Rental Housing Journal Utah
2. President’s Message – PAC Money is Needed to Accomplish Our Work 3. Director’s Message – 2016 UAA Fair Housing Conference and Trade Show
February 2016 - Vol. 8 Issue 2
4. Ask the Attorney – Breaching the Lease 7. 2015 UAA Tribute Award Winners
UPCOMING EVENTS General Membership Meetings Ogden ..................................... Mar 22nd 7PM Salt Lake ................................ Mar 24th 7PM St. George ............................. Mar 30th 7PM
EVENTS Trade Show Southtown Expo Center .................... Apr 27th www.uaahq.org/uaa-education-conference-trade-show
www.uaaGeneralMembershipMeetings.com
www.rentalhousingjournal.com • Professional Publishing, Inc Official Publication of The Utah Apartment Association Utah’s Leading Advocate for the Rental Housing Industry – 888-244-0401 – WWW.UAAHQ.ORG
Utah State Health Department Exceeding State Authority on Methamphetamine Testing Standards Meth Testing:
In Utah, there are two kinds of tests for methamphetamine contamination, as defined by the EPA. y In discrete sampling, also known as “individual” sampling, single samples are taken at spatially discrete locations. This sampling technique should be used in areas that are “hot spots” highly suggestive of contamination. Utah Regulation Code R392-600-5 says areas highly suggestive of [methamphetamine] contamination”
Kerry Bate
2015 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
T
he Utah Apartment Association presented the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award to Kerry Bate, former Executive Director of the Housing Authority of Salt Lake County. The award was presented at the UAA’s annual Tribute Awards dinner which was held on February 12th. Kerry’s successor and current Executive Director of the Salt Lake County Housing Authority Janice Kimball and UAA Board member Gloria Froerer presented the award. “I just want to say that I am so touched by and proud of the things Kerry has done in 40 years in his
career to serve Utah households”, said Gloria. “ Kerry has been one of the key players in addressing the homeless issue in Utah with tremendous results. “I can’t think of anyone more deserving”, added Janice. “Kerry has been a tremendous leader and example and I am so grateful to have been able to work with him over the years,” she said. Kerry Bate’s work spans more than 40 years in the community development and affordable housing arena within the state of Utah. His vision, leadership and tireless efforts have inspired others and have resulted in tangible im-
continued on page 6
Utah Landlords Want Section 8 Opt Out
y In composite sampling, multiple discrete samples are combined and treated as a single sample for analytical purposes. The State and County Health departments allow this sampling technique because they say it is less costly for consumers.
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bill before the legislature, SB175, attempts to add market forces to help open up more affordable However, the State Health Dehousing options. partments is exceeding its authorLandlords love Section 8 tenants. ity by allowing testers to use the However, they loathe working with “compiling” instead of “averaging” some housing authorities, the local continued on page 5 agencies that administer Section 8. ousing affordability is a cept Section 8 housing and make it They also hate the extra cost and very important issue in a discriminatory practice for land- burden that accompany the proUtah. The federal Section lords to deny tenants solely on the gram. Examples include: 8 voucher program is a valuable basis that they received Section 8 y The government used to guarantee rent and condition of unit. tool. Years ago, the legislature, in vouchers. This led to unintentional Because it was so costly to regood faith, made Utah one of only consequences and made affordable 9 states that require landlords to ac- housing stock less available. A new
H
continued on page 6
Advertise in Rental Housing Journal Utah Circulated to over 6,000 apartment owners, on-site and maintenance personnel monthly.
