Author: Tim Ballering

Categories
Government Behaving Badly Tenant Screening

Minneapolis Doesn’t Want Landlords to Check Tenants’ Criminal History, Credit Score, Past Evictions

What the anti screening crowd misses is that screening for criminal behavior is not for the direct benefit of the property owner, but for the safety and security of the other tenants and neighbors.

Minneapolis Doesn’t Want Landlords to Check Tenants’ Criminal History, Credit Score, Past Evictions

Under the inclusive screening process, property owners are forbidden from rejecting a potential tenant for having an insufficient credit score, or for having insufficient credit history.

Landlords are also forbidden from turning down potential tenants for any misdemeanor convictions older than three years and for most felony convictions older than seven years. The law does allow landlords to reject applicants that have been convicted of murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, or first-degree criminal sexual conduct, but only if those convictions were within the last 10 years.

The inclusive screening process also prevents landlords from rejecting tenants for evictions older than three years.

Categories
Rent Control

Rent Control

It is worth reading this entire piece

Rent Control is Missing the Point and Here’s Why

However, it seems to me that this is less about affordable housing and more about pointing fingers. We are villainizing landlords and using the homeless as political tools. We are spending all this time and money fighting over who’s to blame and attempting to hold businesses responsible for the social neglect which is the responsibility of us all, but in truth can only be addressed by the state.

It’s an easy political win to attack landlords, to say they are terrible and we need to control their evil ways, because there’s a clearly defined enemy. But this won’t help anybody.

Categories
5-Day Notice Act 143 Omnibus Bill Apartment Association ATCP 134 CCAP Code Enforcement Collections Credit Evictions Fair Housing Filling Vacancies Housing policies HUD Lead Paint Leases & Rental Agreements Legislative Section 8 Security Deposit Tenant Responsibilities Tenant Screening WI L/T law

Know WI Landlord Tenant Law Like A Rockstar

The Fall 2019 Apartment Association Landlord Tenant Law Boot Camp is October 26, 2019

Even though I know the law well, we’ve sent our staff. It is good for them to hear the rules from someone else. Plus if they learn one new thing, it more than pays the modest cost.

Wisconsin landlord tenant law has changed dramatically in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018 to Wisconsin’s Landlord Tenant Law with Act 143, Act 76, Act 176 and Act 317.

Tristan obviously knows the latest law, but that’s the easy part. He also is one of the most prolific landlord tenant attorneys in Southeastern WI. That gives him great insights into how the courts are ruling today and what the most recent “Gotcha’s” are.

At $189 for members, it is far cheaper than learning from your mistakes. Not only does it help prevent costly errors, you also will learn how to legally screen better, thereby reducing evictions, and other things that will result in profitability.

AASEW Landlord Boot Camp 2019
WHEN: Saturday, October 26, 2019
WHERE: Four Points Sheraton 5311 S. Howell Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53207 (Across from the airport)

Registration opens at 7:10 AM

The seminar runs from 8:30 to 5 PM with a 30 minute break for a complimentary lunch. There will be a one hour question and answer session afterwards, ending promptly at 6 pm. Many will find the Q&A invaluable, therefore you may wish to arrangements to stay until 6 pm.

Updated to include the latest law changes and court rulings!

INCLUDED: 100 plus page manual to help you put what you learn into practice.

More info and sign up at http://LandlordBootCamp2019.com

Categories
Act 143 Omnibus Bill ATCP 134 Evictions Fair Housing Housing policies Leases & Rental Agreements Maintenance & Repairs Security Deposit Support Animals

List of WI Landlord Tenant Law Changes 2011-18

List of  Wisconsin Landlord Tenant Law changes

 

There have been a lot of questions lately regarding which Wisconsin landlord tenant laws have been changed in recent years. Below is a list of state law changes since 2011.

The Association’s Landlord Tenant Law Boot Camp is a good way to learn how to implement these changes in your rental procedures.    It is a full Saturday of intense information.  Attorney Tristan Pettit, AASEW Board Member and the guy who drafts the standard forms you get at WI Legal Blank is the presenter.  Tristan sat at the table as a lot of this was drafted.

