Legislative Update 6/25/2014 - Contact Governor to approve HB590 Unauthorized Practice of Law

This Legislative Update is provided by Nick Norman, Director, Legislative Affairs for the RPOA 

Howdee everyone,

The legislative season is mostly over with only a few things being wrapped up.  If things are normal over the summer there will be little activity so these updates will be likely be much less frequent.

HELP NEEDED

We need more volunteers for the legislative effort in general and more core team volunteers.  We only need 15 minutes per week per person during the busy times to make this legislative effort extremely effective.

Please contact Nick Norman at nicknorman@yahoo.com to help out.

I also am coordinating a Property Rights Friendly and Property Rights Unfriendly legislator list.  We hope this will be helpful as we approach time to vote for a new legislature.  Please also contact me if you have specific factual information to add to the list regarding any specific candidates for election.


Important Updates:None

Action items this week:
If you have not done so already write and/or call the Governors office asking the governor to pass HB590 which allows an LLC etc, to be represented by a member of an LLC in district court (for evictions and small claims). (You will no longer be required to hire an attorney).

Governor's office is 271-2121
You can e-mail the governor by going to the following website:
http://www4.egov.nh.gov/governor/goveforms/comments.asp

See more info in Summaries & Full Detail for each category further below. (includes property owner position, contact info, Talking points, and more).(to jump right to bill detail, use Control-F, Find).

Hearings this week:None

Hearings next week:None scheduled so far

Further below is:Bills Updated Status summary:
Full details on all bills above
(Which includes property owner position, contact info, talking points, and more)

Love & Light,
Nick Norman
RPOA Director of Legislative Affairs
==============================================
We only list the committee reports on the most important bills affecting the real estate business.  If you want to get the committee report on one of the other bills contact me & I will show you how to get them on line.  Its not terribly hard to get but not straight ahead either.
==============================================
Bills Updated Status summary:We only list the committee reports on the most important bills affecting the real estate business.  If you want to get the committee report on one of the other bills contact me & I will show you how to get them on line.  It’s not terribly hard to get but not straight ahead either.

HB1111, Insurance Not Canceled After Claim   
Title: clarifying the term "valid claim" for property insurance.
Property Owner Position: For
House Status: PASSED / ADOPTED
Senate Status: PASSED / ADOPTED
General Status: Signed by Governor

HB1272, Excluding Fraternity Rental to Member from RSA540.   
Title: excluding certain leases by fraternal or social organizations from the definition of tenancy.
Property Owner Position: LimitedImpact; You Decide
House Status: PASSED / ADOPTED WITH AMENDMENT
Senate Status: PASSED / ADOPTED
General Status: Signed by Governor
==============================================
Full details on all bills above:HB1111, Insurance Not Canceled After Claim
04/01/2014 at 02:20 PM    LOB 101
Title: Title: clarifying the term "valid claim" for property insurance.

Summary: Does not allow insurance companies to cancel policy after a claim.

Property Owner Position: For

Link to Committee Info:

Email to Committee:
To:
Subject: HB1111

Link to Bill Text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2014/HB1111.html
Analysis Stated in Bill:

Talking Points:
This bill amends current law which prohibits an insurance company from not renewing a homeowners insurance policy if the homeowner made one valid claim within the previous year or policy period.  The bill adds the following: "Inquiries about coverage do not constitute a valid claim."

Although the bill effects homeowners policies and not commercial policies, it may effect our membership who have owner occupied units, such as duplexes. The problem with the bill is that it is unclear if it opens the door to non-renewal if the homeowner inquires about coverage and does not file a claim, which does not appear to be the intent of the bill. It maybe covered elsewhere in the statute, and common sense would say that an inquiry without a claim should not be grounds for the non renewal of a policy.
=====================
HB1272, Excluding Fraternity Rental to Member from RSA540.
04/22/2014 at 10:10 AM    SH 100
Title: Title: excluding certain leases by fraternal or social organizations from the definition of tenancy.

Summary: This is a one line bill that would exclude residential units owned and rented by a fraternal or social organization to a member from being a residence under RSA 540.

Property Owner Position: Limited Impact; You Decide

Link to Committee Info:

Email to Committee:
To:
Subject: HB1272

Link to Bill Text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2014/HB1272.html
Analysis Stated in Bill:

Talking Points:
Some of our members felt they were against this bill. Why should these organizations be exempted from the laws we have to follow?
=====================

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Legislative Update 6/14/2014 - HB1274 Becomes Law & Urge the Governor to pass HB590

This Legislative Update is provided by Nick Norman, Director, Legislative Affairs for the RPOA 

Howdee everyone,

Important Updates:
HB1274, Quarterly/Semi-annual Rent signed by Governor and becomes new law.
This is an important win for many of us especially for student housing because it allows landlords to legally require rent in payments 3 months or longer and many students pay a large amount of rent at one time with the financial aid package.  In more rare cases you can use this for a tenant that wants to handle an application defect by prepaying a large portion of rent.

Action items this week:
Write and/or call the Governors office asking the governor to pass HB590 which allows an LLC etc, to be represented by a member of an LLC in district court (for evictions and small claims). (You will no longer be required to hire an attorney).

Governor's office is 271-2121
You can e-mail the governor by going to the following website:
http://www4.egov.nh.gov/governor/goveforms/comments.asp

See more info in Summaries & Full Detail for each category further below. (includes property owner position, contact info, Talking points, and more).
(to jump right to bill detail, use Control-F, Find).

Hearings this week:
None

Hearings next week:
None scheduled so far

Further below is:
Bills Updated Status summary:
Full details on all bills above
(Which includes property owner position, contact info, talking points, and more)

Love & Light,
Nick Norman
RPOA Director of Legislative Affairs
==============================================
We only list the committee reports on the most important bills affecting the real estate business.  If you want to get the committee report on one of the other bills contact me & I will show you how to get them on line.  Its not terribly hard to get but not straight ahead either.
==============================================
Bills Updated Status summary:
We only list the committee reports on the most important bills affecting the real estate business.  If you want to get the committee report on one of the other bills contact me & I will show you how to get them on line.  It’s not terribly hard to get but not straight ahead either.
HB227, Casualty Insurance Carriers File Retention & amendments   
Title: relative to property and casualty insurance.
Property Owner Position: You Decide
House Status: PASSED / ADOPTED WITH AMENDMENT
Senate Status: PASSED / ADOPTED
General Status:  Signed by Governor

