The following letter was written by Adam Skolnik, Executive Director of The Maryland Multi-Housing Association, Inc. A copy was provided to The Dagger for publication:
Dear Members:
The Harford County Council is seriously considering instituting rental registration as part of an update to the already existing Livability Code (adopted in 1988 (attached)). A task force has been created to study the issue; for some reason the task force has been asked to craft legislation that would be reviewed and voted on in January 2012.
We attended a meeting yesterday with other rental housing providers and Councilman Dion Guthrie and Harford County Director of Housing Shawn Kingston. According to them no bill has actually been written to date. We made it very clear that we are against any form of Rental Registration. Attached are the minutes of various task force meetings.
We suggest that you contact the following council people and the county executive to voice your opinion. The more e-mails and telephone calls that these leaders receive from you and your team members, telling them that rental registration should NOT be any part of this code update the better chance we have of prevailing. Please contact me if you have any questions.
1. County Executive – David R. Craig 410-638-3350 CountyExecutive@harfordcountymd.gov
2. Council President – Billy Boniface 410-638-3525 wkboniface@harfordcountymd.gov
3. District A – Dion Guthrie 410-638-3521 dfguthrie@harfordcountymd.gov
4. District B – Joe Woods 410-639-3520 jmwoods@harfordcountymd.gov
5. District C – James “Capt’n Jim McMahan 410-638-3523 jvmcmahan@harfordcountymd.gov
6. District D – Chad Shrodes 410-638-3524 cshrodes@harfordcountymd.gov
7. District E – Richard Slutzky 410-638-3522 rcslutzky@harfordcountymd.gov
8. District F – Mary Ann Lisanti 410-638-3526 malisanti@harfordcountymd.gov
Adam Skolnik, CPM
Executive Director
The Maryland Multi-Housing Association, Inc. (MMHA)
Why would rental registration be bad?
It would be good and thanks to Adam Skolnik I am aware of the bill (88-43) and was able to contact the council to offer my support for this bill. Thanks Adam Skolnik.
The Maryland Multi-Housing Association (MMHA) is a professional non-profit trade association that consists of owners and managers of rental housing homes and apartment communities.
That said, they don’t want any new rules/regulations that may cause grief to their constituency. Landlord registration itself is a common thing in many jurisdictions. Thus, I question and so should you voters, why not have this in Harford county.
Rental housing is a necessity. Most renters are good people. So where is the problem? There are a small percentage of bad renters and an even larger percentage of bad landlords. That’s right. This association doesn’t want to discuss the fact that some landlords of those rental houses (particularly those with multiple units in areas such as Havre de Grace) engage in the following practices: receive cash payments from tenants without paying taxes on income; receive the Homestead Tax Credit on rental property for years on properties and then claim they were unaware they received this tax break; fail to check up on how disruptive some of their tenants are to the community, despite the fact that police were called to their property multiple times for distrubances and/or criminal activities….the list goes on.
All landlords are not created equal. A registration process would ensure that the county knows who landlords are and which properties are rental units. This would ensure the public that rental properties have been inspected and are in adherance with building/fire codes and are safe. Also, police would have an easier time finding out who the tenants of a rental property are. The public also would have an easier time contacting the owners of rental properties to apprise them or complain any time the property becomes an eyesore. Ever getting in touch with a landlord now? Its difficult. Even if you are successful, good luck getting through to them. Many landlords don’t care about how their rental properties adversely impact a community. they only care about $$$.
Bottom line: Push your elected representatives to enact this plan. Landlords will be easy to find and far more accountable to the public. All elected reps who are landlords should recuse themselves from this issue. Make this a voter referendum.
So to paraphrase essentially this group is lobby of landlords opposing reforms to hold themselves accountable for the property they own?
This is so typical. This is an example of how the government, made up of elected representatives, can look out for us. Unfortunately, our representatives often look out for the landlords and not us. We will see if they vote for the people or the lobbyists with the bucks.
