The Lead Seminar set for March 16th had to be cancelled due to a late season snowstorm that periodically closed down I-68. We have conferred with our various partners and we have agreed on holding it on April 28th at Allegany College from 6-9 PM. We will call the membership later in the month to confirm the dates, times and places.
If you want to better understand the lead paint laws make plans to attend this important educational opportunity. The Allegany County Health Department is the primary host and they will have some sandwiches and drinks available around 5 to 5:30 PM for those wanting something to eat before the session begins.
Our City of Cumberland Housing Inspectors will be on hand at the April meeting to discuss the inspection system. Dave Cox and Sean Llewellyn who perform the inspections as well as other items involving building permits will be the primary speakers. Chuck Winebrenner, who is the code enforcement officer, will also attend.
Nearly all Cumberland Landlords have to deal with City inspections at some point in time and this will be the ideal time to ask all of the questions you have in the back of your mind about the inspection system.
One of the main concerns the inspectors have expressed to us is the lack of preparation prior to inspection. Frequently units have not had repairs completed and or cleaned before the inspector starts resulting in a lengthy list of items needing attention.
In September we will be asking City Council candidates to attend our meeting and inform us about their intentions if elected. We will be looking at having the District Court folks back as well as the Fire and Police Depts. Any members having ideas for speakers need to let us know so that we can plan accordingly.
In recent presentations regarding Credit Checks we have discussed the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the requirements involved. A recent Court ruling reported to us in the Washington County newsletter may provide some interesting twists to this perceived requirement. It has always been our understanding that if we turned down a tenant for credit related reasons that we had to give them a written notice with the ability for them to request a copy of the credit report from the credit reporting agency that we used to determine their credit status.
In the above case a tenant was turned down for a rental unit and was not given a written notice, that his credit application had been denied. The tenant then filed a formal complaint against the landlord, alleging violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). The Landlord asked for judgment without trial and the Judge agreed.
The Judge found the tenant's allegations were not justified. The ECOA required a creditor to provide a credit applicant with a statement of reasons as to why unfavorable action had been taken on a credit application. A creditor was defined as "any person who regularly extends, renews, or continues credit."
An "applicant" was defined as "any person who applies directly for an extension, renewal, or continuation of credit, or applies to a creditor indirectly by use of an existing credit plan for an amount exceeding a previously established credit limit."
The Landlord was not in the business of extending, renewing, or continuing credit, and thus could not have been considered a creditor. Essentially the tenant was applying for an apartment and was not applying "directly for an extension, renewal, or continuation of credit." Therefore, his ECOA claims could not proceed.
Another interesting scenario to keep in mind as you wind your way through the maze of Landlord-Tenant relations!
The legislative atmosphere in Annapolis this year is particularly strange and the outcome of many bills is hard to predict. As we mentioned before the bill to increase the MDE registration fees to $ 50.00 did not make it out of the Environmental Matters Committee, however the Governors bill to increase the fee to $ 15.00 (along with other general fee increases) will likely be signed into law at some point. Changes to the sales tax law could affect Property Managers who would see their fees subject to sales tax, thereby increasing the cost for Landlords by 5-6 %. This is part of the Governor's budget bill and it is hard to predict where this will go.
Our watchdogs at the Maryland Property Owners Association have informed us about a bill in the Senate that covers some serious loopholes in the lead program as well as requirements to supply MDE registration information before a failure to pay rent complaint can be filed in court. This bill is scheduled for a hearing on April 7th before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and it appears to have a good chance of passage. This bill (HB1245) was recently passed by the House and we understand that Maggie McIntosh, who chairs the House Environmental Matters Committee, is scheduled to testify in favor of the bill. With the session coming to a close next week we will soon have our answers!
The Maryland Property Owners Network will be holding a legislative wrap up session probably in May when the session has ended and we have some idea as to what bills the Governor will be signing. Overall it appears that this has been a quiet year with few real estate related bills. Certainly some of the past few years have been very different. Obviously the preoccupation with the budget deficit, slots and a Republican Governor has complicated matters for the 2004 session.