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ALOC NEWS
July 1, 2002 Vol. 8, Issue 7
Hagerstown Community College will be offering courses in
July and October for Lead Paint Maintenance Supervisor and Lead Paint
Worker. This will include the full course as well as refreshers. Contact HCC at 301-790-2800 ext. 520 for details. The
course will be taught by Ridgely Safety Services who also teaches at
Allegany College. Continuing on with what we started last month we will explain
a little more in depth the requirements involving Federal Title X rules. When any property is sold the seller
must fill out a Title X form indicating any knowledge of lead paint on the
premises and furnish any documentation regarding lead treatments. This
usually refers to lead dust test results and any full lead abatement
treatments only. Unless you have actual knowledge of the presence of lead
paint, either through dust tests, XRF, or you painted the house prior to
1950 with lead paint, you will usually answer that you have no knowledge.
With the seller and buyer signing the Title X form it allows the buyer to
determine if he wants to conduct lead tests and if lead is found he can
cancel the contract. The exact in and outs regarding the sale of real
estate and Title X should be discussed with a real estate professional or
attorney before entering into a sales contract. A copy of the EPA booklet must be provided to the buyer
and all parties need to retain a copy of the signed Title X form as proof
of compliance. The rental side of the situation also requires the same
disclosures and information that must provided to the tenant and the form
ALOC has developed also includes a receipt for the Maryland lead booklet
and a place to indicate the Inspection Certificate number. Failure to use the Title X forms and having copies on
hand for all tenants is one of the items being closely watched by the MDE
and the Lead Paint Gang. This can
result in both Maryland and Federal fines as well as possible civil litigation
by the tenant and their lawyers!! Our next regular meeting will be held on September 9th
at 7PM at the South Cumberland Library. Enjoy the summer and we look
forward to seeing you after Labor Day. A number of our members went to court in July to collect
rent and with Judge Finan moving to the Circuit Court as well as vacations
we ended up with a visiting Judge from Silver Springs. This Judge did not
seemed particularly well versed in Landlord-Tenant Law and the outcome for
many of the Landlords present was interesting to say the least. One of the first up failed to bring a copy of his lease
and other papers and the tenant was contesting the rent due. The Judge, in
spite of the protestations of the Landlord, postponed the case for a week
and told him to not appear in court again without his lease. The Landlord
made the statement “ he had never had to bring his lease to court in the
past”. Obviously he will not forget this day in court! In other cases the Judge allowed the tenant a longer
period of time than is set out in Maryland law for the tenant to pay the
rent and delved into the finances of some of the tenants and their ability
to pay the rent. Overall the Landlords did not come out too bad, but it was
an interesting day! Again we need to remember to take all relevant documents
to court and be prepared to explain your case in a clear and concise manner
with no deviation into other issues involving the tenancy. City Elections Recent reports in the newspaper indicate that Councilman
Harvey May, an outspoken supporter of the Cumberland Housing Code will not
run for office in the Fall. After 20 years in office he will be stepping
down. This may have an interesting effect on the City Council and they way
they conduct business in the future.
Another interesting item is the lack of candidates filing for City
office this year. Rental Property
Inspections Dust Wipe Tests/Visual
Inspections 301-777-1369 MDE: Certified Lead
Paint Visual Inspector HUD: Certified Lead
Sampling Technician 9-30-02 Lead Inspections
for Rental Housing Visual Inspections and
Dust Wipes 201 Massachusetts Ave. Cumberland, MD 21502 301-722-8328 3-03
Lead Paint
Training
EPA Title X
Requirements
Meeting
Changes
District Court
Visiting Judges
Richard Bonig
Carey Walker
Lead
Abatement - Lead Risk Reduction Rental
Property Maintenance Contractor Telephone
301-729-1086 FAX
301-729-4801 - Pager 301-546-0221 3-30
/ 9-30 VISUAL INSPECTOR MDE
Inspections Lead Dust Wipes LEAD PAINT
SUPERVISOR Telephone/FAX: 301-729-2994 1-30
Highland
Enterprises LLC
Robert Saville
“Excellent Rates”
Miscellaneous
As a reminder, City Registration forms were recently
mailed out to all Cumberland Landlords. These forms along with payment of
the yearly registration fee are due at City Hall no later than June 30,
2002 to avoid fines and penalties. If you did not receive your forms call
City Hall or visit the Housing Office in the basement of City Hall to get
renewal forms. If you are a new landlord you will need to fill out a
complete application and schedule an inspection. On June 30th the Postal Rates change again
with the rate for First Class postage increasing to 37 cents. Other charges
may also be increasing. In spite of this increase US postage charges are
still below most other developed countries. Check with the Post Office for
exact details about the changes. When considering
the purchase of rental properties it is important to have written into your
sales contract requirements for proof of registration with the City, where
applicable, registration with the MDE and proof of compliance with all
inspection and regulations. If you do not have copies of all pertinent
documents and proof of compliance on the day of closing the MDE will
consider you out of compliance with the Lead Paint regulation and you will
be subject to fines and penalties.
