting for the budget to pass.

Ann Monks, spokesperson in the mayor’s office, said the only immediate action that will be taken is a discussion with City Council at the council’s next meeting.

Monks added the mayor is hoping to reorganize what he called a “fractured and incoherent” committee.

“He was hoping to create a more functional committee setting,” she said. “Right now, [Housing Committee] is a large committee without clear goals that has always had a hard time being effective. [Soglin] has a different vision on what he wants [Housing Committee] to be.”

Monks said the mayor’s plan to restructure the committee involves breaking it up into two specialized subcommittees.

The new structure will include a landlord-tenant committee and a housing policy committee, she said. The landlord-tenant committee will address problems between landlords and renters, while the housing policy will define general housing rules for the city.

“The landlord-tenant committee will work effectively as a stand-alone committee to deal with tenant issues,” Monks said. “It will be a forum to raise issues and have a discussion about any problems.”

The Landlords’ Rights bill that passed the Senate this week will have no effect on the Housing Committee’s proceedings, Resnick said.