CT Real Estate Today April Edition

Helpful or Dangerous?

The run down on CT’s dangerous criminal justice proposals.

Landlords: Learn How to Maximize Your Tax Deductions On Pass Through Income.

April 2019

Published by:

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FEATURED ARTICLES Publisher’s Message: CTPOA President outlines the busy month of April, highlighting important upcoming events and reflecting on the alliances’ successes of March.

Realtor Report: One real estate professionals take on septic inspections and how she helps her clients save money and time.

News & Views from the Capitol: Connecticut's Dangerous Criminal Justice Reform Proposals: Helpful or Dangerous?

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Having Trouble Remembering Your Passwords? An expert programmer’s advice on remembering and safely storing your passwords.

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ATTENTION LANDLORDS: Certified CPA explains how to maximize the Section 199 deduction on your pass through income.

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PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE “Helping Property Owners Since 1994”

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ecently, CTPOA has

Bob De Cosmo began stepped up our events purchasing and managing schedule now that Winter rental real estate in 1982 is over and Spring has arand is a strong advocate for rived. There are several upcoming private property ownership events that might interest you and we encourage you to attend but also want right's in Connecticut.

Bob De Cosmo, President

have speakers discuss if Solar Energy is right for you and have contractors detailing replacement windows and what improvements provide the best bang for your buck to save you dollars.

to describe the events that we recently held.

On May 2nd, we will be in New Britain at the East Published by CTPOA Upcoming events include Wednesday Side Restaurant 131 Dwight April 10th when CTPOA will be in ST in New Britain at 5:30 Our goals; Torrington at Chatterley’s Restaurant with guest speaker Attorney Educate our members on “Best located at 371 Pinewoods Road begin- Ben Potok discussing what ning at 6:30. This event is the annual makes for a good lease and what rePractices” for maximum Equal Opportunity in Housing event quired clauses you might be missing in efficiency sponsored by the Litchfield County the one you use currently.

Increase profitability by lowering Association of Realtors and we’ve bee operating expenses via vendor an invited speaker for the past several Then on May 12th, we will be back in New Haven at a location to be andiscounts years. That evening we will discuss on nounced working with the steering Provide access to “Core Ser- how to use criminal records in tenant committee that’s establishing a propervices” needed to better manage screening and give an update and on ty owners associacurrent legislative proposals to make and maintain properties tion in that city. convicted felons a protected under New Haven landCT’s civil rights laws (bill #1099) and lords are the most also hiding criminal records from pub- beleaguered invesOur Team: lic view, (bill #691). tors in Connecticut Emily Pacileo On April 29th we will be in Waterbury subjected to high Carmine DeCosmo at Virdi’s Restaurant 660 Park Road property taxes and starting at 6:00pm for an Energy Expo other local ordidetailing cost effective energy efficien- nances that make cy upgrades you should make. We will owning rental prophave presenters explaining how to get erty difficult. We low cost low cost or free funds for im- expect to assemble a provements and also getting energy large amount of audits for your property. We will also units and begin to 4

.to meet with city agencies and staff to make business conditions better for the Elm City landlord community.

Looking over our last few events, we had a great turnout on March 21st at Verdi’s Restaurant. Michelle Molina of D’Amelia & Associates, contractor for the Connecticut’s Section-8 Program and Fran Ford with the Waterbury Healthy Homes Program talk about the impact of HUD’s new policy on children blood lead levels and what it means to you if you rent to Section-8 families.

The bottom line is take advantage of the free lead abatement money now available before you risk getting a child with an elevated blood lead living in your property.

One week later on March 27, we held a social event at Nuchie’s Restaurant in Bristol to kick-off our efforts to get a landlords association up and running again in that town. Working with Realtor Eryen LaLonde, she helped organized this event that featured State Rep Cara Pavalock providing a quick update on Bills that will definitely impact rental housing if owners stay silent and don’t get involved with efforts at the State Capitol. Then our guests heard an excellent presentation from Carlene Shannon of RMS Mortgage Services as she discussed funding for “Flips,” first time buyers and long term investments.

Most importantly, she illuminated several of the common pitfalls that investors commonly make and how to avoid them.

necticut. Mayor Stewart also talked about the failure of Connecticut’s PILOT Program to fully compensate cities for hosting so many nonprofit institutions within their borders and how that makes municipal budgeting extremely difficult and needs to be reformulated.