We own 2 rental properties. Looking back over the years, I wish we hadn’t bought them. Average “life” of a tenant has been about 1 1/2 years before they finally implode and force us to evict them. By then, the property needs a good bit of interior renovations. Average amount of rental income lost (and interior repairs needed) over that time exceeds $3,500.00. It takes time and money to evict them, clean up the mess they leave behind, and re-rent. We can sue them for back rent, of course, but then they declare bankruptcy and skate away, never to be located again. And there’s always a multitude of “excuses” for missing rental payments. (Lost a job, car repossessed, Mom died, Dad died, Mom AND Dad died, etc., etc.) I guess what I’m trying to say is that there are 2 sides to this story.
MrMarkK: I can remember renting. I know good landlords that take care of their property and screen tenates usually do not have those kinds of problems. However, I also remember the kind that did not take care of the property, were difficult to contact and were “slumlords.” I am not saying you are a slumlord, of course, but this bill is aimed at the landlords who are.
Do you run a credit check before you rent? Are you looking to see if the individual can afford the rent? Do you seek references fro previous rentals? It seems to me if there was a registration you could look into these things and have an easier time determining if this tennet is worth it?
lets be real….most likely the reason you are renting more than likely is due to financial issues(credit problems).
If you consistently have that many problems with tenants it’s almost certainly because your screening process is not thorough enough.
Rental Registration sounds like a fantastic idea to me!
Baltimore City requires registration and it works so well there.
People who are for this law mistakenly believe it will reduce crime in Harford County. It will not. If you wish to reduce crime you have to arrest and convict criminals through policing.
Pat: I believe this bill is designed to reduce crime by the landlords not the tenants.
It may or may not reduce crime. But is the idea to make houses livable? I live in townhouses, I own mine but I have a nieghbor or two who rent. One has a lovely land lady who gets things fixed. We have another two who are rented by someone who keeps them an eyesore. The tennets are nice but the house needs some paint and TLC. The eyesores bring my house value down. We also have one that has 4 families in it and the lanlord does not actually check up on the house, or does not care. Likewise as described above would you as a landlord like to know who is a deadbeat before you rent to them?
Patrick,
As several posters have stated, this bill seems to be for the purpose of holding landlords more accountable, and ensuring that rental properties conform to current safety and building codes and more….no one seems to think this bill will reduce crime. Not sure why you made that comment.
To our elected officials, the last thing anyone wants are rental properties owned by landlords who don’t care about how their property affects the community. Landlords do have rights with respect to dead beat tenants, and it is their right/responsibility to check up on their prospective tenants before the lease is signed. The only landlords who have reason to fear are SLUMLORDS and those who want to make income off the books. Lets hope our elected officials do not bend over for a self-interest group, but rather create a bill that is reasonable and enforceable with penalties for violators.
Harford County already has rental code enforcement.
Baltimore County has had a rental registration program for over 6 yrs. It works.
I don’t understand how people can have opinions on a bill that hasn’t been written yet. Just because it “sounds like a good idea” doesn’t make it so. I’d like to hear both sides of the argument, which this article is severely lacking.
I rent a SFH and am concerned about new laws and regulations that “protect me”. I could see new requirements leading to an excuse to raise my rent because of the additional burdens of compliance. Of course at this point it’s pure speculation, but I’m a firm believer in the law of unintended consequences.
B
@Brady – Brilliant observation that people will proclaim the benefits of a law that has not yet be written.
Well I guess all you have say is “there ought to be a law” and lawmakers will oblige whether it’s needed or not.
Heck why not add a provision to this law enacting rent control too?
Caveat venditor
Unless the regulation is royally screwed up, the “burden” on a property owner should be next to nothing. You fill out some basic paperwork and pay a nominal fee. That’s not asking a lot.
If there’s a “burden” is going to be on the deadbeat landlord who doesn’t like to keep up their property, check on their tenants, or ever answer a phone about problems.
As I have noted in a handful of other comment threads, this is yet another example of government being compelled to step in and provide regulation and oversight where, were the situation managed responsibly by those involved, it would not be needed.
Thank you all for your comments. I will keep them in mind as I draft this bill.
Thank you for taking the time to read our comments.
I would suggest that someone, probably from the task force, needs to clearly articulate what the benefits of rental registration are going to be to the public overall, landlords, and tenants. Failure to do so is going to invite criticism of arbitrarily levying fees or, heaven forbid, “taxes” on the arleady burdened populace.
Also, another step the task force may wish to consider is not passing a county wide registration, but permitting municipalities to do so if they wish (if they have not already).
