ALOC NEWS
| September 4 , 2000 | Associated
Landlords of the Cumberland Area ALOC Phone (301) 759-0530 P.O. Box 1867 |
Vol. 6, Issue 9 |
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City of Cumberland Committees The new Mayor and Council are busy setting up new committees to look at various processes within the City of Cumberland. ALOC President Jeff Hutter was asked to join two committees. Jeff now attends regular monthly meetings of the Blighted Properties Committee that is working hard to clear up the many rundown properties in Cumberland. Nearlyall of these are owner occupied homes, which reflects well on the rental business. The second committee, made up ofvarious contractors, architects, labor officials, lawyers and other individuals is charged with examining the Building Pennit process as well as the Housing Code. This diverse group will have its hands full as there are some diametrically opposed people on the committee. Unofficially on the Housing Code there is a move afoot to change the inspection from the present requirement of inspection at turnover to a random inspection scheme. This new idea would involve a random selection of various Landlords around the City who would be subject to inspection. There would be advance notice given and this may be a workable plan. We will keep you posted. HUD Changes We
have been relaying you infonnation regarding changes We expect to find out more details in the next month or so. September Meeting As mentioned in our last newsletter an instruction sheet regarding evictions has being prepared that will walk the landlord through the failure to pay rent process. Sample forms will be included so that even the novice will be able to navigate through this often-confusing process. We plan to discuss this process in depth at the September Meeting. |
Maryland Business for Responsive Government The MBRG has recently released its l5th Annual Report on how our Legislators voted on bills important to business and jobs. While this report concentrates more on the activities of the Maryland House and Senate it does give us some information on our US Senators and Representatives. We'll look at the Feds first. It should come as no surprise that Senators Mikulski and Sarbanes had Composite Business Ratings (CBR) of23 and 12 respectively. These two people are very responsible for ensuring that Maryland and the US in general has a poor history of supporting small business and business in general. Fortunately Congressman Roscoe Bartlett has CBR of91. Maryland's CBR averages 36 % because of the actions of the liberal Senators and Congressmen. This places Maryland at number 40, which is way below neighboring states ofVirginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Now you know why Maryland has a hard time attracting business! On
the State side John Rafer from the Senate has a 55 % rating
and Delegate George Edwards has 57 %. Surprisingly Delegate
Kevin Kelly has the highest rating of 60 % with Speaker Taylor
being nearly rock bottom at 25 %. If we These ratings are detennined based on their voting records for eleven business related bills that were voted on in the 2000 session. On the Senate side the bills included Health Care for Marylanders, Late Fees, Telephone Solicitation and Regulation, Prevailing Wage for School Construction. Maryland Comparative Negligence Act, HMO Contracts, Research and Development Tax Credits, Inheritance Tax Repeal and Health Care Malpractice. On the House side all of the above bills were included as well as others covering Punitive Damages for High Risk Drivers, Limitations on Awards fro Noneconomic Damages, Income Tax Credits for Critical Skills Training, Banking Institutions Basic Banking Accounts, Agriculture Interim Protection Act and Dredge Spoil Dumping. Please
note that this is not indicative of the entire voting record
of any of these officials and this is a very |
Maryland Property
Owners Notes
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Security Deposits A group of Real Estate Executives has acquired and is expanding a Security Deposit replacement program. SureDeposit is the first and strongest replacement for conventional security deposits with over $ 12 million in surety bonds in place. The surety bond guarantees protection of the property and enhances risk management to property owners. Residents pay a one-time premium to SureDeposit when they sign their new lease, which covers the lifetime of their tenancy. The program is national allowing portability. If any damages or lease violations occur, owners file a claim with SureDeposit and are reimbursed promptly. F or members wanting more information you can calll-877-531-SURE (7873) or visit their website at www.suredeposit.com. HUD Changes For those HUD landlords wanting in depth infomlation about all of the new Federal Lead- Based Paint Hazards, you can download the ful148 page text from the HUD website www.hud.gov/lea/leahome.html. If you do not have Internet access you can order the document from the Property Owners Association of Greater Baltimore, Inc. at 222 St. Paul Street, Suite 502, Baltimore, MD 21202. The cost is $ 5.00 to cover postage, copying and handling. Please keep in mind that the Section 8 Certificate and Voucher Programs have been merged and information was recently mailed to most HUD Landlords and tenants. If you did not get any information call Billie Hanft at 301- 759-6454. |
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Leases and other Documents The Leases and other forms have been upgraded to reflect Law changes made in recent years and are available now.ALOC has
available leases, rental applications and tenant checklists
for sale, at cost, to members. The cost for each item is as
follows: These forms are kept at Jeff Hutter's office, TWR Comm. at 117-119 Valley 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. |
ALOC
Officers
J. Jeffrey Hutter President Rose
Selby Vice President J. Jeffrey Hutter Treasurer Board of Directors Henry
Holzshu |
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Thought for the Month "All
that is necessary for evil to triumph is that Edmund Burke |