Many of the changes were promoted by the Apartment Association of Southeastern WI, Inc., which I have been a board member of for all but one of the last 30 years.  You should consider membership so that we can continue these good works. 😉  Join at https://AASEW.org

While portrayed by some as anti tenant, it is the good tenants who meet their obligations who ultimately pay for those tenants that don’t pay or are disruptive.

Some changes were just common sense and benefit both owners and tenants.  Previously, you could only give a month to month tenant a 14 Day notice without right to cure for lease violations.  Now you use a 5 Day Breach to clean up their garbage or get rid of that  one hundred pound Pit Bull – Rottweiler that is chasing the mail carrier down the block. If the tenant complies, their rental continues.

Another example was the change to waiver.  For a while the tenant advocate attorneys would raise the issue of waiver if you had waited until, lets say the 15th, to give a five day.  Then you get tired of constant late payments and issue a five day on the fifth. The argument was raised that by waiting until the 15th that you changed the terms of the agreement.  Owners responded by adopting a no leniency policy, giving everyone a five day on the fifth.  Now that this has changed owners have the option of giving tenants extra time before issuing a notice, remembering that notices appear more confrontational that a note reminding them rent is due.

2017 ACT 317

 

2017 Wis. Act 317

https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2017/related/lcactmemo/act317

Summary by Tenant Resource Center

2015 ACT 176

 

2015 Wis. Act. 176

https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2015/related/lcactmemo/act176

Tenant Resource Center Summary of 3/2/16 Changes

2013 ACT 76

 

2013 Wisconsin Act 76

2013 Wisconsin Act 76 Evictions, Towing Practices, and Prohibitions 

Tenant Resource Center Summary of 3/1/2014 Wisconsin Law Changes 

2011 ACT 143

 

2011 Wis. Act 143

2011 Wisconsin Act 143: LC Act Memo

Tenant Resource Center Summary of 3/31/2012 Wisconsin Law Changes

2011 ACT 108

 

2011 Wis. Act 108

2011 Wisconsin Act 108: LC Act Memo

I think this is the full list

 

Categories
Housing policies Rent Control

A market based approach to rent control

Oregon to legalize duplexes on nearly every city lot – Sightline

The bill, which would also legalize fourplexes and cottage clusters in larger cities, cleared both House and Senate with wide, bipartisan majorities.

….

“We all have an affordable housing crisis in our areas,” said Rep. Jack Zika, a Redmond Republican who supported the bill before a different committee June 11. “This is not a silver bullet, but will address some of the things that all our constituents need. 
 We have an opportunity now for first-time homebuyers.”

The prequel up story shows the impact of legalizing four families after 39 years

When people who live in low-density areas think about re-legalizing duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes, they wonder, understandably, about what exactly might happen to their neighborhood.

Will the beautiful Victorian down the block be destroyed? Will all the nice trees be chopped down?

Categories
Tenant Screening

Our Screening Superpower

We do all the normal screening stuff such as CCAP, proof of income, proof of current address, requiring a government issued picture ID – without an ID they can give you any name and all of your screening will fail, etc.

When it looks like a tenant is acceptable on paper, then we break out our super tool: A home visit to their listed current address without an appointment. (If you set an appointment they will be at mom’s house to meet you)

We reject close to one in four with this final step. They don’t live there, a couple of times the address they gave was  a vacant lot, they have a pit bull larger than my manager, all the screens are pushed out from the inside, the yard and house is less clean and orderly than the local dump, there is no furniture, just a flop house for druggies, etc.

Your application needs to let the applicants know in advance you will be doing this. Our language in bold at the end of the authorization to pull credit and talk to prior landlords is:

” I understand that Affordable Rental Associates, LLC will verify my current residence in person”

Categories
Filling Vacancies Housing Stats Milwaukee Resources

Aren’t Milwaukee rents increasing?

Since yesterday’s post on Milwaukee rent stats I’ve spoken to a number of people, both landlords and tenant advocates, who felt rents had significantly increased in Milwaukee over the past couple of years.

