U TAH UTAH
SALT LAKE CITY • OGDEN • PROVO
Professional Publishing, Inc
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION
www.TheLandlordTimes.com
OF THE
February 2013
UTAH APARTMENT ASSOCIATION
Vol. 5 Issue 2
SALT LAKE CITY • OGDEN • PROVO
MONTHLY CIRCULATION TO MORE THAN 6,000 UTAH APARTMENT OWNERS, PROPERTY MANAGERS, ON-SITE & MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL
Key Issues under Consideration on Capitol Hill
doned items, tenants currently have no rights to get them back until they pay moving and storage costs. This bill allows tenants to reclaim certain property without paying those costs, including medical equipment (for example, wheelchairs and oxygen tanks), prescriptions, identification and personal documents. It also allows tenants to reclaim certain clothing, such as children’s clothes. This must be done within five court days of when the landlord takes possession of the property. If passed, this bill would also reduce from thirty days the time a landlord must store property down to fifteen days, with a few exceptions. Thirty days would still be required for tenants involved in domestic violence, Continued on page 5
L. Paul Smith UAA Executive Director The 2013 Utah legislative session is in progress. This year the legislature is considering several issues that dramatically affect our industry. The UAA Government Affairs staff has been hard at work advocating for and protecting our industry. One of the issues currently in front of the legislature is HB286, sponsored by Rep. Gage Froerer (R-Huntsville), Disposition of Personal Property on Vacated Property. This bill adds protection for certain tenants and decreases holding times for abandoned property. Currently state law requires landlords store any abandoned property for thirty days, and once the landlord takes possession of aban-
Redi Carpet 2012 UAA Supplier of the Year
2013 Day at the Hill a Success
Every year the Utah Apartment Association hosts a luncheon for members to discuss the key legislative issues coming up in the legislative session for that year. This year’s Day at the Hill event on February 11th, was our best attended and included discussions of four House bills and two Senate bills. Several legislative leaders spoke with us including Senate president Wayne Neiderhauser, (R) Sandy, Representative Gage Froerer, (R), Huntsville and Representative Rebecca Chavez-Houck (D), Salt Lake City. President Neiderhauser discussed how leaders have 45 days to make very important decisions and can’t do it on their own. They need our help. As an association and as individual constituents, legislators will rely on us to explain the effects bills they consider will have on our lives and business. Representative Froerer discussed a couple of bills he was running that Professional Publishing, Inc PO Box 30327 Portland, OR 97294-3327
will help our industry and make things easier for county assessors who bill us taxes, and for tenants who leave behind abandoned property. The changes will be fair and a win/win for everyone. Representative Chavez-Houck threw out several important numbers to consider – 30,000, 1,400, 500 and 1. 30,000 is the number of Utahans each representative has in their district. 1,400 is the number of bills filed during the 45 day session, some hundreds of pages long, that legislators are expected to considered. 500 is the approximate number Continued on page 4 Page 5
2013 TOP PRIORITIES
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Redi Carpet began as a single store in the Houston, Texas suburb of Stafford in 1981, and is now the largest multi-family flooring contractor in the country. Currently, there are seventeen Redi Carpet locations throughout the nation. Our eighteenth location will be in Richmond, VA and will open for business this spring. Redi Carpet is affiliated with the MultiFamily Solutions network, a FloorExpo organization consisting of the top multi-family contractors throughout the country. The network was created to allow companies to better serve large customers that have properties outside their service areas. Redi Carpet was founded on the concept of offering “next day installation”, and that service has helped set it apart in the industry. Redi Carpet’s success is a result of working by the four commandments that all employees must adhere to. Customer Obsessive “We go out of our way to take care of our customers, and no one [at Redi Carpet] needs to be afraid to make a decision” says Greg Waleke, Redi Carpet CEO.
Self-Disciplined “We work hard because we want to, not because we have to.” Nice “We’re nice to each other, our customers and our vendors. Screaming and shouting are not tolerated.” Waleke says employees have been terminated for that kind of behavior. Keep All Branches Clean “Keep the workplace clean. It’s a reflection of who we are and it provides a good work environment.” Redi Carpet’s services include Next Day Installation of quality flooring materials including carpet, vinyl, luxury vinyl tile, hardwood, and tile. Their large in-stock product assortment, quality installation crews, and outstanding customer service qualify Redi Carpet to assist you for your flooring needs. Redi Carpet has a number of online services, such as electronic ordering and invoicing. One of the most interesting and widely used applications is a prorate calculator to help customers recover the cost of floors damaged by tenants. A property manager can automatically print a bill for a tenant by entering information such as the cost of the carpet, when it was installed, and how long the tenant has been in the apartment. Continued on page 3