HB421, Real Estate Brokerage Regulation   
Title: relative to regulation of real estate brokerage and sales by the real estate commission.
Property Owner Position: LimitedImpact; You Decide
House Status: CONFERENCE REPORT ADOPTED
Senate Status: CONFERENCE REPORT ADOPTED
General Status:  Passed

HB590, Unauthorized Practice of Law   
Title: relative to the unauthorized practice of law.
Property Owner Position: For
House Status: CONFERENCE REPORT ADOPTED
Senate Status: CONFERENCE REPORT ADOPTED
General Status:  Passed

HB1274, Quarterly Semi-annual Rent   
Title: (New Title) relative to the payment of rent and security deposits.
Property Owner Position: For
House Status: PASSED / ADOPTED WITH AMENDMENT
Senate Status: PASSED / ADOPTED
General Status:  Signed by Governor

SB306, NH Study Commission on Foreclosure Law   
Title: establishing a commission to study New Hampshire mortgage foreclosure law, new federal regulations, and fair foreclosure practices.
Property Owner Position: LimitedImpact; You Decide
House Status: PASSED / ADOPTED WITH AMENDMENT
Senate Status: CONCURRED
General Status:  Passed
==============================================
Full details on all bills above:
HB227, Casualty Insurance Carriers File Retention & amendments
03/18/2014 at 01:00 PM    LOB 101
Title: Title: relative to property and casualty insurance.

Summary: This bill expands the list of things that an insurance company must retain for the year of the claim and  the five years thereafter to include debt and bank card information.

The second section deals with rebating commissions.

The third section adds a provision that if there is an audit regard premiums, that has to be completed within 120 days of the cancellation of the policy, and any refund due must be sent out within the 120 days. A fine of $1,000 per day can be imposed on any company that violates this provision, unless notice of a dispute is sent in 120 days.

The balance of the bill, which was proposed by the NH Dept of Insurance, is amendments to regulatory system for insurance and adjusters. The bill appears to be consumer friendly, which as buyers of insurance, landlords would want.

Property Owner Position: You Decide

Link to Committee Info: 

Email to Committee: 
To: 
Subject: HB227 

Link to Bill Text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2014/HB0227.html
Analysis Stated in Bill: This bill makes certain changes in the laws relative to property and casualty insurance.
This bill was requested by the insurance department.

Notes: 
This is a complicated bill that would need lots of study to respond intelligently.  We feel our time is better spent on bills directly affecting our business.  You decide if this affects you enough to pursue it further.

Talking Points:
none developed so far.
=====================
HB421, Real Estate Brokerage Regulation
05/23/2014 at 02:30 PM    LOB 204
Title: Title: relative to regulation of real estate brokerage and sales by the real estate commission.

Summary: Changed a lot of the wording around to be more clear – addressed disciplinary actions by Board, increased credit requirements from 9 to 12 hours.

Property Owner Position: LimitedImpact; You Decide

Link to Committee Info: 

Email to Committee: 
To: 
Subject: HB421 

Link to Bill Text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2014/HB0421.html
Analysis Stated in Bill: This bill makes various changes to the real estate practice act and regulation by the New Hampshire real estate commission, including the investigation and prosecution of unlicensed practice.

Talking Points:
The first part of the bill attempts to modify who is exempt from needing a license to sell or lease real estate. We are not sure if they intended to amend the statute to the extent that we are reading it.  It seems that the owner of real estate has to be licensed but not his employees. This is problematic for those of us who rent our own property.

The rest of the bill is wording changes that appear to be just for clarification, and one provision dealing with Continuing education of the brokers and salespeople increasing credit requirements from 9 to 12 hours.
=====================
HB590, Unauthorized Practice of Law
05/22/2014 at 03:00 PM    LOB 208
Title: Title: relative to the unauthorized practice of law.

Summary: Allows a person who is not authorized to practice law but who is a member, or employee of a limited liability company, corporation, or partnership, which has 5 or fewer members, to represent the entity on civil matters (like evictions & small claims) in the circuit court of  New Hampshire.

Property Owner Position: For

Link to Committee Info: 

Email to Committee: 
To: 
Subject: HB590 

Link to Bill Text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2014/HB0590.html
Analysis Stated in Bill: 

Talking Points:
HB 590 would amend RSA 311, the statute that enables the Supreme Court of the State of New Hampshire to regulate the practice of law within the state.  Under current law, any person may represent him or herself, or be represented by a person of good character.  All citizens are presumed to be of good character unless demonstrated otherwise.  However, no person shall be commonly permitted to practice as an attorney in court unless he or she has been permitted to do so by the court. (Current requirements are graduating from an accredited law school, which generally is a three year program on a full time basis and passing the New Hampshire Bar Exam, unless allowed to practice based upon reciprocity).

Basically, someone of good character can represent another person in court, but may not hold him or herself out as an attorney unless that person has been admitted to practice law in this state.

HB 590 changes the above to clarify that person of good character who is a member or employee of a limited liability company (an LLC), corporation, or partnership which has 5 or fewer members, shall, with the proper written authorization from the organization be authorized to represent the organization in Circuit Court.  However, there needs to be a new authorization for each appearance in court.

The bill, as amended, does not address properties held in a trust or an estate.  Also, a corporation has officers and shareholders and not members as does an LLC. I would think that the Courts would allow a corporation with 5 or fewer shareholders to make use of this bill, but not trusts or estates.

This bill is useful to the all businesses, including landlords, who are organized in LLC's, partnerships or corporations. It avoids the necessity to hire an attorney for evictions, collection suits both in small claims and circuit court level, other cases brought for and against the business person in circuit court.

Most likely the authorization will have be given by the majority of the members of the LLC or shareholders of the corporation.  The acting or managing partners/members will likely have to give it for the partnership/LLC.

This allows any person of good character to represent the business in court with the proper authorization.  Note however, it does not, however, change any of the evidence required to prove a case. (The employee may not have personal knowledge that a tenant is behind in rent, but may have only been told that by the employer, which is hearsay and not admissible.)

We plan to propose a clarifying amendment to address corporations(not having members), trusts and also family LLC partnerships with more than 5 family members.

Being that different circuit courts presently interpret this situation differently from court to court, the bill would add  clarity for circuit court judges.
=====================
HB1274, Quarterly Semi-annual Rent
04/01/2014 at 10:00 AM    SH 100
Title: Title: (New Title) relative to the payment of rent and security deposits.

