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Bills and Laws
An idea for
a law can come from anyone - an individual, consumer group,
professional association, government agency, a legislator, or the
Governor.
A
bill, the most common type of measure, is a proposal for a law.
The path of a bill, from the time it's an idea to the time it arrives
at the Governor's desk for approval, may follow a path with many
detours. A bill may be introduced in either the Senate or
the House with the exception of revenue bills which must originate in
the House. The following is an example of how an idea becomes law.
Steps
of How an Idea Becomes Law
This
example uses the House of Representative as the Bill's chamber of
origin.
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Are You
Confused By Requests For Service, Emotional Support And Assistance
Animals?
The FHA
prohibits discrimination based on disability and requires housing
providers to make reasonable accommodations for people with
disabilities.
You
probably know that you would need to grant this request. But what if
the prospect requested an emotional support bird in addition to a
service dog? What if she gave you an online “certification” for the
emotional support bird? What if the requested service dog was a
restricted breed in your county?
Accommodation
requests related to assistance animals are prevalent, yet they cause
much confusion. This is understandable – multiple laws apply and use
different terms and definitions, there are many kinds of assistance
animals that help people with many types of disabilities (some of
which are not obvious), and online sites have surfaced offering
questionable documentation.
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Property
Managers Challenged By Tenants Thin, Limited Credit History
Property
managers have a lot of balls in the air and many problems to deal
with, but potential renters with thin, limited credit history is one
of the bigger issues.
In a survey
across all geographic areas of the country conducted by MMR Research
Associates, Inc. earlier this year on behalf of Equifax, the company
received feedback from nearly 200 nationally-based landlords and
property managers of varying size apartments.
Respondents
were asked about the pain points they experience in areas such as
screening processes and online payments and how they rank them on
level of importance.
According
to the results, most managers expressed a range of issues with tenant
screening that seem to cause the most grief. These included verifying
income and employment, uncommitted potential tenants, thin credit
history files, prior landlord verifications, unclear credit.
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Portland
will require all landlords to register their apartments -- by late
2020
By Betsy
Hammond
The
Portland City Council unanimously enacted new rules this week to require landlords to register the
addresses of all rental units in the city each year.
The
idea, city officials said, is to create an accurate citywide census
of apartments and homes for rent and also make it easy to send
communications to all renters and landlords. Landlords will submit
the addresses along with their yearly city business tax filings.
That
will require an estimated 10,000 or more landlords who haven't been
required to file business taxes, because they gross less than $50,000
a year from their rentals, to begin filing.
The
rules requiring landlords to submit the addresses of all their units
kicks in for tax year 2018, meaning the vast majority of owners would
need to send theirs in by April 15, 2019. But they can automatically
get a six-month extension, officials said.
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Safety Tips For Landlords
Violence
against landlords and property managers
appear in
the news with some frequency. Thinking ahead
and having
specific plans to address your safety will go
a long way
toward making sure you don’t become the
headlines
for tomorrow’s news story.
1. Write
down and follow screening guidelines.
Always checking
credit reports, pulling criminal
reports and
verifying references will help weed
out problem
tenants. Always make a copy of the
applicants’
identification. Communicating your
requirements
to prospective tenants will start the
process off
on the right foot.
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more
.
Simple
Ways to Make Tenants Feel at Home
The
landlord-tenant relationship is critical to successful property
management, and like any relationship, a good one requires care to
foster mutual respect.
You
want a tenant who is respectful of amenities and responsible with
up-keeping tasks—changing the air filter, maintaining a pest-free
living space, or making sure the water is running in winter. And a
tenant wants to feel that you are invested in both them and the
property. A tenant who feels that you are ready to meet their needs
is more likely to reciprocate your attentiveness by being thoughtful
in their dealings with you and your property.
A
good relationship means both parties have a vested interest in each
other’s success. For the landlord, this means that a tenant is less
likely to ignore a payment, fail to maintain the property, and is
more willing to come forward in as soon as possible to warn about
emergent circumstances.
So,
what are ways that you can foster that relationship so that your
tenants feel valued?
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Education in Property
Management