Call 503-221-1260 for more information
Utah Apartment Association
President’s Message
448 E Winchester St Ste. 460 Salt Lake City, UT 84107 Ph: (801) 487-5619 Fax: (801) 484-8649 www.uaahq.org
PAC Money is Needed to Accomplish Our Work NAA and Federal Issues
This year UAA members will contribute about $10,000 to the National Apartment Association’s federal PAC. This money is donated directly to federal elected officials who have a direct influence on our issues. The NAA PAC cuts checks to our Utah senators and represenPeter Harradine tatives which UAA members then Board Chair deliver personally. This helps us Utah Apartment Association build personal relationships with elected officials from both parties, This year the UAA has set a goal and help them understand how to raise $100,000 for our PAC. federal laws affect rental housing. As the 2016 President, I want you to know that I am proud to say State and Local Elections that I am a personal supporter of Most of the funds we raise for the the PAC and have personally con- UAA PAC are contributed to state tributed to the PAC. The money we and local elected leaders and canraise is leveraged very effectively didates who care about property to accomplish our goals and pro- rights and rental housing. We are tect our industry. Let me share a privileged to have a Governor, a little with you about how we spend Senate President and a Speaker of PAC funds. the House who all own rental prop-
erties and care about how laws affect property rights and our ability to conduct professional operations. We need to keep the good leaders we have and assure there are others who support entail housing issues.
Effective Lobbyists
Now I understand some people cringe at the word lobbyist, but every industry needs people who can articulate their positions on issues and effectively explain how laws affect property rights and our business. Our lobbyists are the very best in Utah and help protect our industry. They know how to navigate our political system and educate leaders who make decisions that affect us.
Please help us out this year
port our PAC. We ask everyone to support individually according to your ability. Giving just $10 or $20 goes a long way. Those who have the means we ask for even more. Each year many individuals who have done exceptionally well in rental property give $1000. Since property management companies and apartment properties benefit enormously from the lobbying efforts that the PAC supports, we ask them to give as well. For apartment communities we ask $500 a property. For property management companies, we ask $500. I can assure you that the UAA is a good steward of this money and leverages it effectively for the benefit of our industry. Thanks in advance for your contribution.
In the next four months we will have many opportunities and you will be asked several times to sup-
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Rental Housing Journal Utah · February 2016
Utah Apartment Association 448 E Winchester St Ste. 460 Salt Lake City, UT 84107 Ph: (801) 487-5619 Fax: (801) 484-8649 www.uaahq.org
Director’s Message
2016 UAA Fair Housing Conference and Tradeshow hundreds of reasons to come to the event – but in the interest of space I just want to list some of the most significant:
Keynote Speaker
L. Paul Smith, CAE Executive Director Utah Apartment Association
T
he 2016 UAA Fair Housing Conference and Trade show on April 27th at the South Towne Expo Center will be one of the biggest and most exciting events we have ever had as an association. There are literally
Amanda Dickson is the Cohost for Utah’s number one rated morning show, Utah’s Morning news on KSL News Radio. Amanda is a renaissance woman who is at much at home at Chucky Cheese as she is in front of an audience of thousands or sequestered working on a book. She is beloved by her Utah radio audience for her openness and irresistible laugh, but there is a depth to her that comes not only from her legal training, but from her personal suffering, and that depth connects her to the
readers of her newspaper columns and books. Amanda thinks of her life as a path, one she walks holding her husband’s and children’s’ hands, always learning, forever curious, eternally grateful for the souls she encounters along the way.
speakers Barbara Savona and Mark Kohler who will be presenting some of our classes. Their energetic presentations and solutions-based training have helped landlords like you from coast to coast and we are lucky to have them join us.
Education Classes
Vendor Booths
We have more than 20 different classes available this year, designed to fit the interests of everybody who is attending the Trade Show – from management and leasing staff to independent owners and maintenance personnel, there is something for everybody. And many of the classes come with Real Estate Continuing Education Credit! We are particularly excited to welcome nationally renowned
This year’s Trade Show will feature more than a hundred vendors who have gathered together to showcase their products and services, and to provide you with the contacts and solutions you need to succeed as a landlord. I hope to see you there! Register online at www.uaatradeshow.com or by phone now.