That evening we also heard from Caleb Cowles, past President of the CT Association of Code Enforcement Officials describing the impact from proposed Bill #7133 to property owners, cities and towns and renters if the Bill passes and the lowers the blood lead levels from 20 micrograms to 5 micrograms triggering abatement orders. There simply isn’t enough funds in place to deal with the massive amounts of the newly poisoned children by government edict despite the fact that no medical treatment is available to children at these low levels.

Landlords and Realtors must pay attention to what is being proposed in Hartford as some of these proposed Bills can wipe out years of hard work, your equity and profits overnight.

Then on April 4th, we were at the Belevedere Restaurant on Broard Street in New Britain sampling some great food thanks to Rutkowski Property Management. The night was capped off by a presentation from New Britain favorite Mayor, Erin Stewart. She talked about the realities of running a city in this current economic stagnation in Con5

Red Flags, Inspections and How to ''Think Outside the Box'' By: Suzie Larson, Broker/Educator/GRI/PSCS/GREEN/AHWD/SFR

Congratulations you are under contract! What's next?

you are dealing with an original system or not, or if any repairs or upgrades have been performed. Many Health First let me start with this from the National Association districts have their information available online. Sadly though many still do not, so you will have to physically of REALTORSÂŽ 2019 Code of Ethics Preamble ''In recognition and appreciation of their obligations to cli- go to their office. Either way, do your due diligence for your client and find out all that you can. I highly recoments, customers, the public, and each other, REALTORSÂŽ continuously strive to become and remain in- mend that you do this BEFORE your buyers spend formed on issues affecting real estate and, as knowledge- money on the rest of the home inspections. able professionals, they willingly share the fruit of their You'll want to book experience and study with others.'' the septic inspection the day before the Here are a few of the strategies I like to teach to home inspection with a new real estate agents, as well as new buyers. trusted septic inspection company. Many Once you and your buyers are under contract and asagents ask me this, suming the home is served by a septic system, the first thing you want to look at is the age of the system. Typi- ''Why wouldn't you make it the same time as the home inspection? '' The cally a well maintained septic system will last for many many years, however that is never a guarantee. The first short answer is this. If the septic inspection fails to provide a satisfactory opinion of the overall good health of thing I would suggest is to go to your local health dethe septic, or that although the septic system is functionpartment and ask them to pull the file on the home. ing as intended it is at the end of it's life expectancy, you will want to know this well before your buyers Hopefully this will give you an indication of whether 6

spend additional money on the home inspection, as well this cuts down on their financial losses. The worst case scenario is that, they say that the inspector says the system or it's components have failed completely. You'll want to have a conversation with the Seller's agent at that point and put the remaining home inspections on hold, and perhaps even extend the inspection contingency period all together.

The question should be "Can the Seller's repair or replace the septic system at their expense and prior to closing''? If the answer is ‘’yes’’, you also want to make sure you ask that they get the permit to discharge form their local health department. This is a way to guarantee that the Seller uses licensed and insured contractors and will be pulling a permit to do the work that is needed.

So the simplest explanation I can give you without overwhelming you with the technical aspects of why the disposals with a septic system are not a good idea are this: Septic systems are ecosystems, they are generally not designed to process or digest food that has not previously been digested by humans. Introducing raw or even cooked food waste from food preparation can have a detrimental effect on your septic system.

Water softeners are a great way to combat hard water problems however having them drain into the septic can cause erosion of the cement components and other damage. Backwashing softener regenerant to a septic system is specifically prohibited by the CT Public Health Code Technical Standards for Subsurface Sewage Disposal systems.

The permit to discharge shows that the health department has overseen the project and has ensured it was repaired/replaced properly. Some other questions you should also have the answers to, are whether or not the home has a water softening system, if it does, where it is discharging into and if the home has a garbage disposal. In closing I would just like to add that all this really comes down to is this: You should be thinking outside Garbage disposals: Does the home have one, is it of the normal way to do things, thinking objectively and hooked up and is the Seller using it or have they used it? protecting your clients best interests not only shows

Anita Visconti Branch Sales Manager Company NMLS ID# 71655

anita.visconti@norcom-usa.com www.anitavisconti.norcommortgage.com 7 F Garage Road, Southbury, CT 06488 This is not an offer to make a loan or to make a loan on any particular terms. All loan applicants must qualify under requirements and satisfy all contingencies of loan approval. Rates and terms subject to change without notice.