Summary: This bill allows a landlord to collect 3 month's or more rent at move in. This greatly affects college communities and tenants overcoming an application default by prepaying rent.  In Durham, Dover, Keene, etc., you have landlords routinely taking a full semester's rent up front.  The bill was intended to legally allow this kind of option.

There is also the situation where someone with bad credit has a tax refund, personal injury settlement or other lump sum and the landlord might be willing to take a chance on the tenant if the landlord were permitted to due so under the law.  There is an amendment which would allow landlords to require 3 months or more rent to be paid up front.  With the amendment (passed by House Judiciary committee) landlords would be allowed to legally handle these situations.

Property Owner Position: For

Link to Committee Info: 

Email to Committee: 
To: 
Subject: HB1274 

Link to Bill Text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2014/HB1274.html
Analysis Stated in Bill: 

Talking Points:
As amended by the house, this bill allows a landlord to enter into a residential lease requiring a tenant to pay rent either quarterly or longer without violating the security deposit statute where a landlord can not ask for more than one month's rent.

We think the bill is excellent because it accommodates many tenant situations listed below where either a tenant has come into a considerable sum of money or need to overcome a bad credit, bad landlord reference or lack of employment or other application default by prepaying the rent.  It rarely happens, but some people when they receive their tax refund or other lump settlement etc. want to prepay ahead when they are moving into a new apartment.  Prepayment of rent should be just that and not considered a security deposit.

The bill merely clears up an ambiguity for landlords who want quarterly or longer payments. This is very important in student housing.

There is an amendment proposed by NHLA that would limit this to prepayment of 4, 5, or 6 months rent.
NHLA’s objections to the present language are “that allowing rent to be collected in three-month installments could be enforced selectively against "undesirable" tenants, and that tenants paying a year's rent could stand to lose big time if the property owner went bankrupt or were foreclosed upon.”

Below is a letter we will send to the Senate Judiciary Committee.  You can pick from it for your talking points.
===
To: Senate Judiciary Committee
Re: Proposed Amendment to HB 1274
From: The Rental Property Owners Association
Date: April 13, 2014

We are sending you this memo to give you our thoughts and position in regard to the proposed amendment to HB 1274 that was recently submitted by NHLA.

HB 1274 was originally sponsored in the House because RSA 540-A:6, one of the statutes governing security deposits for residential housing, specifically states: “ A landlord shall not demand or receive any security deposit in an amount or value in excess of one month’s rent or $100, whichever is greater.”

Security Deposit is defined in RSA 540-A 5(II) as “All funds in excess of the monthly rent which are transferred from the tenant to the landlord for any purpose.”  These two sections together prohibit any landlord who owns a building other than one five units or less and lives in one of the units, from taking any funds from any tenant in excess of one month’s rent and a security deposit greater than one month’s rent.

The above was enacted so that people with limited financial means would not be forced out of the apartment rental market if they did not have three month’s rent. (Massachusetts allows landlords to charge three month’s rent, first and last month’s rent and one month as security deposit).

There are a number of circumstances where it is in the interest of both the landlord and the tenant that the tenant  pays more than one month’s rent. These situations, as testified to during the hearing before your committee on the bill, include:
1. Students living in fraternity or sorority houses where they receive financial aid or other funding by the semester or year.  It also protects the landlord from having to evict someone in the middle of a semester due to non-payment.
2. Students living in private housing who receive financial aid by the semester or year.
3. People who have or are facing foreclosure, with terrible credit, but have saved a lump sum to find other housing.
4. People who have bad credit but have a lump sum for any reason, such as a large tax return, a workers compensation settlement for a permanent injury, or from a car accident, which resulted in lost income causing the bad credit.
5. People who are retired and plan to travel but want to make sure that the rent is paid while they are away.
6. Affluent people who want to pay rent quarterly or less often.
7. Businesses renting apartments for employees.
8. People who have just moved into the area and have not yet secured employment.
9. People who have lost their jobs & have a good amount of savings but for some reason have to move.
If a landlord accepts more than one month’s rent and one month as security deposit, under current law, the landlord can be subject to a fine of $1,000 plus $1,000 per day for each day the landlord does not return the funds to the tenant after the tenant obtains a court order under RSA 540-A.

HB 1274 as amended by the House, if it became law, would allow the tenant to pay and the landlord to require payment either quarterly or less often (longer time spans) in circumstances such as those enumerated above.  The bill was amended in the house to address concerns that if landlords were allowed to collect two month’s rent,  they would be able to circumvent the current restrictions of RSA 540-A.

Under the provisions of HB 1274 as amended by the House, a landlord would be able to accommodate a tenant in categories enumerated above by legally being able to accept an amount equal to four month’s rent, one month as security deposit and three months as rent or more.  The number of people who can actually do this and are willing to do this is very limited. Therefore, landlords could not demand quarterly payment of rent, or less frequent payments, for most of the apartments in the state. Otherwise, the landlord would have large numbers of empty apartments, and no funds to pay mortgages, taxes, insurance, utilities and all the other costs of property ownership.

The proposed amendment to HB 1274 would only allow tenants to pay and landlords to accept payment of rent every four, five or six months. Although the amendment does not seem to change the bill that radically, it actually would seriously reduce the effectiveness of the bill.  Examples of this are:
A. Semesters are not always four months, particularly during the summer.  At best, the summer programs run June, July and August.  Any student who rents for just the summer may have more difficulty finding housing if the proposed amendment is adopted.
B. People who have financial issues would have to pay five month’s rent under the proposed amendment, four months as rent and one month as security deposit. With the median rent for a two bedroom apartment in four of our counties running over $1,000 per month, as reported by the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority, this means people who already are struggling would have to find $5,000 or more rather than $4,000, a 25% increase. Many of those people may need that extra money for other necessities, such as a deposit for utilities.
C. The most common way this bill could assist tenants is in the case where a tenant has bad credit or landlord reference or unstable seasonal income or someone moving into the area that has not secured employment yet or  any other default on their rental application that is preventing them from being approved for an apartment.  To defeat these valid objections for getting approved sometimes tenants will prepay their initial rent.  The most common amount they can afford is 3 months plus security deposit.  In most cases they don’t have more than that much saved.  The proposed NHLA amendment would require no less than four months plus security which would prohibit a landlord from giving these tenants “a chance.”

