Professional Publishing, Inc
April 2013 - Vol. 5 Issue 4
www.TheLandlordTimes.com
UTAH UTAH
SALT LAKE CITY • OGDEN • PROVO Official Publication of the
Utah's Leading Advocate for the Rental Housing Industry Ph: 888-244-0401 • www.uaahq.org
2013 Legislative Report
SALT LAKE CITY • OGDEN • PROVO
authorities to be more accommodating and less punitive to landlords, working with the Salt Lake Valley Health Department on meth contamination issues, and working with sewer and water districts on how they bill apartment units. Those three issues will be discussed in the May Landlord Times. While there were many issues we dealt with, our most significant accomplishment this year was lowering the time owners have to store the abandoned property of a tenant, from 30 days to 15. This was a bill that also provided some benefits to tenants (for more info read below HB 286). Another major bill we worked on was the property tax amendments
Utah’s 45-day legislative session, beginning the 4th Monday in January and ending the 2nd Thursday in March, is among the busiest times of year for the UAA. Staff, our government affairs committee and our lobbyists spend hundreds of hours reading proposed bills, researching how they will affect our industry, and lobbying for outcomes that are positive for our members and our industry. This year was no exception. We worked on many issues, some of which were offensive in nature (bills we were supporting) and others defensive (things we were trying to prevent). In addition, we worked on many issues that never resulted in a bill. Three of those included work to get housing
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Discrimination Rules Revamped, Increased Enforcement Likely L. Paul Smith, Executive Director Utah Apartment Association The Department of Housing and Urban Development recently announced revamped rules on antidiscrimination enforcement, including a clarification that will enforce disparate impact cases. Disparate impact cases are incidents where the policy of an apartment or firm or property manager are found to have a disproportionately negative effect on a protected class, even if that effect is not intentional. Three examples of policies that would have a disparate impact and create fair housing liability for owners/managers include: 1. Charging any additional deposit, fee or higher monthly rent to anyProfessional Publishing, Inc PO Box 30327 Portland, OR 97294-3327
one with a service/companion/ comfort or assistive animal. Even if the policy is not intended to be discriminatory, the new rule clarifies that if it had a negative effect on a protected class (by making it more expensive for someone who has a disability), the owner/manager will be liable and intention will not be considered relevant. Be sure not to charge higher rents, fees or deposits for any assistive animals if the person is disabled. 2. Any “best fit policy.” These are things where landlords look for someone who would best “fit” into the area, neighborhood or building. For instance, you might have a building that is mostly empty nesters and so you try to only put people in that building
Current Resident or
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Snohomish, WA
Permit #5
Troubleshooting Appliances By David Bowyer, Precision Appliances Appliances that work make a landlord’s life much easier. When they operate incorrectly, it can cause headaches, stress and expense. To limit all three, there are some simple troubleshooting techniques you can implement that will help you identify what’s wrong, if it is fixable, and the most cost effective way to deal with the problem. In this article I will cover solutions for refrigerators and stoves. In a future article I will cover other appliances. Oftentimes when you get a complaint about an appliance, you can resolve it quickly by following some of the following techniques and by asking the right questions to find the problem. Refrigerators Problem: Not Cold Enough /Too Cold Troubleshooting: Check that the controls are set in the middle of the dial as a starting point. Allow 24 hours for adjustments to work. Adjusting controls and waiting solves most problems. If complaint is not cold enough, do they have large family that may open the fridge a lot? Is the fridge in a hot kitchen or in
the sun? Is it a hot summer? Properly working appliances can sometimes seem not to be under these circumstances. Continued on page 4
IN THIS ISSUES: April Is Fair Housing Month ................... Page 4 National Apartment Association Government Affairs Issues ...... Page 5 Products & Services Guide .................... Page 6 UAA MEETINGS May 28th (Ogden) 7:00 PM May 29th (Orem) 7:00 PM May 30th (Salt Lake) 7:00 PM