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Rental Housing Journal Utah
Ask the Attorney Breaching the Lease
By Kirk A. Cullimore Law Offices of Kirk A. Cullimore
Y
our resident has now either skipped before the lease term expired or vacated at the expiration of the lease term without giving written notice. Whether the unit is a mess or completely empty, what are your obligations in regards to re-renting the unit? Is the resident responsible for future rent once the unit is re-rented? When your resident signed the lease, the resident is obligated to pay rent for the entire lease term. Although the resident may pay monthly rental installments, it doesn’t change the fact that the resident owes the entire amount. How-
ever, if your resident split early or without giving written notice at the end of the lease term, you cannot simply sit back and wait for the term to end, then sue the resident for the months he/she/they weren’t there. In Utah, you have a duty to mitigate your damages. But what does that mean? Will your resident be responsible for future rent? In Utah, to minimize the effects and losses resulting from your resident breaching the lease, a landlord must mitigate its damages. Generally, that means you have a duty “to take such steps as would be expected of a reasonable landlord letting out a similar property in the same market conditions.” Basically, you must take reasonable steps to rerent the unit. Reasonable steps would include quickly preparing the unit so it’s re-rentable, followed by advertising and showing the unit for rent. More often than not though, the difficulty is quickly getting the unit rent ready, especially when the resident leaves property (i.e. aban-
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dons property) in the unit. That difficulty is increased when you might not be in the position to move the property somewhere else to store on-site while you prepare the unit to re-rent. Regardless the duty to mitigate, making sure the property is properly handled and securely stored is a higher priority. However, the sooner you’re able to get the unit rent ready in the process of mitigating your damages the better. That’s because there’s an additional incentive to mitigate quickly: you do not know whether you will be able to collect damages from your former resident, so you will want to do everything you reasonably can to reduce your damages by finding a replacement resident. It’s always better to have a paying resident than an empty unit with the hopes of collecting from the former resident. Your former resident is going to be responsible for future rent until you mitigate your damages and rerent the unit or the lease term expires, whichever occurs first. In the situation where the resident failed to given the appropriate written notice to terminate the lease at the expiration of the lease term, the maximum future rent you would be able to seek from the former resident would be 30 days of rent, regardless whether the lease required more than 30 days written notice.
Within the lease term, whether the resident gave any written notice is irrelevant, unless your lease allows a resident to terminate the lease within the term with proper written notice (which hopefully is not the case – talk to our office if that is what your lease provides). If your resident gives written notice within the lease term to terminate the lease prior to the expiration of the term, you still have a duty to mitigate and the resident is going to be on the hook for future rent until the unit it re-rented or the lease term expires, even if that’s more than 30-60 days. Utah judges typically don’t have any issues with assessing future rent up to 30 days. Once it goes beyond thirty days, most judges want to see some proof of the efforts taken to mitigate your damages. An affidavit is usually sufficient setting forth the efforts taken to mitigate and re-rent the unit. Fortunately, that does not mean you as the landlord have the burden of showing that the steps taken to mitigate were reasonable. Case law in Utah provides that the burden of proving the landlord has not mitigated its damages and that its award should be correspondingly reduced is on the tenant.
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Rental Housing Journal Colorado is a monthly publication published by Professional Publishing Inc., publishers of Real Estate Opportunities in Investing & Real Estate Investor Quarterly
www.rentalhousingjournal.com The statements and representations made in advertising and news articles contained in this publication are those of the advertiser and authors and as such do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Professional Publishing, Inc. The inclusion of advertising in this publications does not, in any way, comport an endorsement of or support for the products or services offered. To request a reprint or reprint rights contact Professional Publishing Inc. PO Box 6244 Beaverton, OR 97007. (503) 221-1260 - (800) 398-6751 © 2015 All rights reserved.
Rental Housing Journal Utah · February 2016
Rental Housing Journal Utah
Methamphetamine Testing ...continued from page 1 method. This results in more properties failing and more work for decontamination specialists.
Here is a description of each of type of testing:
Contamination Limit - Less than or equal to 1.0 microgram (μg) Methamphetamine per 100 square centimeters. Discrete Testing: One sample of 100 cm2must contain less than 1.0 μg of Methamphetamine.
