STUDENT MEDIA AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 · VOL 46, ISSUE 19 · BADGERHERALD.COM
WHEN BADGERS MARCHED Veteran graduates of UW remember a time when campus was a landscape of students and WWII soldiers. by MARIGRACE CARNEY
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Housing market sees power shifts, changing demand Madison’s competetive student rental climate in combination with state legislation creates race for older homes in off-campus areas by Daniel McKay City Editor by Nina Kravinsky State Editor
As students look for housing in Madison, some officials say state legislation is giving landlords the upper hand in a competitive market where housing choices are becoming more complicated. High demand for aging houses As apartment developments continue to pop up around downtown Madison, the choice for student housing is increasingly coming down to either high rise apartment or 100-year-old houses. Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the increasing age of these downtown student houses comes with wear and tear and often not enough maintenance. Verveer said many of the
houses in neighborhoods like the Mifflin and Bassett areas were built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of these houses are reaching the end of their days, Verveer said. “I think soon they will be outliving their useful life, especially those that have taken years of beatings from students and others moving in and out on an annual basis,” Verveer said. “It’s kind of amazing that some of them are still in habitable condition.” Many of these old houses are already being replaced by new apartment complexes, Verveer said. However, he said these new apartments are not a bad thing. While older buildings do have certain “charms,” such as having a yard, living with a group of friends in a neighborhood setting and more freedom to have parties, some negatives exist too, such as lack
of maintenance and potential hazards. Verveer said most city buildings are only inspected once every seven or so years, so most of the maintenance responsibility falls to the landlords. “Except for the pressure of city building inspectors, a lot of landlords don’t have an incentive to invest in their 100-year-old properties,” he said. Part of the problem is that students sign leases for houses nearly a year in advance, which Verveer said can be attributed to a lack of housing and the historically low apartment vacancy rates in the downtown and campus areas. Considering the condition of some of the houses, Verveer said he is always surprised by the speed in which leases are signed and units are rented. “It is pretty crazy when you think about it, that these 100-year-old houses are being
leased up a year in advance by students to live in, so it is my hope that as vacancy rates climb up a couple percentage points that rents will stabilize,” Verveer said. State legislation shakes up tenant-landlord power dynamic Additionally, changes in landlord-tenant state laws over the past year have shifted the balance of power toward landlords in the City of Madison which Heidi Wegleitner, District 2 Supervisor and attorney at Legal Action Wisconsin, said is something students should be looking out for. The 2013 Wisconsin Act 76 that went into effect March 1, 2014 impacted the city’s ability to regulate landlordtenant law, Wegleitner said. Because of this legislation, a local government entity cannot require a landlord to communicate
GOP at its peak margin in 50 years Paralleling national trends, Wisconsin’s state Assembly, Senate grew more red in 2014 by Brenda McIntire Reporter
Following the Nov. 4 election and a widening of the GOP’s margin in both the state Senate and Assembly, Republicans will likely have minimal difficulty passing more conservative legislation in Wisconsin. Issues that got stymied in the state Senate in the past year will be brought to the forefront in the next legislative session, University of Wisconsin political science professor Barry Burden said. “Republicans in Wisconsin
are ready to go with a really ambitious agenda,” Burden said. “They will be moving fast after the new year to push some things through the Legislature.” The focus of the next legislative session will likely include expanding school voucher programs beyond Milwaukee to several other cities in Wisconsin, additional tax cuts, drug testing for people who are public assistants, expansion of the mine project in Northern Wisconsin and passing a more conservative budget, political science professor David Canon said.
The voter ID law will remain relevant in the coming session as well, Canon said. Republicans will do all they can to ensure that legislation requiring a government issued photo ID to vote will go into effect, he said. Even if the law is turned down by the courts, Canon said he is sure Republicans will come back and try to change the voter ID law to make it acceptable to the courts. Because the GOP had such a substantial gain in both chambers, agreement within the party will determine the efficiency with which the
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state Legislature runs, Canon said. “They have the votes to pass pretty much whatever they want to,” Canon said. “It just depends on whether or not there’s agreement within the Republican Party.” The substantial Republican victory in the midterm election does not come as a surprise however, both Canon and Burden said. Overall, Republicans have consistently done better in midterm elections, while Democrats have fared better in presidential elections, Canon said. Generally,
any information, unless it’s required by federal or state law and is required of all other residential real estate property owners. Wegleitner said.this lack of required disclosure can make things especially confusing in cases where students who are new to renting are not asking the appropriate questions when looking over their leases, she said. “Dane County had an ordinance that required landlords to tell a tenant why their application was being denied and/or why they were being non-renewed and give them a detailed explanation of what the problem was and if it was based on inaccurate
It’s National Peaunut Butter Lover’s Month We list some of the best options in Madison to celebrate this holiday, including Barrie’Burger at AJ Bombers and the Tofu Scramble at Mickie’s Dairy Bar. ARTSETC., PAGE 7
Campus GOP vote share increased this election Last week’s turnout showed a substantial surge in UW’s Republican support, up from both 2010 and 2012.
GOP, page 2
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or unlawful information,” she said. Vaguer language no longer requires landlords to involve the local government when towing cars on their property, and is no longer required to store a tenant’s belongings after they move out or are evicted, she said. “We had pretty stable, established landlord tenant law for decades, and since 2011, it’s been shaken up a lot,” Wegleitner said. “There have been a lot of changes and it has really caused confusion for landlords and tenants; I don’t know that it’s really accomplished the goals the authors of this legislation have been promoting.”
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