Finally, ensure that the burden for a property owner is not onerous, that the fees are small and fair, and that the process to complete registration is as simple and expediant as possible.
The problem with not enacting a countywide registration bill is that Joppatowne, Edgewood, Abingdon, Fallston, Darlington, and anywhere else that is not Bel Air, Aberdeen, or Havre de Grace would not be covered.
This legislation will ensure that all lessors are held to a standard reducing the potential for properties to become eyesores thereby burdening neighboring homeowners.
There should also be compliance requirements holding lessees accountable allowing lessors to recoup in full any costs due to damages, loss, or expense in a timely manner.
Isn’t that called a lease?
Landlords already have full ability to take tenants to court for costs due to lease violations. Just as tenants have the same right to go to court about their landlords.
Rental registration only provides a clear written record of who is owning and renting what to local officials who are very frequently asked to step into a situation without any real information.
We have a great system in our county now, since people can make money off of it, lets regulate and tax them. This is ridiculous nazi like control of yet another industry. This will hurt low income people more then it will ever help anyone. If I were a landlord I would raise all my rent if this passed do to the increase bottom line and time costs to me.
Extremis malis extrema remedia
If so many property owners were not neglecting their rentals, this bill would not be necessary.
Honestly I didn’t know this was a problem. Is this another east-of-95 issue or is it widespread and I’m simply ignorant?
B
This is almost as stupid as requiring sprinkler fire protection systems in all new construction. Purportedly sprinkler systems will save lives but will cost people more money to buy a home and will result in increased homeowner’s insurance premiums.
We just can’t afford all this government help and protection.
It would result in a DECREASE in homeowner’s insurance premiums.
No it won’t as the risk of flooding increases drastically and far out ways mitigation of fire damage
@Proud – you surely are correct.
@Pissed – any facts at all to base your claims? My homeowners insurance premium has a credit for my sprinkler system. They certainly were NOT increased.
TOM: Pissed does not need facts, he has FOX.
I thought it might have been a good idea, to add a sprinkler system to my house, while evaluating this idea I called my broker who told me it would increase my insurance about $200 a year about a 50% increase in my homeowners insurance.
By the way I don’t own a television, so no fox news in my house.
@Pissed: The following article is a couple of years old, but it shows the typical insurance discounts by major insurers by state. You can jump to the table at page 6 if you don’t want to read the entire article.
http://www.nahb.org/fileUpload_details.aspx?contentTypeID=3&contentID=82243&subContentID=118821
Note the difference between Class A and B systems. B systems don’t cover the whole house and, predictably, the discounts are less.
Niccolo, you are so poorly informed as to make your comment outright lies.
I was misinformed about the insurance increase, my apologies.
I live in Abingdon and is becoming a problem!
I have a related question that has been on my mind: where are the public records relating to eviction? Are there any? How does a potential landlord protect himself from an unscrupulous renter with repeat offenses? I’ve watched as a tenant has moved between four rental properties in less than two years. One of the landlords managed to take her to court for lease default but if it does not appear in MD Case Search as a Contract case it does not appear at all. I also ask because when I made an inquiry about their rental history with their first lease holder, I was told they could not divulge that information without a release from the former tenant. They weren’t terribly surprised when I told them that they are currently in court to obtain their $2000 judgment from the lease default. the second landlord was given a bogus number to call for a reference – which was a setup by the tenant-to-be, a personal friend that claimed they always paid on time. Simply stated: How is a landlord protected from repeat lease default offenders?
That is a very good point. What is sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander (or should be in this case.)
PTBL,
Holy cow! This is the 2nd or 3rd time this year we have been in agreement. I agree. Make the stinking eviction notices public as well as requiring the landlords to publicly register. We have a big time problem property in our neighborhood and the HCSO is out there all of the time but no one can found out who the landlord is. Not even the HCSO. Part of the issue is the tenants as well landlord related issues.
Some things you still have to walk down to the courthouse for. And credit checks are very informative. Full background checks even better. The application fee has a purpose. And anyone can come up with a useable ROI form.
Are you saying that records of eviction are available in the courthouse? When I asked the clerk at District Court I was told I need to talk with the Sheriff.
