Twenty-six landlords have signed the university’s landlord pledge, but according to university spokeswoman Stacy Kerr, the initiative has elicited anger from others.

The document, which asks local landlords to commit to addressing issues affecting quality of life in the community and mandates that they comply with D.C. law and license properties with the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, was sent to landlords in mid-October.

Kerr said that most landlords have responded well to the pledge and signatories represent 53 properties in West Georgetown and Burleith.

“We’ve received a great response so far,” Kerr wrote in an email to members of the press. “We believe that landlords renting properties to students have an equal role to play in maintaining the quality of life in our historic neighborhoods, and we are grateful to those who have signed the pledge.”

The university publishes the names of those who have signed the pledge on its website, with the hope that students will consult the list before selecting off-campus homes.

However, Kerr said that some landlords were upset by the invitation to sign the pledge and informed the university that they would not obtain a business license, violating D.C. law.

“We heard from several landlords who were upset … enough by [the pledge] that they wanted to express their displeasure to us. [This] suggests that we have started a conversation that is worth having,” she told The Hoya. “I think that it proves that there is an issue to be dealt with.”

The landlord pledge also faced scrutiny at a hearing on the university’s 2010 Campus Plan before the D.C. Zoning Commission Nov. 17.

Zoning Commissioner Michael Turnbull questioned the wording of the document.

“How effective is this pledge? There’s nothing legally binding on that pledge. There’s no real teeth in that,” he said.

However, Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson said that the pledge has the potential to affect landlords’ reputations.

“I think that [the pledge has] teeth in that … no landlord wants to be on the bad list or not on the good list of the university,” he said at the hearing. “We’re working actively to engage and educate our students … and while there are certain kinds of teeth this approach may not have I think it does have important reputational teeth that landlords do care about.”

He added that the outpouring of anger from some landlords shows that the pledge is effective.

“Several landlords who don’t have basic business licenses have called us to complain, some rather heatedly, that we’re getting too much into their business here. We take that [as] a sign that we have touched a nerve, that we’ve made a difference,” Olson said.