We also want to reiterate the point made by Sarah Mattson in her testimony before you at the committee hearing on the bill in regard to discrimination.  If a landlord has a different rental policy for different people, that clearly would be discrimination.  The landlord would be clearly subject to a complaint to the Human Rights Commission and a discrimination suit.  The only way the higher “move in” cost provision of this bill could be used is if the landlord’s policy affected everyone who applied for an apartment (which is not feasible), or if someone had bad credit or bad rental history, which is a valid reason for not accepting a tenant. 

Based on the above, we request that you do not adopt the amendment, or at least allow rent to be collected every three, four, five or six months.
===
=====================
SB306, NH Study Commission on Foreclosure Law
04/01/2014 at 11:30 AM    LOB 302
Title: Title: establishing a commission to study New Hampshire mortgage foreclosure law, new federal regulations, and fair foreclosure practices.

Summary: This bill would establish a commission to study New Hampshire foreclosure law, Federal Regulations, and Fair Foreclosure Practices. The commission is as with all commissions, would then report back to the legislature its findings and recommendations, including aligning NH law with the federal regs.

Property Owner Position: LimitedImpact; You Decide

Link to Committee Info: 

Email to Committee: 
To: 
Subject: SB306 

Link to Bill Text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2014/SB0306.html
Analysis Stated in Bill: 

Talking Points:
This bill does not change any existing laws. Until we see what the commission recommends, and how it would effect us, we recommend no action.
=====================

Legislative Update 6/8/2014 - Action Item required for HB590

This Legislative Update is provided by Nick Norman, Director of Legislative Affairs for the RPOA.

I would like to thank Nick Norman for his hard work on Legislation and particularly HB1409. Without Nick's time and effort many bills would be passed that aren't in the best interest of property owners.  - Jeannine Richardson, President Landlord Connection

Nick could use some help so if anyone is interested in spending a couple of hours a week helping during the Legislative season, please contact Nick at nicknorman@yahoo.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Howdee everyone,

Important Updates:HB590, Unauthorized Practice of Law
This is very important to us.  It allows landlords to represent themselves in civil court when property is owned in a small LLC or corporation.  See the Bills Updated Status summary below for more detail.

As many of you know some of our civil courts had been requiring landlords to hire attorneys to process evictions if the property was owned by an LLC or corporation.  For many of us that was an unnecessary expense. This bill would allow us to represent ourselves and save the cost of an attorney.

Action items this week:
Write and/or call the Governors office asking the governor to pass HB590.Governor's office is 271-2121
You can e-mail the governor by going to the following website:

http://www4.egov.nh.gov/governor/goveforms/comments.asp

See more info in Summaries & Full Detail for each category further below (includes property owner position, contact info, Talking points, and more).(to jump right to bill detail, use Control-F, Find).

This week:None

Next week:None

Further below is:Bills Updated Status summary:
Full details on all bills above
(Which includes property owner position, contact info, talking points, and more)

Love & Light,
Nick Norman
RPOA Director of Legislative Affairs
==============================================
We only list the committee reports on the most important bills affecting the real estate business.  If you want to get the committee report on one of the other bills contact me & I will show you how to get them on line.  Its not terribly hard to get but not straight ahead either.
==============================================
Bills Updated Status summary:We only list the committee reports on the most important bills affecting the real estate business.  If you want to get the committee report on one of the other bills contact me & I will show you how to get them on line.  It’s not terribly hard to get but not straight ahead either.

HB421, Real Estate Brokerage Regulation   
Title: relative to regulation of real estate brokerage and sales by the real estate commission.
Property Owner Position: LimitedImpact; You Decide
House Status: CONFERENCE REPORT ADOPTED
Senate Status: CONFERENCE REPORT ADOPTED

Committee of Conference recommends “That the Senate and House each pass the bill as amended by the Senate.”

HB590, Unauthorized Practice of Law   
Title: relative to the unauthorized practice of law.
Property Owner Position: For
House Status: CONFERENCE REPORT ADOPTED
Senate Status: CONFERENCE REPORT ADOPTED

Committee of Conference report says it recommends "That the Senate and House each pass the bill as amended by the Senate."  Which says:
a person of good character who is not approved to practice law in New Hampshire, but is a member or employee of a limited liability company, corporation, or partnership, which has 5 or fewer members, shall, with the proper written authorization from the organization, be authorized to represent the entity on matters in the circuit court of New Hampshire arising under this chapter; provided that each such appearance shall require a new written authorization.

Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
==============================================
Full details on all bills above:

HB421, Real Estate Brokerage Regulation
05/23/2014 at 02:30 PM    LOB 204
Title: Title: relative to regulation of real estate brokerage and sales by the real estate commission.

Summary: Changed a lot of the wording around to be more clear – addressed disciplinary actions by Board, increased credit requirements from 9 to 12 hours.

Property Owner Position: Limited Impact; You Decide

Link to Bill Text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2014/HB0421.html

Analysis Stated in Bill: This bill makes various changes to the real estate practice act and regulation by the New Hampshire real estate commission, including the investigation and prosecution of unlicensed practice.

Talking Points:
The first part of the bill attempts to modify who is exempt from needing a license to sell or lease real estate. We are not sure if they intended to amend the statute to the extent that we are reading it.  It seems that the owner of real estate has to be licensed but not his employees. This is problematic for those of us who rent our own property.

The rest of the bill is wording changes that appear to be just for clarification, and one provision dealing with Continuing education of the brokers and salespeople increasing credit requirements from 9 to 12 hours.
=====================
HB590, Unauthorized Practice of Law
05/22/2014 at 03:00 PM    LOB 208
Title: Title: relative to the unauthorized practice of law.

Summary: Allows a person who is not authorized to practice law but who is a member, or employee of a limited liability company, corporation, or partnership, which has 5 or fewer members, to represent the entity on civil matters (like evictions & small claims) in the circuit court of  New Hampshire.

Property Owner Position: For

To: 

Subject: HB590

Link to Bill Text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2014/HB0590.html

Analysis Stated in Bill:

Talking Points:
HB 590 would amend RSA 311, the statute that enables the Supreme Court of the State of New Hampshire to regulate the practice of law within the state.  Under current law, any person may represent him or herself, or be represented by a person of good character.  All citizens are presumed to be of good character unless demonstrated otherwise.  However, no person shall be commonly permitted to practice as an attorney in court unless he or she has been permitted to do so by the court. (Current requirements are graduating from an accredited law school, which generally is a three year program on a full time basis and passing the New Hampshire Bar Exam, unless allowed to practice based upon reciprocity).

Basically, someone of good character can represent another person in court, but may not hold him or herself out as an attorney unless that person has been admitted to practice law in this state.

