Dallas City Hall spends millions of dollars a year trying to clean up properties owned by absentee landlords who let the weeds grow wild and the paint peel away.

Now, the Dallas City Council is studying a plan to crack down on negligent owners of single-family rental properties by requiring them to register with City Hall.

The program would create a massive registration list of non-owner-occupied homes that could make it easier for City Hall to issue citations to owners of dilapidated properties.

"Rental properties that are not maintained in neighborhoods cause problems," City Manager Mary Suhm said.

The program would require all owners of single-family homes that are not occupied by the owner to pay a $25 fee and register basic contact information with City Hall. The program would not require registration of tenants' names.

Failure to register or cooperate with the program could result in a $2,000 fine.

Most members of the City Council welcomed the plan, saying they believe it will begin to hold bad owners to account.

"I am hoping it will stop the bad dealing that is going on," said council member Carolyn Davis, whose southern Dallas district has more than its share of absentee landlords.

But not everyone was thrilled with the plan.

Council member Sheffie Kadane sharply questioned why the city would require registration.

"Where are the problems? We don't have a problem," said Kadane, who has long dealt in real estate.

"There is a problem," Suhm answered. "We can't find owners sometimes. There are hundreds, hundreds" of neglected rental houses.

The program is designed to protect good owners, Assistant City Manager Forest Turner said.

Owners who don't receive a violation in their first year will not be required to pay a registration fee the following year, Turner said.

Suhm said the city won't make any money on the program. The fees will generate some money but probably won't cover the $400,000 cost of staffing the registration program, she said.

The council also applauded plans to roll out the citywide once-a-week recycling and garbage pickup program on March 1.

Much of North and Far North Dallas already are on the once-a-week schedule.

Once the whole city is moved to once-a-week pickup, recycling rates should spike in Dallas while the landfill will see less waste trucked in, Sanitation Services director Mary Nix said.

The city expects to increase outreach to communities in coming weeks to educate people about the transition.