www.cumberlandlandlords.com
ALOC NEWS
June 1, 2002 Vol. 8, Issue 6
In conversations with members we often run into
confusion as to what is required before renting to a tenant. We will go
over these briefly in this edition and cover it more in detail in July’s
newsletter. Federal – EPA Title X requirements: You must advise
tenants about your knowledge of lead paint in the rental unit and all
parties must have a signed form indicating that this occurred. You must
also supply them an EPA Lead Brochure. Use our Document
Disclosure/Receipt Form available from ALOC. Maryland – MDE Registration: Before you rent any
property you must first be registered with the MDE. This provides the owner
and property number referenced to when the inspections are completed. Maryland – MDE Inspection: You must have a lead paint
inspection resulting in the issuance of a Maryland Inspection Certificate.
A copy must be given to the tenant. Maryland – MDE/EPA Brochures: You must provide tenants a
copy of the MD and EPA Lead brochures and have a signed receipt indicating
the tenant has received these items. The tenant also must have a copy. Use
our Document Disclosure/Receipt Form from ALOC Maryland – Real Estate Law: All tenancies require a written
Lease detailing the terms and conditions involved. All parties must have
signed copies. Use ALOC’s Lease and Move-in Checklist. Cumberland – Housing Inspection: Prior to tenants moving
into rental units in Cumberland they must be registered with the City and
inspected. A copy of the inspection papers should be provided to the tenant
along with the lease. Failure to follow these rules 100% can result in
possible legal problems and fines form the EPA, MDE or City of Cumberland.
If you are not sure what to do – delay renting to a tenant until you have
all of the paperwork in order! At the May meeting the membership reviewed our schedule
and compared it to other groups throughout Maryland who only have general
membership meetings a few times each year. When considering that our busy
months are the September-May period when elections are held and or
legislation is being introduced in Annapolis it seemed appropriate that we
not meet during the summer months. The members voted to not meet in June,
July, August and December and the schedule below has been changed
accordingly. The membership voted on a new slate of Directors for our
association and the following members were voted in as Directors: Clarence
Anderson, Bob Miles, Bob Saville and Steve Jenkins. The Officers and
Directors collectively make up the Board for our association and they meet
when necessary to conduct ALOC business. The Directors in the past met to develop our lease and
others forms as well as working on the Cumberland Housing Code. Some years ago we developed a computer program to track
tenants based on information supplied by our membership. A few members used
this sparsely and it did not work out the way we wanted it to as the
database was too small and did not include information on tenants renting
from non-members. Our members also have not kept it up to date as they
changed tenants. At the May meeting we discussed this system and
considering that we can get inexpensive credit information from the Credit
Bureau it seems that a change is in order. Considering these facts the membership voted to drop the
Tenant Reference System effective immediately. Members needing reference information prospective
tenants can contact Mike Wright at 301-729-5202 for details about credit
checks or contact Scotty’s Investigations at 301-777-0232 for information
on criminal background checks. 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
EPA, MDE and
City Requirements
Meeting
Changes
New Directors
Elimination of
Tenant Reference System
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. At our May meeting we had Lt. Jim Folk from the
Sheriff’s Department as our speaker. This was planned as a logical follow
up to Bonnie Zembower, form the District Court, who informed us of the
court procedures for landlord-tenant matters. Lt. Folk went over the rules
and policies the Sheriff’s Department uses when evicting tenants through a
Warrant of Restitution. 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. At our April
meeting Bonnie Zembower from the District Court mentioned the availability
of a Landlord-Tenant Handbook available from the Baltimore Neighborhoods,
Inc. The book covers a lot of information about rental matters and is well
indexed and has a concise Table of Contents that makes it easy to look up
items. Many of the questions we hear at meetings are covered in this book
and it makes an excellent reference source if you plan on staying in the
rental business. We believe the price for this book is under $ 10.00
postpaid and their toll free number is 1-800-487-6007. Make sure that you
specify the Maryland version, as we believe they also have a separate
version for Baltimore City.
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 Never apologize
for showing feeling. When you do, you apologize for the truth. Benjamin Disraeli Always do right.
This will gratify some people and astonish the rest. Mark Twain June NO Meeting July NO Meeting August NO Meeting September 9, 2002 October 14, 2002 November 11, 2002 No Meeting in December 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