Background checks and credit checks are fine but there is only so much a citizen can do to conduct either – and although I have used Intellius the information is not always current or even accurate.
I have even been told recently that a former employer cannot disparage an ex-employee without incurring some sort of legal liability. It sounds like than can little more than confirm the employee used to work there. So you may never know why the person was fired for gross misconduct or that they were a habitual liar.
And you’re going to have to spell out what ROI is supposed to stand for. Your responses are certainly appreciated but for those of us that are not inside your head a little more information would be helpful.
Sorry David. ROI is release of information. (could have been return on investment!) As part of an application a tenant can sign a ROI form, allowing a landlord to get information from whatever place is listed on the form. Basically a private landlord should follow the same procedures that any corporately managed rental property would follow.
These steps will mitigate, though of course not eliminate, problems with tenants. Most low income families live “off the radar” so to speak paying cash for everything, having little or no information in their credit report, and couch surfing and have little to go on in the way of references. And you are correct, many background check services are incomplete, innacurate, or just not always helpful. My point is that most landlords who consistently have problems with tenants do not use these tools or pursue due diligence in the matter. Most non-low income tenants are going to have enough verifiable information to go on.
As far as eviction records, it was my understanding they are available at the courthouse– since the sheriff’s office handles them however, they could maintain those records. But I do know for sure that there is a wealth of detailed information available to the public not found on the MD case search website, by physically reviewing court records at the courthouse. I apologize for my assumption on the rent court records. One of the problems also is that most landlords who have problems with tenants don’t institute court proceedings, so even when there should be, there would be no record of such issues.
Also, I forgot to mention that when contacting previous employers… you are right, many will not give you detailed information on the person’s employment. Most will tell you when the person began and ended employment. You want to look for length of employment, the longer the better (just as creditors do). Also, if you ask if the person is “eligible for rehire”, most employers will answer yes or no to that question, which is HR speak for they were fired, or laid off/quit. However, even then, when someone should have been fired for conduct sometimes an employer will cut a deal with them and allow them to sign resignation paperwork and stay eligible for rehire.
One other thing. If they have a period of unemployment, a background check should reveal if they applied for and receieved unemployment, which if they did should indicate they were not fired.
Hope that helps.
Thank you – for the more detailed responses.
My experiences (not personal, peripheral) suggest that you can apply for unemployment even if you are fired from a job and expect to receive it.
As for the courthouse, I asked at District Court and was told pointedly that they do not maintain records of eviction. I was referred to the Sheriff.
The reasons for the new law are not defined. That should be the first step. The landlord/property manager/owner registration is a new level of not necessary government intervention. The proposed bill will not impact owner occupied ‘slum’ houses. The property that is owner occupied and a mess will not be addressed. The problem tenants, ie. destroying property, police/sheriff calls, partying and properties that are federally or state funded, HUD, Section 8 properties, and 1/2 way houses,senior facilities, or other govt. regulated properties are not a part of this. The proposed bill is supposed to impose a registration fee on the owner, landlord and manager. Why?
What ‘bad’ property managers would register? Why would they? The costs have not been decided yet, but what would the ‘bad’ landlord/manager/owner want to have the county involved w/n their business? If they are already a problem, the county should be aware of them and enforce the current laws.
If the owner/landlord is renting the property, and he/she expects rent to be paid, the property is maintained. The law allows tenants to put rent into an escrow acct. until the ‘item’ is fixed. The landlords/owners have to file 3 times for failure to pay rent, w/n a year, before an eviction can be
mandated. The loss of income to a landlord when a tenant doesn’t pay rent, is multiplied by the damages to the property, and by the slow process to terminate a lease w/n the court system. This bill will raise fees for tenants. If folks are having problems now, the added expense to prop.managers and owners will increase the rents for the tenants. Enforce the current laws now, and the problem areas, if there are problem areas, can be fixed. The new inspectors, clerks and other personnel that this bill will need to register the over 18,000, properties that are rentals w/n Harford county will add more “paper” to the system and for no apparent benefit.
You make some good points. But you also make some bad ones. I’ll stick with the bad ones.
Where do you get that none of the “problem” properties (such as section 8 and government regulated, etc) are not included in the bill? That’s not in the minutes of the task force meetings anywhere that I saw it. Would you like to quote out or source that statement?
