Rental Housing Journal Utah
August 2015 - Vol. 7 Issue 8
4. Board Chair’s Message
UPCOMING EVENTS
General Membership Meetings All meetings 7PM - for addresses go to www.uaageneralmembershipmeetings.com
7. Ask the Attorney Director’s Message
Upcoming Events Economic Forecast......................... Sept. 15th UAA Legal Cruise ............................ Nov. 28th Tribute Awards .................................Sept. 24th
Ogden .................................................Sept. 22nd Orem ....................................................Sept. 23rd Salt Lake City...................................Sept. 24th
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Background Checks Essential for Your Success
Reverse Tradeshow A Success
By L. Paul Smith, CAE Executive Director, Utah Apartment Association
Conducting background Checks The UAA recommends every landlord do what we call a “Five Finger” background check on all applicants. The Five Fingers are: • Credit • Criminal • Financial (Income, employment and overall stability) • Current Landlord • Previous Landlord Verifying all five areas reduces risk significantly. It is easy for an applicant to lie or misrepresent in one or two areas but checking five aspects of their history makes it much less likely they will succeed in hiding bad history or serious concerns from you.
Goals of Tenant Screening The purpose of tenant screening is to determine if a tenant is a reasonable risk. The four things landlords should look for are tenants who will: • Pay on time • Not commit crime • Not bother the neighbors • Won’t damage the property
S
alt Lake City – On Tuesday August 18th the UAA held a record breaking reverse trade show that raised $12,411 for the UAA PAC. “This was a record breaking year,” said Kirk Cullimore Jr. “Our goal for the PAC this year is $100,000 by year end so this money goes a long way towards our 2015 goal.
The reverse trade show is a forum where company owners and executives volunteer two hours and sit behind a table. Suppliers and service providers, buy tickets to the event and get undivided attention of decision makers for 5 minute increments. “It’s a little like speed dating,” said RileeJo Stone. “People sit down across
from each other and every five minutes we ring a bell and they move. It’s a high energy blast. Everyone, even the property managers that get hounded for two hours by vendors, love it.” “The Reverse Trade Show is a great opportunity for property managers to meet prospective vendors. And it’s a great way for vendors to get in front of ...continued on page 3
Mandatory Section 8 Laws Overturned in Two States
A good screening process can save thousands of dollars in damage, legal costs, lost rent, etc. Don’t use your gut instinct or cross your fingers that everything will be ok. Mistakes are too costly. Use the “First Qualified Appli-
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A
ustin, Texas – Responding to complaints from the rental housing industry about mandatory section 8 laws passed by the city of Austin, the Texas State Legislature recently passed a state pre-emption law prohibiting mandatory section 8, making it the second state to enact such legislation in 2015. “Government subsidy programs like Section 8 and Medicare were designed
to be voluntary,” says Kirk Cullimore Jr., UAA Government Affairs Committee chair. “But tenants groups in 13 states and many cities convinced government leaders that they should require landlords to take these voluntary federal funds and all the accompanying regulations and restrictions.” They do this, says Kirk, by making section 8 recipients a protected class called source of income, and making it illegal under
state fair housing law to discriminate against them. “Mandatory section 8 laws are grossly mislabeled by tenant’s advocates,” says Texas Apartment Association Government Affairs director David Mintz. “They call them source of income as a protected class, but in reality they require landlords to take section 8 vouchers and work with a voluntary federal program many landlords would not ...continued on page 6
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