HB 590 changes the above to clarify that person of good character who is a member or employee of a limited liability company (an LLC), corporation, or partnership which has 5 or fewer members, shall, with the proper written authorization from the organization be authorized to represent the organization in Circuit Court.  However, there needs to be a new authorization for each appearance in court.

The bill, as amended, does not address properties held in a trust or an estate.  Also, a corporation has officers and shareholders and not members as does an LLC. I would think that the Courts would allow a corporation with 5 or fewer shareholders to make use of this bill, but not trusts or estates.

This bill is useful to the all businesses, including landlords, who are organized in LLC's, partnerships or corporations. It avoids the necessity to hire an attorney for evictions, collection suits both in small claims and circuit court level, other cases brought for and against the business person in circuit court.

Most likely the authorization will have be given by the majority of the members of the LLC or shareholders of the corporation.  The acting or managing partners/members will likely have to give it for the partnership/LLC.

This allows any person of good character to represent the business in court with the proper authorization.  Note however, it does not, however, change any of the evidence required to prove a case. (The employee may not have personal knowledge that a tenant is behind in rent, but may have only been told that by the employer, which is hearsay and not admissible.)

We plan to propose a clarifying amendment to address corporations(not having members), trusts and also family LLC partnerships with more than 5 family members.

Being that different circuit courts presently interpret this situation differently from court to court, the bill would add clarity for circuit court judges.
=====================

Landlord/Business Workshop on June 11th, 2014

You and your guest are invited to Landlord/Business workshop.

We are thrilled to open the registration process for our June 11th  workshop. This workshop will be held in the Community room in Manchester NH and it is free.
This event will be covering:

• 2014 New laws dealing with real-estate.
• Getting a written plan in place to succeed.
• Growing your income for retirement.
• Projecting future income and securing it for your retirement.

WHEN

Wednesday June 11th from 7:00pm - 9:00pm

WHERE

Community Room
50 Queen City Ave.
Manchester, NH 0310

MORE INFO

Call 603-232-9195

Doors open at 6:40 so you can meet other people with your same interest. And food will be served.

Early Bird Registration Open  
Please forward this invitation to some one you know that is interested in learning more about being a Landlord or business owner. 

Looking forward to seeing you there! 

Thanks
Rick Blais

Legislative Update 6/1/2014 - News about HB1409 Anti-Discrimination

This Legislative Update has been provided by Nick Norman, Director of Legislative Affairs, RPOA.

Howdee everyone,

Important Updates:SB347, Fines related to Landlord Agent Registration
Signed by Governor

HB1532, Radon Results Notification
Died in Committee of Conference

HB1409 Anti-discrimination, Died in Committee of Conference.
I went to the Committee of Conference meeting. Here’s the short and skinny of what happened:
1.    The House side offered to take Section 8 out of the bill and only leave VASH (The veterans program), & Domestic violence.
2.    The Senate side stood firm on their position that the bill had too many concerns to put forward legislation without studying it further with all stake holders present.  They also said they had received a very large response from property owners expressing many concerns.
3.    The two sides got into rather heated discussion about it.  It became obvious that the Democrats from the House side seriously wanted to pass something.  They were at a stalemate.
4.    Then the Senate side suggested the House side talk privately to see if they would consider moving forward with a study commission.  If so they had some changes recommended for the commission.  There was also talk about the awkwardness of extending the study commission past November when we would have elections.
5.    The House side did take about 5 minutes to discuss it, came back and asked what the recommended changes were.
6.    The Senate side suggested having 5 landlord representatives 2 large (>30 units), 3 small (<=30 units) & not tied to any landlord organization.
7.    The House side said they thought there would not be enough time for anything meaningful before November.  They said perhaps next year someone would put forward a bill for a study commission with a longer time frame.  Meanwhile the House side vote Non-Concur which stops the bill from moving forward.

So a HUGE thank you to all that contacted legislators.  They heard from many stake holders on each side of the issue and made what we feel is a well informed decision that HB1409 had too many concerns to move forward with it.

Lessons from this experience for us to take notice.1.    Legislators need and welcome our input.  They do not understand the ramifications of legislation with out us contacting them.
2.    There is a major push in the USA for changes on issues of Domestic Violence & acceptance of Rental Assistance.
3.    This issue is not likely to go away.  Expect more in years to come.

Personally I think it would be a good idea if several of us volunteered to work with “the other side” to help them solve the issue.  We are the business problem solvers, so let’s help out.  Perhaps we could help solve the issue rather than have it forced upon us in ways that simply hurt our business and doesn’t solve the real issue at all.

Please let me know your thoughts on this idea.

Action items this week:
None -  we all deserve a break!
See more info in Summaries & Full Detail for each category further below.(to jump right to bill summaries & detail, use Control-F, Find).

This week:None scheduled so far

Next week:None scheduled so far

Further below is:Bills Updated Status summary:  Several status changes
Full details on all bills above
(Which includes property owner position, contact info, talking points, and more)

Love & Light,
Nick Norman
RPOA Director of Legislative Affairs
==============================================
We only list the committee reports on the most important bills affecting the real estate business.  If you want to get the committee report on one of the other bills contact me & I will show you how to get them on line.  Its not terribly hard to get but not straight ahead either.
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Bills Updated Status summary:We only list the committee reports on the most important bills affecting the real estate business.  If you want to get the committee report on one of the other bills contact me & I will show you how to get them on line.  It’s not terribly hard to get but not straight ahead either.

HB1196, Special Circumstances To Waive Interest On Unpaid Taxes    
Title: (2nd NewTitle) relative to applications for abatements and authority to abate prior years’ property taxes.
Property Owner Position: LimitedImpact; You Decide
House Status: CONCURRED
Senate Status: PASSED / ADOPTED WITH AMENDMENT

SB347, Fines related to Landlord Agent Registration    
Title: relative to municipal enforcement of land use ordinances.
Property Owner Position: Against
House Status: PASSED / ADOPTED
Senate Status: PASSED / ADOPTED WITH AMENDMENT

HB1532, Radon Results Notification    
Title: (New Title) relative to notification of radon and arsenic levels.
Property Owner Position: You Decide
House Status: CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
Senate Status: CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
The conferees were unable to agree. In amending this bill, the Senate removed language that the House believes is crucial to the intent and goal of the bill. The Senate was not willing to consider alternative language proposed by the House

SB368, Increase Max Fine Re: Lead Remediation    
Title: increasing the maximum fine for lead remediation.
Property Owner Position: Against
House Status: PASSED / ADOPTED
Senate Status: PASSED / ADOPTED

SB267, Extend  Effective Date Integrated Land Permits    
Title: extending the effective date for integrated land development permits.
Property Owner Position: You Decide
House Status: PASSED / ADOPTED
Senate Status: PASSED / ADOPTED

HB1283, Rights on Revival of Condo Charter    
Title: (New Title) relative to revival of a charter by a voluntary corporation or association.
Property Owner Position: LimitedImpact; You Decide
House Status: CONCURRED
Senate Status: PASSED / ADOPTED WITH AMENDMENT
Ought to Pass with Amendment, Vote 5-0.