Suzie Larson

Broker /Owner 860-909-1162 suzie@tprealtyllc.com 7

Securely Storing Your Passwords: A Tech Expert’s Advice On Storing and Remembering Your Passwords By: Lukasz Pawlowski, Programmer Tenant

How to Store Your Passwords Securely?

In our last article we talked about how to create secure passwords – and we have come to the conclusion that longer passwords are generally safer. Today we will talk about the different methods of storing passwords; as some ways are better than other.

them. If you are writing important passwords down on paper be sure to store them somewhere safe and secure.

I recommend storing them in an envelope with a seal and keeping them out of the view of the public.

In A Browser Manager

Remembering Your Passwords

While this method is easy, and allows you to use your passwords on any device without remembering it, by This is an effective method – if you have a good doing such, you allow the password manager provider to memory and a small amount of passwords. But probhave access to your passwords – either Google (if you lems occur if you need to remember larger amount of are using Chrome) or Mozilla (if you are using Firefox). complex passwords, pins and other relevant inforSo the question is: how much do you trust your browser mation. Also – what will happen if you forget your passprovider with your most sensitive data? Although due to word? You will be facing a reminding procedure – which the simple, user-friendliness of this method many people is fast in most cases but in some can be problematic – use it. It may be a good option for less-sensitive data, like for bank account passwords. So it might be a good like passwords for hobby forums. method, but only in few cases, like master passwords.

Write It Down I usually do not recommend this method of storing passwords – especially, if they are stored in visible place – like on your desk, under your keyboard, stuck to your monitor. Any visitor is able to see it written on piece of paper. And there have even been cases where passwords that were posted to a monitor were visible for TV viewers during interviews!

Password Providers Some companies offer plugins for browsers – like 1Password, LastPass or KeeperFill – that are quite good and usually have more options than built-in browser password managers. Although, the issue with them is the same, as with the browser passwords manager – you have to trust a company with your passwords. Most of them have both free and paid options, so you can try those before buying an actual plan.

But there are at least two cases, when writing passwords Also, you can ask yourself if those password managers on papers can be a good idea: first, if you are writing it are secure. Even when you trust a company you should down for your family to use, simply to make it easier for probably ask your chosen password provider: what pro8

probably ask your chosen password provider: what procedures they have in place if they got hacked?

Store In A File But not in plaintext – definitely not – as there are many ways in which plaintext passwords can be compromised. There is again a matter of trust for code developers; but there are ways to check it. For example KeePass and KeePassX are Open Source software – which allows anybody to review source code to check if they are secure.

As per synchronization between multiple devices – you can just add your password file to any sync provider. The file is encrypted (with your chosen method: AES, Serpent, Blowfish etc.), so it’s secure, even if a cloud provider behaves maliciously or gets hacked.

But please be sure to remember your master password – without it you will be unable to access your encrypted passwords! Password file encryption in password managers are extremely serious and even brute force will be problematic due to usage of many rounds of encryption!

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Repurchase Inspections

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Insurance Certificates

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Day Care Licensing

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Demolition

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Pre-Renovation

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Child Lead Poisoning Investigations

Gilbertco Lead Inspections LLC. 287 Main Street Ansonia, CT 06401

Use 2FA! That’s not really next method of storing passwords, but additional layer of security. It’s just another way of proving, that you are actual password owner. Second factor authentication can get many forms: mobile text message, email confirmation or Authenticator application (like Google Authenticator).

2FA is an extra layer of se- Then, instead of immediately gaining access, they will be curity used to make sure that people trying to gain acrequired to provide another piece of information. cess to an online account are who they say they are.

First, a user will enter their username and a password.

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TAX TIPS

Maximizing The Section 199 Deduction On Your Pass Through Income By: Ted Lanzaro, Certified Public Accountant and Real Estate Investor specializing in expert tax strategy for real estate investors.

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escription : The Tax Is my rental income Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 creat“qualified business ed a new 20% tax deduction on qualified business income from partnerships, S income” subject to the Corporations and sole proprietorships subject to certain limitations.

20% deduction?

Why is it Important?

