www.cumberlandlandlords.com
ALOC NEWS
November 4, 2002 Vol. 8, Issue 11
The Hagerstown City Councils has voted to enact strict
housing regulation along with hefty fees and inspection programs. This will
of course mean the hiring of more inspectors increasing the burden on
taxpayers, both tenants and landlords. Again our government is more intent
on kingdom building, expanding the regulation of our lives, hiring more
people and generally making our lives more complicated. We understand that
Frederick is also looking into a similar plan. As is so often the case with government today, they get
a bee in their bonnet and proceed to hit themselves in the head with a
hammer to kill the bee. Unfortunately they lack both the knowledge and the
wisdom to realize that in killing the bee they may very well knock their
brains out! This assumption, of course, is based on them having brains to
begin with! History has proven that strict housing regulations and
inspections do not solve the problems associated with substandard housing,
incompetent landlords, tenants who trash their rental units, criminals that
make good rental units into a public nuisance and government officials who
will not enforce the law. In every municipality the police and code officials know
who the problem tenants and property owners are. Instead of enacting goofy
regulations, that in many cases are poorly thought out, they should
concentrate on prosecuting and incarcerating the habitual offenders. It is so sad to see the honest efforts of private
investors swept aside by the ill winds of government over-regulation. Many
eminent statesmen of our times saw this wave coming before it broke on the
shore. Winston Churchill probably summed it up best when he said: “ Some see private enterprise as a predatory target
to be shot, others a cow to be milked, but few see it as a sturdy horse
pulling the wagon.” Oh to have
government officials who have the wisdom to see things with the clarity of
Sir Winston S. Churchill!!! We have not had any speakers this fall, however we have
lined up a few for 2003 and we will be working on filling the rest of the
meetings up through May. We start off in January with Mary Jane Bonser from
the Allegany County Community Services Department. Mary Jane oversees the
various housing programs, including HUD Section 8 that are administered in
the County. In February we will have Denny McCormick, Public Works
Director for the City of Cumberland, who will fill us in on the latest
regarding garbage pickup, keeping your sidewalks clean and other services
provided by Cumberland’s public works departments. In March Chief Bobby Dick of the Cumberland Police
Department will again visit us to go over procedures and policies used by
his department when dealing in landlord tenant matters and will answer any
general questions regarding police matters in Cumberland. The election will be in process by the time you read
this newsletter and as such we will not be able to give you any commentary
or blow by blows of the voting. In the December newsletter we will try to
recap the voting and give you some idea where things are heading for us
poor landlords! We salute Bill Russell for taking on the arrogant City
Council of Frostburg. Since Mayor Bambacus took office and continuing with
the new administration (Mayor Jim Cotton took over from Bambacus earlier
this year) there has been a blatant disregard for the rules and regulations
for public meetings not to mention the property rights of owners. The Mayor and Council admitted they were wrong to
discuss and vote in private session to change the way Frostburg government
will work. Hopefully they will curb their wicked ways! Keep at them Bill, eventually the electorate will get
the message and throw the scoundrels out! Rental Property
Inspections Dust Wipe Tests/Visual
Inspections 301-777-1369 MDE: Certified Lead
Paint Visual Inspector HUD: Certified Lead
Sampling Technician 9-30-03 Lead Inspections
for Rental Housing Visual Inspections and
Dust Wipes 201 Massachusetts Ave. Cumberland, MD 21502 301-722-8328 3-03
Hagerstown and Frederick
Speakers
Election
Results
Bill Russell
blows the whistle on Frostburg!
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
Allegany College has lead paint training scheduled as
follows; Worker Nov. 4, 2002, Supervisor Nov. 4 -5, 2002 and Supervisor
Refresher Dec. 13, 2002. Contact AC at 301-784-5341 for registration
information. We continue to receive complaints about substitute
Judges and their failure to award late fees and court costs to the landlord
in failure to pay rent complaints. We will consult with our attorney, John
Robb, regarding this matter and we will let you know what we find out.
Hopefully we can get some resolution to the problem when we get a permanent
judge appointed to take over Judge Finan’s vacancy. We received a copy of The Abell Foundation report “
Childhood Lead Poisoning in Baltimore: A Generation Imperiled, As Laws
Ignored” from our friends in Baltimore. The full text of this report is
available on their website at www.abell.org
or write to them at The Abell Foundation, 111 S. Calvert Street, 23rd
Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202. This report again repeats the mantra that the
problem is getting worse and the current laws and regulations are not being
enforced. They have identified the 11 Zip Code areas around the center of
Baltimore that have the worst lead problems. It is a shame that the State
cannot concentrate in those areas and leave the rest of us alone! The
report recommends that blood testing be increased, the coordination of
services to children with elevated blood lead levels to be improved and
decrease the number of children exposed to dangerous amounts of lead by
improving housing conditions in the lowest end of the rental market. We have received third hand information that the
Cumberland Housing Assistance office is informing landlords that the ALOC
lease is no good! Anybody that has heard about this should let us know what
the scoop is!
t
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 “You cannot
strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help small men by
tearing down big men. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You
cannot lift the wage earner by tearing down the wage payer. You cannot keep
out of trouble by spending more than your income. You cannot help men
permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for
themselves.” Attributed to
Abraham Lincoln Actually written
by a minister, name unknown November 11, 2002 No Meeting in December January 13, 2003 February 10, 2003 March 10,2003 April 14, 2003 May 12, 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 “Government is not reason, it is not
eloquence, it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant
and a fearful master.” George Washington “Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed
to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions began at a
distinguished period, and pursued unalterably though every change of
ministers, too plainly proves a deliberate systematic plan to reduce us to
slavery.” Thomas Jefferson 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 5-03
Leases and other Documents
ALOC Officers
Thought for
the Month
Meeting Schedule
Keep this in mind when you vote!
PHONE 301-724-LEAD