HB1409, Antidiscrimination Section 8, Domestic Violence    
Title: expanding the law against discrimination to prohibit housing discrimination against recipients of rental assistance and victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
Property Owner Position: Against
House Status: CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
Senate Status: CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
==============================================
Full details on all bills above:HB1196, Special Circumstances To Waive Interest On Unpaid Taxes
04/01/2014 at 09:15 AM    SH 103
Title: Title: (2nd NewTitle) relative to applications for abatements and authority to abate prior years’ property taxes.

Summary: This bill would grant authority to local governing body of any municipality to waive a portion interest accrued on unpaid taxes upon request of the person liable for the taxes, when the governing body determines that there are special or extraordinary circumstance that require such a waiver.

Property Owner Position: LimitedImpact; You Decide

Link to Committee Info:

Email to Committee:
To:
Subject: HB1196

Link to Bill Text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2014/HB1196.html
Analysis Stated in Bill:

Talking Points:
The bill does not give any guidance as to what are special or extraordinary circumstances, not does it specify what portion of the taxes can be waived.

There are circumstances where the interest should be waived, for instance the tax bill was wrong and the property owner was over taxed, and the property owner paid the correct amount of the tax.  It is not at all clear if the financial circumstances or health of a property owner would be such special circumstances.  Because the bill is so unclear, we do not feel that we should support it.  We also do not think that we should oppose it, as one of us could end up benefiting by such a bill.  You decide.
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SB347, Fines related to Landlord Agent Registration
04/01/2014 at 10:30 AM    LOB 301
Title: Title: relative to municipal enforcement of land use ordinances.

Summary: This bill amends the statute dealing with municipal citations so that any defendant who fails to respond to a citation is subject to fines and penalties set forth in RSA 676:17 ($275 for the first offense and $550 for each subsequent offense, as well as daily fines, attorney fees and more).
It also makes any person who fails to file a statement of a designated agent pursuant to RSA 540:1-c subject to a fine not to exceed $100.


Property Owner Position: Against

Link to Committee Info:

Email to Committee:
To:
Subject: SB347

Link to Bill Text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2014/SB0347.html
Analysis Stated in Bill:

Talking Points:
This is less than the house bill of $500, and just like the house bill does not state who enforces it, nor who receives the fine.  Further, if a landlord is new, doesn't even know about this requirement, and does not register he/she is subject to these fines.  That landlord should be given notice to register by the city or town and a grace period before being subject to the fine.  Should the broker who sells a building to a landlord be required to inform the landlord of the registration requirement?  Should there be some notice or form at a property closing? Perhaps the City or Town must be held responsible to notify all property owners of this law.

There have been several attempts to repeal this Landlord Agent requirement. Many towns do not even know the requirement exists.  They can look up assessment records/purchase records to find address for service.
This law that should not even exist.
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HB1532, Radon Results Notification
05/22/2014 at 02:00 PM    LOB 302
Title: Title: (New Title) relative to notification of radon and arsenic levels.

Summary: This bill would require sellers to disclose the results of any radon test of the air in the lowest level of the building for sale, that they know about, to buyers prior to entering into a purchase and sales agreement.

Property Owner Position: You Decide

Link to Committee Info:

Email to Committee:
To:
Subject: HB1532

Link to Bill Text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2014/HB1532.html
Analysis Stated in Bill:

Talking Points:
The current law is that the sellers or their agent have to disclose the possibility of radon, but not test results. If this passes, similar to lead paint, if the building was tested, the test results have to be disclosed.

For the buyer's prospective, the buyer should be provided this information. It allows the buyer, including members of our group additional information that the buyer can use to make an informed decision.  Since only tests that have been done previously have to be disclosed, there is no additional cost to the seller. If the seller has this information, and does not disclose it, a buyer may have recourse against the seller for fraud under current law.

Some of our members say that radon does not have any scientific evidence of causing any immediate or potential health hazards.  There are no standardized testing locations listed.  A home will have higher levels of radon in basement than on second or third floors. This could lead to these tests leaving our homes/rentals as undesirable because there is radon present even though radon is also present is current outside air that we breathe.

An argument against the bill is that it is one step closer to requiring all buildings to be tested for radon, and eventually lead, and be remediated before sale.  Since we think that this argument would not be appreciated by the legislature we leave this one up to you.
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SB368, Increase Max Fine Re: Lead Remediation
04/29/2014 at 10:30 AM    LOB 202
Title: Title: increasing the maximum fine for lead remediation.

Summary: The current maximum fine, pursuant to the New Hampshire  on lead paint, RSA 130-A is $2,000 for each violation of the law.  This bill would increase the fine to $5,000. Violations of the law include failure to allow inspections, failure to remediate if an order is issued, failure to relocate a tenant in certain circumstances and more.

Property Owner Position: Against

Link to Committee Info:

Email to Committee:
To:
Subject: SB368

Link to Bill Text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2014/SB0368.html
Analysis Stated in Bill:

Talking Points:
You decide talking points on this one.
=====================
SB267, Extend  Effective Date Integrated Land Permits
04/10/2014 at 10:30 AM    LOB 305
Title: Title: extending the effective date for integrated land development permits.

Summary: Extends  the effective date from January 1, 2015 to July 1, 2017 for integrated land permits.  This is related to RSA 489 titled Integrated Land Development.

Property Owner Position: You Decide

Link to Committee Info:

Email to Committee:
To:
Subject: SB267

Link to Bill Text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2014/SB0267.html
Analysis Stated in Bill:

Talking Points:
none developed so far.
=====================
HB1283, Rights on Revival of Condo Charter
04/15/2014 at 02:00 PM    LOB 101
Title: Title: (New Title) relative to revival of a charter by a voluntary corporation or association.

Summary: This bill does not directly affect private landlords, unless the landlord is renting out a condo in a community where there is a home owners association. Given the limited number of our membership that would be affected by the bill we leave this to you to decide if it affects you and how is best for you to respond.