Yes, it is if your rental property qualifies as a The Section 199 tax deduction is important because it gives real estate investors a 20% tax deduction on the net rental income from their properties. It also gives business owners who run their business as either a partnership, S Corporation or sole proprietorship a 20% tax deduction on their qualified business income.

Certain professions not related to real estate are subject to limitations on this deduction but real estate investors involved in brokerage, rehabbing, wholesaling and leasing properties all can benefit from this deduction.

trade or business under IRS Section 162. In order to do that, the taxpayer should be engaged in regular and continuous activity related to the property – basically you manage the property. So, if you are an active investor or real estate professional actively managing a rental property you own, you get a 20% tax deduction on your net rental income.

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Example 1 Todd owns a rental property in an LLC. He actively manages the property and his net rental income is $10,000. Todd is entitled to a $2,000 Section 199 tax deduction.

Todd will only pay federal income tax on $8,000.

Example 2 Todd owns a rental property in an LLC. He actively manages the property and he has a net rental loss on the property of $2,000.

Todd is not entitled to any Section 199 deduction because he has no rental income.

This strategy really benefits owners of property that have profits over and above the depreciation deductions allowed to be taken on the property.

What are the limitations that the Section 199 deduction are subject to?

Taxpayers filing joint with income between $315,000 and $415,000 in 2018 The availability of this deduction runs through 2026 and the phase-out limitations are adjusted for inflation annually.

There are income limitations that the Section 199 tax deduction is subject to. The deduction phases out for: Taxpayers filing single with income between $157,500 and $207,500 in 2018 11

If I am a landlord who Example #4 the same facts as example #3 except also flips properties or Assume that Todd has paid himself a salary of $20,000.

Todd’s qualified business income is now only has another pass$80,000 and he gets the 20% deduction ($16,000) on only that portion. Todd ends up through business, does paying tax on $84,000 of that income ($20,000 salary plus $64,000 of pass-through income). the Section 199 tax deduction apply to that in- What are the tax plancome? ning implications of the The answer is yes, subject to certain rules and limitations. If your business is run as a partner- Section 199 ship, S Corporation or sole proprietorship, you Deduction are eligible to get the 20% Section 199 tax deduction on your qualified business income. rules?

Example #3 The tax planning imIn addition to his rental properties, Todd has a business where he buys, renovates and sells properties. Todd’s business is run as an S Corporation. In 2018, Todd flipped 3 houses and made $100,000 of net income. Todd gets a 20% tax deduction ($20,000) and only pays federal income tax on $80,000 of those earnings.

plication of the new rules are immense.

The rules are complicated and each taxpayer’s individual situation must be reviewed and strategies tailored to maximize the Section 199 tax deduction. There are numerous considerations to take into account such as:

 Am I better off running my business as a

However, there are rules to calculate qualified single member LLC (sole proprietorship) or business income. Todd’s salary from the S Coras an S Corporation? poration that he is required to take under the S Corporation rules is exempt from the calcula Which is more advantageous – avoiding selftion of qualified business income. employment tax or getting the maximum Section 199 deduction?

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 If I am running my business as an S Corporation, how much salary should I take?

 If I am running my business as a partnership, should my partners and I take guaranteed payments (also exempt from the calculation of business income)?

Tax $mart Tip #25

 If I am above the income limitations and being subject to phase-out of my deduction, should I take steps to reduce my business income using tax planning?

There are many considerations here and this is where proactive tax planning prior to year-end becomes extremely valuable.

If you have net rental income from your properties or you run a business with a pass-through entity or both, you definitely should be doing tax planning prior to year-end to maximize your ability to take the Section 199 tax

deduction.

A special thank you to our participating Real Estate Boards for circulating CT Real Estate Today to their members.

Ted Lanzaro is a Certified Public Accountant and real estate investor specializing in expert tax strategy for real estate investors.

We appreciate your support.

Call: 203-922-1742 Email: ted@lanzarocpa.com Visit: LanzaroCPA.com

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What’s Happening Near You? The Statewide Events and Meetings calendar is a resource for local landlords and property owners to meet up, network and grow your real estate opportunities.

Get Involved, Stay Informed.