This 100 cm2area contains 0.3 μg of Methamphetamine and is not considered contaminated under Utah law.
Composite Testing (averaged) Combined samples of more than 100 cm2 must contain less than 1.0 μg of Methamphetamine per 100 cm2.
These four separate 100 cm2 area contain an average of 0.3 μg of Methamphetamine and is not considered contaminated under Utah law.
Composite Testing (compiled) Combined samples of more than 100 cm2 must contain less than 1.0 μg of Methamphetamine total (meaning they treat 400 cm2 like 100 cm2, effectively reducing the amount allowed by 75%, exceeding state authority).
These four separate 100 cm2 area contain a total of 1.2 μg of Methamphetamine and would fail the compiled composite test allowed by the Health Department, despite not being truly contaminated under Utah law.
Despite bringing to their attention multiple properties that failed under compiled composite testing that would not have failed if averaging (the scientific standard) was used, the County and State health Departments still refuse to back down. We have made several attempts to get them to operate within their authority and have failed. Whether allowing compiled composite sampling is crony capitalism to generate more business for decontamination specialists or just sloppy science, it exceeds the Health Department’s authority and the real estate and property management industry ask the Administrative Rules Oversight Committee to intervene.
Utah R392-600 requires:
y Samples collected from areas highly suggestive of contamination shall be by grab samples that are not combined with other samples.ii y “Grab Sample” means one sample collected from a single, defined area or media at a given time and location.iii y Confirmation sampling from areas not highly suggestive of contamination… shall be collected in a manner consistent with the confirmation sampling [procedure laid out in the rule]. The samples may be combined together to form one sample per room or sampling area.iv
EAP Voluntary Guides for Methamphetamine Laboratory Cleanup, 2013; p 25 R392-600-6(5)(a) iii R392-600-2(21) iv R392-600-6(6) i
ii
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Rental Housing Journal Utah
Kerry Bate ...continued from page 1 pacts in the lives of thousands of local citizens. During his time as Executive Director of the Salt Lake County Housing Authority, Kerry focused on special communities with great need by providing affordable housing for low-income households, housing for veterans, refugees, the disabled, the chronically mentally ill, homeless youth and homeless families, as well as provided tenant services to promote self-sufficiency. He was instrumental in working with federal, state and private foundations to fund major “Housing First” and other affordable projects. His passionate emphasis on housing made Salt Lake County a national model for low-income and homeless housing and Utah a national leader in homeless housing projects.
Under Kerry’s leadership, the Housing Authority: yy Increased 1,037 units, reaching a total of 4,038 families served throughout Salt Lake County yy Developed/obtained five new properties: Frontier Apartments, Covewood Apartments, Grace Mary Manor, Kelly Benson Apartments and Bud Bailey Apartments for a total of 391 physical units added
Section 8 Opt Out ...continued from page 1 yy Increased 316 vouchers within the Section 8 program reaching a total of over 2,400 housing choice vouchers
pair damage done by Section 8 tenants, this burden has been transferred to landlords to pay for any damages done
yy Saw an increase of 200 households served through the Veteran’s Supportive Housing program
yy Landlords who participate are told how long their lease must be and cannot sign leases shorter than a year
yy Increased Non-HUD funding to $9,082,609
yy Initial inspections take as long as ten days, making landlords who work with Section 8 lose rental income
yy Increased Continuum of CareShelter Plus Care program funding to $1,621,422 yy Increased Homeless Assistance Rental Program funding to $1,233,000 The Utah Apartment Association is proud to place Kerry among the previous winers of this prestigious award. For more information go to www.uaatributeawards.com
yy Section 8 rules supersede rental agreements. Landlords are prohibited from evicting Section 8 tenants for criminal behavior of guests or if a housing authority is late or doesn’t pay rent. They must give longer notice of inspections, rent increases and end of term notices. It is harder to remove Section 8 than regular tenants yy Some local housing authorities are difficult to work with and take up to 60 days to make payments yy The program increases landlord’s costs, time and alters business practices by giving Section 8 tenants a different (preferential) set of rules. This is not fair to other tenants and adds burden to landlords
This is not discrimination
Laws will still prohibit discrimination against tenants because of race, color, sex, religion, country of origin, disability, familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity and source of income. The only things SB 175 does is eliminate the requirement that landlords work with the federal Section 8 voucher program, and clarifies it will not be a discriminatory practice to deny tenants who are on Section 8. Last year both Texas and Indiana passed similar laws as this and there has not been a crisis there. Allegations that minority and low income tenants will be discriminated against are unfounded and false, as 41 other states have the law being proposed and voucher recipients still find quality housing. Doctors can opt out of the bureaucracy and strict rules of Medicare. Landlords should be able to opt out of a similar federal subsidy program and run their business the way they wish, not the way the feds require them to in order to qualify for Section 8 vouchers. Forced participation in a voluntary federal program is bad public policy, harms both landlords and tenants, and both groups will be better off if this law is passed and housing authorities and the federal government have to earn landlord’s participation.