And presumably a landlord would pay the fee because the penalty for not paying the fee is greater than the fee itself. The same reason good law abiding citizens pay for a gun license.
The most obvious, and previously stated need for the registration is that local officials cannot just enforce the current law as you say, because they have no information by which to enforce it. So a tenant gives an inspector a phone number and they call it and leave a message and never hear back. What do they do then? Nothing. A registration gives officials enough information to begin to actually resolve problems.
And the idea that the fee is going to raise rents is absolutely ludicrous. I have to say it again: ludicrous. They are talking about a $20-30 fee every 2 to 3 years, possibly as much as annually. You are trying to say that $30 divided by 24 months is going to raise rents a massive $1.25 a month? You are saying that a person who owns one, two, or more properties can’t just eat that fee? That’s ludicrous.
Might it raise FEES for renters? Possibly. Sure the registration fee could be passed on to each renter. But that’s nominal compared to saying it would be raise rents. Get real.
Your implication that ‘problem properties’ are section 8 units, or other federal, state and county funding, is yours, not mine. The reason that those units won’t be covered is that they already have an inspection code and are under the federal and state laws.
The current laws are able to be enforced. They are not being enforced at this time.
The fee for registration at this point is low. Have you registered you car lately? How about the dog license tags? Crossed the Havre de Grace bridge lately? I know that the costs of property taxes will rise. Costs for court eviction, failure to pay and tenant holding over fees have all gone up, too.
If the prop. owner/landlord has to meet more county codes, ( like the new homes bill w/ sprinklers and high efficiency doors, windows, etc.), the costs for tenants will rise. If the property owner/landlord has to meet more intense and varied repairs/costs, there may be other solution, too. The owner might sell, board up the property or tear the home/bldg. down. Look at Baltimore city. The numbers of abandoned homes and property is large.
The current laws already are not enforced to improve the areas where problems exist. What problems are there that exist, where are they and who is reporting them to whom? Where does the Housing Authority come into the problem now? How does the new proposal address repeat offenders of the the livability code?
The problem landlords are few and scattered. This proposed bill is an invasion of gov’t into small businesses. Lets address the problem and not create a new set of problems.
GOOD NEWS: You seem think that having rental property is a cash cow. All one needs to do is buy some rundown dump, rent it out and collect the money. Landlords cannot be expected to actually keep the property in a livable condition that would eat into profits.
The government is the ONLY entity that can protect the community from irresponsible landlords. The ones that are responsible will not be bothered by this.
Dion Guthie couldn’t find his hind quarters with both hands. This is the kind of thing Baltinore City has in place and it has resulted in more boarded up buildings and less low cost housing with a bloated bureaucracy wasting taxpayer money.
Let’s keep it simple…The Maryland Multi-Housing Association, Inc is a self-interest group that doesn’t care about the public, rather just its members, and they are landlords. Skolnick’s comment “We made it very clear that we are against any form of Rental Registration,” says a lot to the public.
Good landlords probably won’t care about registration or new regs, which we all hope are reasonable. The whiners who argue about too much gov’t regulations are most likely the problem landlords who fail to follow the fire safety and building codes and collect cash from tenants without reporting the income.
I encourage everyone who is a renter and a home owner to contact your elected officials and tell them you disagree with Skolnick’s comments and you want them to hold landlords accountable to the community.
Good point. REading their oldminuts it seems they talk nothing about the issue and everything about how to deal with Tennants.
It’s frankly amazing that many of you want a law that has yet to be written enacted without any clear intent.
Dear Patrick,
this issue is not amazing. The public simply wants the landlord registration process to be written into code. The intent will hopefully be to serve the public’s best interests with respect to rental properties. This is a symptom of problems created by bad landlords who have skirted the lack of these laws for too long.
No one wants any codes to be overly burdensome on those who are good landlords. However, the community has every right to hold bad landlords accountable.
We simply do not need new laws and increased government bureaucracy when existing code enforcement is not being enforced.
@Patrick-the current code has no teeth. No registration, no enforcement rules, no right to seek redress, no fine system, no penalty for repeat offenders, nothing. Under the current code, only the tenant can file a livability code complaint which would allow an inspector to conduct an inspection that focuses on basic safety and livability. It doesn’t address community standards, exterior appearance ie, clean up and it doesn’t allow neighbors to file complaints if both tenant and landlord don’t follow community guidelines. An updated livability code similar to Mongomery County would address some of the deficits that the current code doesn’t have the ability to address.