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April 2019 Sun

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Mon

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Fri

Sat

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Greater Enfield Landlords Association

Greater New Britain Property Owners Alliance

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Central CT REI Meetup/SoCT REIA

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CT REIA

17 Greater Bridgeport Property Owners Association

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24 Fairfield County Real Estate Investor Meet-Up

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Greater New Haven Property Owners Association Greater Waterbury

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EVENTS ď Ľ METTINGS ď Ľ SOCIAL

Greater

Greater New Britain Property Owners Alliance

Greater New Haven Property Owners Association

Next Meeting :

Next Meeting :

Next Meeting :

April 4, 2019

April 29 , 2019

April 17, 2019

Time: 5:00pm

Time: 6:30pm

Time: 6:00PM

Where: Belvedere Cafe and Restaurant

Where: City Hall, New Haven

Bridgeport Property Owners Association

Where: 61 Hurd Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604

President: Doug Lotsy

82 Broad St, New Britain, Con- About Us: necticut 06053 President: Richard Deparle The Greater New Haven PropPresident: Frank Maccarone Contact # 203-333-4103 erty Owners Association is an Contact # 860-827-1100 association of landlords, real About Us: estate investors and property The Greater Bridgeport Property About Us: managers doing business or Owners Association (GBPOA) is a The Greater New Britain Prop- interested in doing business coalition of responsible owners erty Owners Alliance is comwithin New Haven County, CT. who have united to create fair prised of Realtors, landlords, and effective housing laws and investors and property manag- Our monthly meetings usually promote safe, clean, affordable ers in the greater New Britain. consist of a guest speaker talkhousing. ing about topics relevant to Our monthly meetings usually our membership.

We distribute information inconsist of a guest speaker talktended to educate and inform property owners about evictions, ing about topics relevant to lead issues, laws and legislation, our membership. municipal policies, leases, rental paperwork, loans, grants and tax issues.

The GBPOA creates a forum for property owners to network with each other. The GBPOA membership gives this association a voice with businesses, contractors, the City of Bridgeport and the surrounding communities and the Connecticut State Legislature.

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Fairfield County Real Central CT REI Estate Investor Meetup/SoCT REIA Meet-Up

Greater Enfield Landlords Association

Next Meeting:

Next Meeting:

Next Meeting:

April 11,2019

April 3, 2019

April 24 , 2019

Cost: Free Members

Topic: Networking

Time: 7:00PM

$25.00 / Non Members

Time: 7:00pm

Topic: Learn How to Own and Operate Residential Assisted Living Houses.

Where: Enfield Town Hall

Where: Grace O’Malley’s 1494 Post Road, Fairfield CT Manager: Travis Prezioai

820 Enfield ST

Manager: Deirdre Virvo President: Joe Mollica

About Us: Real Estate Investors of all types get together to share best practices, build relationships, develop mutual resources, and to stay active in the general Connecticut Real Estate Investment community.

There are no formal presentations, though everyone has a chance to introduce themselves to the rest of the group! From fix n' flippers to largescale property owners, part-time investors, and those just getting started.

About Us: Contact # 860-916-1259 Central CT REI meetup is part of SoCT REIA for Real Estate Investors, new About Us: and seasoned, looking to meet likeOur members still are primarily small minded individuals. property owners while others of us Education, Networking & Empowerhave expanded into apartment comment is the goal of SoCT REIA. We plexes and commercial establishwelcome investors of all levels and ments. backgrounds as well as contractors, We have banded together for the real estate attorneys, inspectors, landlords, private money lenders, in- common good, to maintain and presurance brokers, and anyone associat- serve affordable housing, and to promote safe, clean, and decent housing ed with the Real Estate investing inwhile striving to see that our housing dustry! laws also remain fair and equitable to landlord and tenant alike.

Our organization disseminates information that helps to educate landlords. We regularly host guest speakers who present timely information on landlord-related topics. We also keep our membership informed through the distribution of occasional notices, emails or information packets.

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EVENTS  METTINGS  SOCIAL

Norwich

CT REIA

Property Owner’s Association

Next Meeting:

Next Meeting:

April 15, 2019 Topic: Private Lending Made Easy with Alan Cowgill

Next Meeting :

Time: 6:00pm

Topic: TBA

April 4, 2019 Topic: Networking Where: CTREIA Training Center415 Time: 7:00

Greater Waterbury Property Owners Association

Silas Deane Highway Suite 304A Wethersfield, CT 06109

March 29, 2019

Time: 5:30pm-8:30pm Where: Verdi’s 660 Park Rd, Waterbury, CT 06708

About Us:

Where: Dime Savings Bank About Us:

The Greater Waterbury Property Owners Association (GWPOA) is CTREIA was created to serve Connecticut real estate investors a coalition of responsible owners President: Sophie Norblick who have united to create fair and rehabbers with high quality networking, education and hands and effective housing laws and Contact # 860-889-2058 -on learning opportunities as well promote safe, clean, affordable as top grade vendors to do busi- housing.