While you may be able to go back on the owner for failure to
register and etc., you will find that the MDE will have no sympathy for
your ignorance of the law. Such
documentation from the seller should be in your hands within days of the
contact signing with written provisions allowing you to cancel the contract
if things are not in order. Waiting until the closing can be costly for all
parties. The same applies for copies of leases, security deposit receipts
and other records.
Ann
The Leases and other forms have been upgraded to reflect
Law changes made in recent years and are available now. Please Note
the change in prices!! ALOC has available leases, rental applications and
tenant checklists for sale, at cost, to members. The cost for each item is
as follows: Lease @ $ 0.50
Rental Application @ $ 0.50
Move in Checklist @ $ 0.50 Lead Paint Brochures, both EPA and Maryland and
document receipt@ $2.50 for the set. Document Receipt for MDE and EPA brochures (disclosure)
@ $ 0.25 These forms are kept at Jeff Hutter's office, TWR Comm.
at 549 N. Centre Street. Any paid member can stop by and pick up whatever
they need, however we ask that you call first with your order so that the
forms can be ready and waiting for you. Please call at
least 24 hours in advance as these are made to order. When you call 777-2692 ext 113, you can talk to Pam,
Gary or Sean Please note: We do not keep MDE or City Housing
registration forms on hand. J. Jeff J. Jeffrey Hutter President Carey Walker
Vice President Stephanie Wharton
Secretary J. Jeffrey Hutter
Treasurer Board of
Directors Clarence Anderson Steve Jenkins Bob Saville Bob Miles What we see
depends mainly on what we look for. John Lubbock Some succeed because
they are destined to, but most succeed
because they are determined to. Unknown July NO Meeting August NO Meeting September 9, 2002 October 14, 2002 November 11, 2002 No Meeting in December January 13, 2003 Meetings are held at
the South Cumberland Library on Race and Seymour St. at 7 PM TWR
Communications 301-777-2692 9-30-02 The leading supplier of quality
high speed Internet Access in Allegany-Garrett-Washington Counties and
surrounding areas of West Virginia using K56 Flex modems. TWR provides
other computer services including training, computer repairs, networking,
website hosting and Internet advertising. TWR is an agent for Cellular
One, operates a wide area network with wide area paging and mobile 2-way
radio. Check us out at twr@hereintown.net The price of
ALOC Leases, Lead Booklets and other forms has been increased to cover
higher costs of reproduction as well as the change in format of the EPA
booklet, which takes more paper. A-1 Inspections, Inc. PRE-PURCHASE/PRE-SETTLEMENT INSPECTIONS RESIDENTIAL
AND COMMERCIAL LEAD INSPECTIONS 301-724-5323 9-30 9-30 Credit Bureau, Inc. We have been in the
business of building databases for over 50 years. Let us build one for you!
For those of you contributing rental history, thank you. For those who haven’t called me, it’s easy. Mike Wright
301-729-5202 5-02
Leases and other Documents
ALOC Officers
Thoughts for
the Month
Meeting Schedule
ALOC FORMS PRICE CHANGES
Please refer to the prices listed above!
PHONE 301-724-LEAD