Property Owner Position: LimitedImpact; You Decide

Link to Committee Info:

Email to Committee:
To:
Subject: HB1283

Link to Bill Text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2014/HB1283.html
Analysis Stated in Bill:

Talking Points:
Limited Impact, no talking points developed.
=====================
HB1409, Antidiscrimination Section 8, Domestic Violence
05/28/2014 at 02:00 PM    LOB 208
Title: Title: expanding the law against discrimination to prohibit housing discrimination against recipients of rental assistance and victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

Summary: Proposed and drafted by NHLA (tenant advocates) expanding the law against discrimination to prohibit housing discrimination against recipients of rental assistance (any kind of assistance including Section 8) and any one who claims to be a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.  Note: merely making an unverified call to the police or violence center would constitute some one now in a protected class.

Property Owner Position: Against

Link to Committee Info:

Email to Committee:
To:
Subject: HB1409

Link to Bill Text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2014/HB1409.html
Analysis Stated in Bill:

Talking Points:
WE NEED EVERYONE INVOLED.

This bill makes two significant changes by adding two distinct and separate categories to RSA 354-A.

The first addition to RSA 354-A the protected classes (protected from discrimination) is for people who receive rental assistance..

The second addition to the protected classes (protected from discrimination) is a person who has a current, final protective order under RSA 173-B:5 or RSA 633:3-a, III-a or who had such an order within the previous 5 years.

We met with NHLA about this bill and were told two of the reasons NHLA put forward the bill are:
1. NHLA was told that people in these classes have difficulty finding apartments. However, NHLA has not provided any statistics to back this up.  Further people have 60 days to locate an apartment that can be extended up to 120 days.  If they work as hard at finding an apartment as the members of the legislature do during a session they should be able to locate an apartment within the allotted time frames.

We were told the victims of domestic violence sometimes have trouble getting apartments because these tenants have bad landlord references.

2. The second reason is that NHLA feels all tenants should be able to live where they want (despite their bad landlord references) and that these classes of tenants would  have a better chance of improving their situations if they could live in better areas.

Does this mean that all public housing that concentrates poor people in one project should be eliminated?

Note that rental assistance vouchers have rental amount limits as to how much can be spent on rent.

Some terms:
Section 8 Lease:  Actually there is a  lease & a contract. The landlord and tenant come to agreement on whatever is their normal lease AND the Section 8 program requires a separate contract called the HAP contract, Housing Assistance Payments, between the owner and the Housing Finance Authority.

This HAP Contract is called loosely the Section 8 lease but that is techinically incorrect.

There are so many problems with this bill it is crazy.  Here goes a listing of some.

1. Misguided solution to Section 8 issue.
Presently a good number of landlords accept and many do not accept the Section 8 program.
The issue is sometimes a tenant receiving Section 8 assistance contacts a landlord who does not accept the Section 8 program. The landlord doesn’t accept the program because it is essentially bad for landlords and costs more time and money.

Instead of working to make the Section 8 program more palatable to landlords, HB1409 attempts to solve the issue by making it illegal to discriminate based on Section 8.

In plain words, rather the fix the program, HB1409 attempts to ram it down our throats as is.

Later in this testimony I will present many of the things that make Section 8 bad for landlords.

2. Isn’t it illegal to be forced to sign a government contract?
If you have an existing tenant that finally makes it to the top of the Section 8 waiting list you would be FORCED to accept the Section 8 program or be guilty of discrimination.
In this case, it is clear that HB1409 would force the landlord into signing the HAP contract, a government contract.

3. Many provisions of the Section 8 HAP contract are troublesome, illegal or unconstitutional.

A.    Part A section 7, The housing authority can and does change the amount of monthly assistance during the term of the contract. This happens when the tenant's household income varies.  It causes extra book keeping and errors tracking the ever changing rental split between housing and tenant.

B.    Part B section 2 c.    "The lease between the landlord and the tenant must include word for word all provisions of the tenancy addendum required by HUD.  One of our landlords provided the following:
“I have been able to include the wording on my leases by incorporating the HAP Contract by reference. Below is one sample of what I have to incorporate into the lease:

We agree to accept payments from the Somersworth Housing Authority under the Section 8 Housing Program as part of your rent.  You agree to pay the difference between the amount paid by the Somersworth Housing Authority and the $750.00 rent for the apartment on or before the first of each month.  This amount will be determined by the Somersworth Housing Authority, and is subject to adjustment at least yearly. The amount that the Somersworth Housing Authority will pay at the beginning of this lease is $610.00 per month, and you will therefore pay $140.00 per month pursuant to this lease until such time as this amount is adjusted.

            All parties to this lease agree to execute any addendums to this lease required by the Somersworth Housing Authority.  Said addendums, where required, are incorporated herein and are a part of this lease.

If a landlord fails to do this, the landlord will not receive rent from the housing authority until the lease is amended to conform to this requirement.  Something people without a legal background could miss.”

C.    Part B section 4b(2).  The housing authority (PHA) "may terminate payments for any grounds authorized accordance with HUD requirements." The problem is that if the family does something like drugs, and the landlord is evicting, the housing authority could cut off funds for the landlord, and since the family is poor or they would not be receiving section 8, the landlord would not have anyone to go after for lost rent.

D.    Part B section 4 b (3)  If the family moves the HAP contract terminates automatically.  So if a family breaches the lease and "flys by night" the lease is meaningless and the authority can stop paying.

E.    Part B section 4 b (5) The HAP contract can be terminated if the PHA determines per HUD requirements, that there is insufficient funding to support the continued assistance.  Here HUD itself shows it has funding concerns .

F.    Part B section 4 b (6) The HAP contract terminates automatically upon the death of a single member household, including single member households with a live-in aide.  So, no rent but how do we get rid of the live-in aid, and who has to incur the lost rent while the live-in aid is being evicted?

G. Part B section 10 a (2) it is a breach of the HAP contract if the owner has violated any obligation under any other HAP contract. So, for landlords with multiple buildings, if there is a problem in one building that is a breach then all section 8 payments could stop. With one very bad tenant, who lies this could be a major problem

Also subparagh (5) it is a breach if the owner engaged in any violent criminal activity. So, no defending yourself against a tenant who threatens you with bodily harm. This applies to all tenant and not just the section 8 ones.