About Us: ness together with. We strive to The GWPOA creates opportuniThe Norwich Property Owners listen to the needs of our memties for property owners to netAssociation (N.P.O.A.) is a coali- bers and bring solutions to every work with each other. The assocition of responsible Norwich Prop- meeting along with great oppor- ation acts as a voice with busierty Owners who have united to tunities to network, sell propernesses, contractors, the City of create fair and effective housing ties, and do business amongst Waterbury and the surrounding laws and promote safe, clean, each other. communities and the Connecticut affordable housing.

State Legislature.

820 Enfield ST

NPOA distributes information intended to educate and inform property owners about evictions, lead issues, laws and legislation, municipal policies, leases, rental paperwork, loans, grants and tax issues. NPOA creates a forum for Property Owners to network with each other.

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Connecticut's Dangerous Criminal Justice Reform Proposals: Helpful or Dangerous?

By: Bob DeCosmo, Connecticut Property Owners President

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onnecticut could become a very dangerous place to live if certain criminal justice reform legislation passes this year’s General Assembly session. In what some would say is an “Unprecedented assault on the Public’s Health, Safety and Welfare,” members of the Progressive Democratic caucus have introduced several Bills ranging from extending full civil rights protections to felons (Bill # 1099) to automatically erasing criminal histories in a very short timeframe (Bill #691) .

While just about everyone agrees that second chance opportunities are what a civil society should provide, it does not extend these opportunities without careful considerations to the risks associated to the public. The reform proposals currently under discussion in Hartford seem to ignore weighing the public risks and make a leap of faith and conclude that all criminals are rehabilitated the moment they complete their prison sentence or their parole ends!

In fact Bill # 1099, An Act Concerning Discrimination based Upon A Person’s Criminal Record that literally will give convicts a right to sue anyone they feel like it if they get denied, housing, financing, employment, accommodations, transportation or any other category that the Civil Rights Act protects.

When discussing this Bill with a number of Housing

Providers and Realtors at an event in Bristol on March 27th, most just looked astonished and in disbelief that a proposal containing this content was ever proposed, let alone granted a public hearing! They all agree the likelihood of an increased number of frivolous discrimination claims and lawsuits they would now have to defend at the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities for denying a rental applicant will swell; some Realtors said they would no longer perform apartment rentals as part of their business because the risk is just too great.

While the chances of a business owner or landlord getting sued by a prospective renter or employee with a criminal background will sky-rocket under Bill#1099, the public faces injury or even death under another proposal. Bill #691, An Act Concerning Automatic Erasure of Criminal Records basically says, 3-years after sentence completion for misdemeanor crimes and 5years for felonies, all public evidence of any criminal act shall disappear.

Hardened career criminals will now be able to walk into just about any situation and pretend as-if nothing bad happed in their past. We must ask will bank robbers now get to work in banks. Will larcenists become home visiting nurses? Does an arsonist get to rent a new luxury apartment? The concern here is some crimes just can’t be ignored and the safety of our children and the 20

most vulnerable members of our society must be protected at all times. I believe both these proposals needs to be rejected due to the risk and costs they create for the public.

In April of 2016, HUD issued guidance on how to use criminal records for screening rental applicants. It will serve our state well if we follow what HUD has suggested and end this assault on the public’s safety. These Bills are both alive and moving forward at the Capitol and we suggest that you contact your local representative and tell them you oppose these concepts unless they are modified and the public is better protected.

In December of 2018, I announced my retirement from property owner advocacy at the Legislature after 22 years of efforts in Hartford. The time had come to pass the torch and I had found a competent replacement to take over and stay the course. Retirement lasted a few weeks because in January my radar screen lit up with inbound missiles being fired at the real estate and housing industry like it was the start of World War III….forget staying the course, somebody started a war!