@patric-Also, there is nothing burdensome or costly to have a code that protects tenants, landords and community. Those whom are good tenants and landlords already more than comply with the rules, it is only those whom take advantage of lax rules and regulations whom stand the most to lose such as some of the known landlords in Aberdeen, Edgewood and Havre de Grace. The registration sytem would also add a public safety component and allow police to track known drug house tenants and landlords.
Shawn Kingston is posting as Blissful in Bel Air. He should disclose as such. He is a big government hack who is trying to spin their power grab as a “good for everybody” idea.
There are many problems with requiring registration of rental properties. Guthrie doesn’t even understand the law that he is demanding.
It is worth noting that Kingston is a David Craig political appointee, and demands larger government.
Disclose yourself. Stop being a hypocrite.
Even if you suppose for a moment that it were true, how much does it matter? The task force meeting minutes are published here which indicate Mr. Kingston’s input on the process, and presumably, his opinions.
There’s no secret agenda there.
To Belair….I am not Shawn Kingston. Just a regular guy who pays taxes, doesn’t violate any laws, helps his friends and neighbors and believes in personal responsibility.
My experiences with landlords are good and bad. The bad landlords need regulation or they run amuck, with profit being the only thing they respect.
Enjoy your weekend.
Does anyone else think it’s hysterical that Craig is a big government power grabber? A 30 year Maryland Republican, Republican County Executive, elected in a Republican County (in a Democratic State) is being described as a liberal Democrat? And his appointee?
Even if your assertion about bliss’ identity were true, how can you expect to have any credibility making claims like this?
Either provide proof, or shut up. To make an accusation without having or being willing to back it up is shameful and disrespectful to the dialogue and intelligence of all Dagger readers.
David Craig is a Republican, but he is not a conservative.
I think we need to start calling this idealogy what it really is:
The third Red Scare.
He’s not a Republican.
He’s a RINO.
He’s not a Conservative.
He’s not conservative enough.
He’s not a tea partier.
He’s not a social conservative.
He’s not a fiscal conservative.
He’s not a true conservative.
What we need is a blacklist. Then we can root out all the fakers and have only purists hold office.
Basically these days you’re only a Republican until someone says that you’re not.
(please note these comments do not disregard the reality that there are many layers among the political spectrum, but merely are illustrative of a rather absurd ideology that is rampant and rapidly destroying the Republican party from within)
It is all part of the purge. Got to git ride of those people with common sense and alienate them. Like Napoleon in Animal Farm!
Cdev what a tool you are.
Progressive incrementalism is how we get bloated inefficient government doing more and more badly. It is through incremental compromise we have been moved to more and more social engineering and dare I say social1sm.
Sorry I see the purge as getting rid of common sense politicians (on both sides) like Wayne Gilchrest and it has saddled us with in over his head Kratovil and Mr. all about me Andy Harris! I actually liked Ehrlich until he went all right wing vindictive. this is why I voted for Barr the second time around!
We are watching the Republican party implode. I read an article written by David Eisenhower where he lamented that this GOP is not the party of his father. I also voted for Ehrlich in his first election. I thought he was capable and well spoken – certainly an easy vote over Kennedy Townsend – she was vapid. But in his second coming he lost me when he suggested he could reduce taxes and balance the budget. I heard that during Reagan and I didn’t believe it – and he helped by not achieving it. I still voted for him against Mondale because Mondale was an idiot. So basically there are a lot of waiting for the good Republicans to rise again. Any ideas when that might be? You know, the party of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt? Damn those Progressive Republicans.
Porter: You think Cdev is a tool. You are the quintessential tea partier. You have never said anything but to serve big business and to screw yourself. Do you really think big business will regulate themselves and protect your interests? And you call Cdev a tool?
@Belair-Please disclosue how you found out this information. Do you have a “radar”,”magic eyes”, “telephathy” or your other “voice” is telling you the identity of anyone posting? Are you just mad or just another loudmouth posting on the Dagger? I think really you have just become unhinged and you need to be fed an iota of common sense.