H.  Part B secion 11. (a, b, and c but particularly b) The owner has to give "full and free access" to HUD, PHA, and the Comptroller General any and all information, records, computer files, accounts that are relevant to the HAP contract. HUD HAS DECIDED THAT THEY DO NOT HAVE TO COMPLY WITH THE FOURTH AMENDMENT TO THE CONSITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. (Illegal search and seizure or need for probably cause).

If someone wants to challenge this, then they are in breach of the HAP contract and rent stops.  (You do what we want or we will bankrupt you).

I.    Part B section 13.  Any public official, members of a governing body, or State or local legislator, who exercises function or responsibilities with respect to the program can not participate in the program.  So, public officials will be barred from being landlords if HB1409 passes and landlords should not participate in government to avoid this provision. (Although this provision can be waived by HUD)

J. Part B section 14. PHA can keep the sale of the property from going through by refusing to let the new owner take over the lease.

K. Part B section 14 (e) PHA will not allow assignment of HAP contract, sale of property, to an immediate relative.

L. Part C section 5 (d) Owner cannot evict tenant for failure of the PHA to pay rent which gives PHA
Tremendous leverage over the owner.

M. Part C section 8 (e) 1 & 2 The apartment can be destroyed & all neighboring tenants harassed & endangered but the owner cannot evict if it's connected with Domestic Violence. 

4. Perpetrators allowed back in by victim.
Many times the victims allow the perpetrator into the new apartment. Are other tenants to be in danger if new tenant who is victim of DV lets abuser back into their living space?  What if one of the tenants are harmed by the perpetrator.  Can the landlord now be held somehow liable because the landlord could not do anything to eliminate the perpetrator?
If this happens, landlords have limited ability to evict unless they are witnesses to new abuse or disturbance of the peace.  The eviction requires a 30 days notice plus all the time the courts take so it could take 2 to 3 months at a minimum to evict the perpetrator.  Mean time all the other tenants in the building who are subject to the fights, generally are reluctant to call police, and may move on account of the continued problem.  Now the landlord is only left with the troubled unit and will likely have trouble rerenting because of the troublesome unit.

5. Section 8 tenants are more costly for landlords although landlords by HUD rules can not charge more for them.
a. more paper work.  The Section 8 lease and contract is very large with an extreme number of clauses.  Does this mean you have to except all the provisions that this government body dreams up and the landlord as no control over.
b. must take time for initial inspection
c. annual inspections
d. annual financial reviews of the tenants if not more often, which changes the amount paid by the housing authority and the tenant.  Increases bookkeeping time and chances of errors.
e. More regulations, and different standards such as with lead paint renovations which would now have to meet more stringent HUD rules.

Did you know that having a housing assistance tenant forces you to follow HUD RRP rules instead of EPA RRP rules.  The HUD rules are more restrictive and expensive to follow which will absolutely increase your expenses and create more vacancy.  Some of the extra HUD RRP rules:
    1. Under EPA you can have one RRP certified worker supervising other works.
        On HUD Section 8 job ALL workers must be RRP certified.
    2. Under EPA the RRP renovator may do an official “Cleaning Verification Procedure” to release the job back to the occupant.
        On HUD Section 8 job several dust wipes performed only by a dust wipe technician, Lead Inspector or Risk Assessor must be performed sent to a lab and the result proven to be <40 and="" br="" contractor="" dust="" foot="" for="" hud="" if="" job="" lab="" lead.="" meets="" micrograms="" more="" must="" nbsp="" not="" pay="" reclean="" requirement.="" square="" the="" then="" until="" wipes="">    3.  Under EPA there is no prohibition to work on a windy day as long as you can meet containment.
         On HUD Section 8 job you must shut down the job on a windy day (>20mPH).
    4.  Under EPA you are required to meet RRP rules only if disturbing more than 6 square feet.
        On HUD Section 8 job you have to invoke HUD RRP rules if disturbing more than 2 square feet.
There are several more restrictions. HUD Section 8 jobs are always more restrictive in their rules.

f. Need housing authority approval to raise rents, and there are limitations on rent increases based upon what is allowed by HUD
g. Sec 8 is funded by what has been a dysfunctional  Congress.  Who knows what they will continue to fund.
h. Landlords should not be forced to have too many sec 8 tenants, if funding is reduced the landlord could face financial ruin.
i. This will open all our rental properties to having to be up to government (HUD) codes including at least annual inspections, not just current building code.

The bill gives people on sec 8 & any type of housing assistance greater rights than people who work and pay rent from their paychecks.

6.  Limited ability to screen new tenants.
To protect yourself from discrimination suits you will be likely need to give preference to accept Section 8 & domestic violence tenants.  You will not be allowed to deny someone your apartment if they have bad landlord references or bad credit if those references and credit are "caused" by the domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.  Maybe this could be stretched to say the reasons that cause a tenant to be eligible for Section 8 are the reasons for their bad credit.  If so landlords could not refuse a Section 8 tenant because of their bad credit.  Could that be extended to say they could not be refuse because of bad past rental payments.

If you have an existing tenant that finally makes it to the top of the Section 8 waiting list you would be FORCED to accept the section 8 program or be guilty of discrimination.

Isn't it unconstitutional or illegal for government to force a private business person into a government contract?

7. More legal battles to fight.
It happens often that a landlord who never had any intent to discriminate winds up spending hours and hours and thousands of dollars in an effort to convince an investigator of their innocence.  This could easily open up “frivolous” lawsuits against landlords.

8. Potential issues with property insurance
Some insurance companies won’t do insurance if Section 8 is more than 20%-50%.
See
http://www.distinguished.com/Our-Programs/Real-Estate/Affordable-Housing.aspx#.U1MhTVVdWSo

Standard Insurance companies research shows that if there is a majority of a building rented to Section 8 occupants there tend to be more liability claims and less maintenance is done on the building.  We have been told by insurance agents that it is their right not to insure the building in that situation and that insurance rates would likely go up if a landlord had large amounts of section 8 tenants in their building.

9. Depressing effect on value of multi-families and real estate market.
In the investment markets something that provides a stable return is valued higher than something uncertain.  HB1409 creates a huge amount of uncertainty as to what a property owner can expect depending on how many Section 8 tenants with accompanying expenses he/she happens to be required to accept and how much damage and loss of rents caused by associated domestic violence plus the uncertainty of property insurance costs or even obtaining insurance.  All of this would cause multifamily investment property to be less valuable.

This is a terrible bill for landlords. Stay tuned, contact you legislators and ask them to vote against HB1409 as amended.
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