Proposal after proposal was filed at this year’s Legislature attacking property owners with higher taxes, more regulations, criminals right’s, strict lead paint liability, code enforcement, service pets, even making owners remove their tenant’s satellite dishes and just about anything else to wipe out the private rental housing industry. For those so inclined, you can also debate more taxes, tolls, legalizing pot and gambling if you wanted to join into that fray!

and housing industry from every which way imaginable and I really need to ask that you help out and pay attention to our social media pages and send an email when requested, or make a call and yes, please send in a much needed donation, much is at-stake right now.t I write the following article with bias, I am not pretending to be a neutral reporter as a former business associate was killed at the hands of a tenant who was a career criminal with over 20 convictions and was free to roam the streets until he committed his last criminal act, murder.

So please, if you have loved ones that you care about, simply call the Judiciary Committee Clerk at (860) 240‑0530 before Friday April 12 and request they convey a message to all the Committee members to “VOTE Yes, it seems like it’s an all-out assault on the real estate NO” to both of the following Bills discussed next.

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P

MEET PAUL JENNEY

aul Jenney has been involved in the housing industry since his father, the late Paul E. Jenney bought his first apartment building in 1973 in Springfield, MA. As the years went by, Paul E. Jenney accumulate nearly 200 rentals and boatload of headaches.

In 1982, Paul had the great idea to start a tenant non payment list from data gathered at the local housing court, and with the encouragement of his attorney and members of the Rental Housing Association of Greater Springfield and the Massachusetts Renal Housing Association (of which he was the founder), Landlord Reports Computer Service was born to supply data legally.

the Inner City Drug Task Force by then EOCD Director Amy Anthony and while doing a lot of research on the crime problem in housing, it was clear that the Mass Criminal History Systems Board would not release their hold. An aide to Governor Dukakis opined that arrests were public information. Armed with several loads of statutes, the company now known as InfoCenter became the leading repository for criminal records for MA both with local landlords and throughout the country from the National Association of Screening Agencies.

Getting the police to cooperate and release records on a regular basis was a task in of itself and many disliked the process leading to a number of lawsuits and finally Paul and the company field suit against the Paul came to work with his dad around 1987, while at- CHSB on behalf of a number of public housing authorities. The lawsuit was settled at the request of the Comtending school at the University of Massachusetts and monwealth after a planned press conference, and for a got put to work growing the business, both from data supply side as well as managing compliance with the Fair number of years was the only private source of criminal Credit Reporting Act, and later thru their pioneering the records in the United States. Paul's attorney later wrote use of arrest records in screening. Paul was asked to join an article about him entitled "Growth by Litigation."

WINDOW REPAIR SERVICES 

Replace broken or fogged up glass.

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Upgrade your windows to Low-E/ Argon glass packages.

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Repair broken screen latches or pins.

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Repair ripped or torn screens.

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Repair or replace broken balances and balance shoes.

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Repair or replace broken or missing tilt latches and pivot pins.

Rather than spend thousands for new windows, we can often fix existing windows to function properly.

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In 2004, Paul E. Jenney passed (and the MRHA created a lifetime achievement award in his name) and the process to sell InfoCenter was undertaken at the request of his mother. It was sold to First Advantage Saferent (nasdaq FADV, now CoreLogic Saferent) in December 2005 and Paul spent several years as Vice President of Northeast Operations and the integration of the two companies. In the first year after the sale, business continued at 106 percent which showed the success of that endeavor.

InfoCenter won a "Small Business of the Year" award by the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce. Over the years, Paul has sat on the board of the Rental Housing Association of Greater Springfield (where we passed an initiative petition to remove rent control from Massachusetts), the Connecticut Property Owners Association, the Massachusetts Rental Housing Association, the National Association of Screening Agencies, the Agawam Fair Housing Committee, the Agawam Chamber of Commerce, and is currently appointed to the Agawam Housing Committee dealing with the lack of affordable housing in town. He has spoken to dozens of landlord groups in New England and even at several conferences on fair housing, the fair credit reporting act, and privacy.

Paul has been with TenantTracks for a number of years, pushing the idea of best in class data as well as locating new sources of information and working with vendors to adjust our product mix. He handles the myriad of compliance issues that come before the company and tracks nationwide legislation and trends that affect our members.

Most recently we have been advocating a thorough review of our clients screening policies given the push from HUD and various state legislators to give second chances to offenders. Being on top of these trends is important to prevent unwarranted fair housing complaints.

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