Rental Housing Journal Utah
January 2014 - Vol. 5 Issue 12
2. Ask The Director: Radon Gas 3. Warning! Scam Targets Utah Rental Businesses 4. Executive Director's Report: Protecting your Customers from Identity Theft
UPCOMING EVENTS: February General Membership Meetings "Getting tenants to love you and stay longer, review of Fit Premises Act and upgrading and maintaining your properties"
5. President's Message: Government Affairs: Primary Function of the UAA 6. Products & Services Guide
25th Ogden 26th Orem 27th Salt Lake All meetings 7 pm. for addresses go to www.uaageneralmembershipmeetings.com
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Five Reasons You might Want to Deny a Tenant by Paul Smith
F
irst off, it is illegal to deny people for certain reasons. This is called Fair Housing Law. There are 10 “protected classes”. What that means is you cannot treat differently or deny someone solely on the basis of their being in a protected class. So let’s review those: Federal
Utah State
Local (Municipal)
Race
Source of Income
Sexual Preference
Color
Gender Identity
Religion Sex National Origin Disability Familial Status
The first 7 are federal law. The next is state law. Those carry $10,000 fines and civil liability. The last two are municipal and many Utah cities (but not all) have them. They also carry a fine. So don’t deny anyone solely for any of those reasons. However, as a landlord, knowing who to deny (because they would be risky renters) is an important skill to master. To help you, here are a list of reasons that you might consider not renting to someone because they might be a serious risk. It is legal to deny people for these reasons. 1 – Serious criminal history. We aren’t talking about jaywalking or minor infractions. We are talking Continued on page 3
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Utah Apartment Association Celebrating 80th Anniversary L. Paul smith UAA Executive Director
D
uring 2014 the Utah Apartment Association will be celebrating our 80th year serving the rental housing industry in Utah. The apartment association was formed in 1934 in the midst of the Great Depression to help landlords deal with the challenges caused by an unstable and fluctuating market and to protect the industry from increasing regulation and interference. Within a year of the founding of the association the first federal housing regulations were establish and the associa-
tion helped educate members how to deal with the new rules. In the late 30’s and early 40’s,
counties and cities were rapidly increasing taxes and the association fought to ensure landlords did not bear a disproportionate share of the increases. For the past 80 years the association has fought to protect the industry and served to educate owners and managers and promote best practices. Over the coming year we will celebrate the UAA by sharing more of our history, accomplishments, challenges and highlight some of the great people who have led and joined together to make us what we are today.
UTAH
Utah Based AMC Ranked 11th Largest Management Company in US
A
Utah based property management company, AMC, has been listed as the 11th largest property management company in the US in the 2013 National MultiHousing Council’s annual Top 50 largest management companies report. As of January 1, 2013, AMC had 64,246 units nationwide and grew
7% from the previous year’s unit count of 59,856. AMC has approximately 15,000 units in Utah and about 70 apartment communities. In 2013 they operated in 14 states, mostly in the West. According to financial information posted on the company’s website, rent growth in their Salt Lake County portfolio was 5.5% in 2012, more
than double the market average of 2.4%. Although the 2014 rankings are not yet out, AMC has experienced growth in 2013 and may move up even higher in the ranking. Congratulations AMC and way to represent Utah!
Editor’s Note: In the December Rental Housing Journal we ran a one sided article written by a plaintiff’s attorney about a lawsuit against a Utah Property Management company. Only one side of a multistep and complicated legal proceeding was presented. As a publication for the owners and managers of rental housing, we can do better than that and will in the future ensure we do not publish articles that are one-sided and incomplete or are written entirely by adversarial interests.
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