Because of these and other costs, risks and burdens, there currently are incentives for landlords to legally and legitimately avoid renting By the numbers: to Section 8 tenants. They can set yy Utah has just over 11,000 Sechigher rental criteria or deposits to tion 8 vouchers, less than 4% avoid renting to those on Section of renter households 8. They can make sure their places yy Even if half of Utah’s 300,000 won’t pass housing inspections. rental units opted out of SecSB 175 removes the incentive tion 8 ON-SITE-NW there would still be SEA to make renting to Section 8 reover ten times as many units cipients hard by putting market VALLEY, METRO, ARIZONA APT. available as are needed pressure on housing authorities to Salsbury yy 41 states, including Califor- Indu make their programs more user nia, allow landlords to opt friendly and attractive to landout of Section 8 and the prolords. Allowing landlords to volungram still works tarily participate will improve the Section 8 program and increase Feb, Apr, Jun, Aug, Oct, Dec the number of units available for voucher recipients.
ON
VALLEY, METRO, ARIZONA APT
Salsbury Indu
Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Nov,
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Housing Journal Utah · February 2016 OctoberRental p September
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The Industry Leader in Quality
Rental Housing Journal Utah
UAA’s 2015 Tribute Award Winners
Service Provider of the Year For Rent Media Solutions
Leasing Agent of the Year Amanda Williamson Thorn Berry
Best Mixed Section 42 Property Liberty Commons
Property of Excellence Salt Lake County San Martiz
Property Manager 150-250 Units Braxton West Seasons on the Boulevard
Property Manager under 150 Units Hanah Gilman Oakridge Student Housing
Property Manager over 250 Units Michael Holm Carrington Square
Maintenance Supervisor of the Year Tim Meyers Residences at the District
Property of Excellence Central/Southern Utah Drycreek at East Village
Customer Service of the Year Kevin Stitt, Nine Lives Media, Peter Harradine 2016 Board Chair
Best Model Midtwon 360
Assistant Manager of the Year Shanelle Martindale Carrington Square
Development of the Year Drycreek at East Village
Outstanding On-Site Team Oakridge Student Housing
Supplier of the Year Rich Wilcox PPG Paint, Peter Harradine 2016 Board Chair
Property of Excellence Northern Utah Eastgate at Grey Hawk
Best Overall Renovation Foothill Place Apartments
Best Leasing Office/Clubhouse Residences at the District
Property Supervisor of the Year Travis Baker Alliance Residential
Outstanding Senior Property Sagewood at Daybreak
Best Landscape The Falls at Hunters Pointe
Advertise in Rental Housing Journal Utah Circulated to over 6,000 apartment owners, on-site and maintenance personnel monthly.
Call 503-221-1260 for more information
Rental Housing Journal Utah · February 2016
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Rental Housing Journal Utah
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Rental Housing Journal Utah 路 February 2016