I took a look at this using Rent-O-Meter’s rent analytic tool.  (I highly recommend this tool for accurately  setting residential rents) In moderately priced neighborhoods both on the Southside and Northwest, their data is showing that for two bedroom units rents have actually dropped quite a bit from 2016.  Three bedroom unit rents remain stable.

Not sure what to attribute this to.  There has been a softening of occupancy levels over the past year or so, which nearly always causes price corrections.  No money/low money mortgages are reappearing.  That temporarily drives up vacancies, but as we saw in 2008, that bubble pops.

 

 

Rent-o-Meter data NW Milwaukee
Rent-o-Meter data NW Milwaukee

Categories
Housing Stats Industry stats Milwaukee

Milwaukee rents remain stable. Percent paying over 35% drops.

Rents have not changed significantly in Milwaukee (2008-2012) compared to 2013-2017)

What has changed significantly is the number of people paying over 35% of their income in rent.  That percentage DROPPED from 50.1% in 2008-2012 to 45.9% in 2013-2017.

While there is still room for improvement, it looks like the financial status of Milwaukee’s tenants is improving.  This is a good thing for all.

Table is from the US Census Data:
Milwaukee Rental Data From US Census
Milwaukee Rental Data From US Census
Categories
5-Day Notice Act 143 Omnibus Bill ATCP 134 Collections Evictions Fair Housing HUD Leases & Rental Agreements Maintenance & Repairs Resources Security Deposit Support Animals Tenant Responsibilities Tenant Screening WI L/T law

Free Legal Resources for WI Landlords

I had seen this years ago and then forgot about it until I ran into it this morning while searching for something.

A real wealth of info, of course much of it slanted towards tenants rights. Some of it is outdated, such as the eviction notice grid does not contain 5 Day Breach for Month to Month.

We should work to get eviction prevention (very different than eviction defense) as part of this, as well as more tenant responsibility focused pieces.

Eviction prevention is providing the resources and tools necessary for tenants to succeed. When tenants fail, landlords suffer or fail.

http://wilawlibrary.gov/topics/landlord.php

 

Categories
Fair Housing Filling Vacancies Section 8 Tenant Screening

WI Rental Income Standards & Section 8

From a Fair Housing perspective, you probably must account in some manner for the value of the Section 8 payment when calculating an income multiplier guideline.

I’ve read of the argument made in other jurisdictions that if an owner is using a rent multiplier, that it should be on net rent to the tenant. This is probably not a workable answer for either tenant nor the owner. If the net payment by the tenant is $20 with a three times multiplier, a $60 per month income is not going to cover living expenses like heat and lights. A good discussion of this issue from a while ago is at: Bigger Pockets

In WI you must include the value of child support, food stamps and perhaps* Rent Assistance Vouchers in income calculations. So if the gross rent is $800 and the tenant receives $700 RA, $500 in food stamps, they would need to earn $1200 additional to meet the three times multiplier.

*Wisconsin Lawful Source of Income definition:

Wis Admin Code DWD 220.02(8)  “Lawful source of income” includes, but is not limited to, lawful compensation or lawful remuneration in exchange for goods or services provided; profit from financial investments; any negotiable draft, coupon or voucher representing monetary value such as food stamps; social security; public assistance; unemployment compensation or worker’s compensation payments.

There is a 1995 federal case, Knapp v. Eagle Property Management Corp, that found the value of Section 8 vouchers are not required to be included as income.

But that was nearly 25 years ago. Sentiments have changed over that time. I believe that if Knapp was tried today the court would find against the owner on this question as concepts like disparate impact were not widely argued then. Today we are restricted by HUD in using criminal records in screening because of the disparate impact on members of protected classes.

The plain language reading of the WI code makes not including the voucher value in the rent multiplier calculation open to expensive litigation, which the Knapp court determined that their insurer had no duty to defend.

To form your own opinion on this and other WI fair housing standards, a good starting point is:

“STATE OF WISCONSIN Fair Housing Plan Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing and Actions to Overcome Them Update to the 2015-2019 Consolidated Plan”