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HUD changes lead regulations – immediately impacts Section-8 rentals

bob

HUD has implemented its new rule on children’s blood lead levels and it’s now in effect. HUD’s New Lead Regulation Press Release

Immediately, any child living in a unit receiving Section-8 assistance with an “elevated” blood lead level of 5 or more micro-grams per deciliter (5 ug/dl), down from 20 ug/dl, the following must occur within 30 days, if not, the owner will have their Section-8 rental assistance terminated.

  1. owner notified by email and mail
  2. the unit inspected by a licensed lead inspector – within 15 days after notice sent
  3. a lead abatement and management plan drawn up
  4. a certified lead abatement contractor hired
  5. work completed
  6. unit re-inspected
  7. conditions cleared and documented – within 30 days after notice sent

We are also concerned that the lead levels in our Country have fallen considerably and are at such low levels now that we should be celebrating a victory for eradicating childhood elevated lead levels instead it appears we’re trying to eliminate a natural element used for thousands of years from our planet, which is an impossibility….consider this chart.

The good news for now is the CT Department of Public Health (CT-DPH) has not moved off its current abatement levels. Currently any owner with a child residing in their property with a blood lead level of 20 ug/dl is immediately issued an abatement order. If a child has a 15 ug/dl level, a second blood test is required and if that also is at 15 or higher, then that owner is issued an abatement order. However, there are some indications that CT-DPH is looking to lower its levels also as seen here, 2018 Lead Action Agenda_updated_7-2-18

The CTPOA has already taken action to help protect landlords and met with D’Amelia & Associates, the administrator for Connecticut’s Housing Choice Program, representatives from Day Star inspections, spoken with State Legislators and is discussing this new rule with local Housing Authorities that manage the Federal Housing Choice Voucher programs in larger cities.

We are trying to work with housing agencies from both landlord and tenant groups to make these new rules operable in Connecticut. No property owner should be penalized by having their rental payments stop because of a new government policy that everyone so far agrees, 30 days is just unrealistic to get all the requirements completed.

 

 

 

CTPOA Announces Primary Picks

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CTPOA President Bob DeCosmo

The Legislative Committee of CTPOA believes it’s time to put Connecticut back on the right track and elect politicians from any party that won’t tax and foolishly spend our hard earned dollars. We have looked at some key races and discussed the options.
On Tuesday, August 14, please vote for candidates CTPOA believes will help our State, also remind your tenants to vote. Together we all can take the first step in fixing a broken Connecticut.

CTPOA Endorses

Republican Governor – Tim Herbst.  
Tim Herbst has met with us on several occasions and listened to our concerns about a broken system of evictions and Fair Housing Investigations among other issues. He has pledged his support to make CT more friendly to property owners and tax-payers; we believe he can do this! Tim Herbst is bold, bright and strong and that’s the kind of leader we’ve not seen in the CT Governor’s mansion in a long time. We need to downsize our government and make the most out of taxpayer dollars and we think Tim’s the right guy to get the job done.
Democratic Governor – we don’t like either
If Joe Ganim’s felony conviction was for something other than corruption, we could consider his leadership and remarkable support from the Bridgeport residents, but he was convicted of corruption and CT would be the laughing stock of the nation if we elected a corrupt felon into high office. Ned Lamont, is a tax and spend liberal that has no relevant street level experience and won’t relate to the beleaguered urban property owners. He’s an out of touch millionaire with nothing in common with 99% of CT’s residents.
Republican Lieutenant Governor – Joe Markely
Senator Markley is one of those Legislators that went the extra step and always was willing to work with CTPOA. He was one of the few Legislators that helped get a Program Review and Investigation study exposing the one-sided nature of Fair Housing discrimination complaints, a process that still must be fixed. We also think Joe will serve the State’s checkbook and finances well and help guide Connecticut back into prosperity. Joe has been in communication with CTPOA for years and at times would seek out our counsel on issues, a relationship we would want to see continue.
5th District Congressional Seat – Republican Ruby O’Neil
Hard work, intelligence and solid conservative principles make Ruby the choice in this race. She is a true success story growing up as an immigrant child overcoming obstacles along the way to becoming a respected college professor. Ruby is a fighter and draws from a wealth of real life experiences to help guide her decisions. As a Latino and a leader on the Commission of Equality and Opportunity, Ruby brings a conservative perspective into this important area of discussion.
Ruby is also married to State Representative Arthur O’Neil who was recognized by CTPOA in 2016 for his lifetime of effort supporting property owners. We believe Ruby will be a hard working Congresswoman that will help residents in the residents in the 5th Congressional district and we also believe she can help us with property owner issues in Washington.
5th District Congressional Seat – Democrat Jahana Hayes
Jahana Hayes is an intelligent community minded individual that achieved national recognition by becoming the teacher of the year. She has been active in helping organizations such as the Front Porch Initiative achieve its goals and was a tremendous and active volunteer for that group.
Her primary opponent, Mary Glassman is a self-proclaimed Progressive Democrat that wants to repeal the recent tax-cuts and redistribute your wealth and expand safety net programs to the point where they are no longer safety nets, but a stress free way to live. We don’t need more tax and spend liberals in Washington. We believe that Jahana will make her own decisions and not become a party puppet of the radical-left if elected.
Attorney General – Democrat Paul Doyle
Senator Doyle has a long history of supporting landlords. While he was a State Representative he worked to pass eviction reform in 1997 and 1999 improving a system that was far worse for property owners than it is today. Our endorsement for Paul is not only based on his long-term efforts helping landlords but also for our opposition to his opponent. William Tong is an out-of-touch liberal from Fairfield County that told landlords the unfairness of the CHRO process was a cost of doing business and they just had to suck it up. We don’t need another anti-business leaders like Tong in the powerful position of Attorney General, CT has suffered enough.
Attorney General – Republican Susan Hatfield
Susan is a former State Prosecutor that says under her leadership, she will make the Attorney General’s office, “More pro-business,” words that are long overdue as we have suffered from years of attacks on business forcing many to decide to pack up and leave. In May, The Connecticut Mirror quoted Susan as saying, “My office will be a fierce advocate for state taxpayers. My team will be laser-focused on state contracts and bond packages to root out waste and fraud.”This is exactly what we need to be doing to make CT competitive again and eventually lower taxes.

The State Capitol is your building, fight to make it right

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It’s The Only Solution

bob

How Do Things Get Better For CT Landlords?

I hear it all the time….”the eviction laws favor tenants,”…the “CHRO discrimination process is legalized extortion,”… “the lead paint issue is a hoax…children’s lead levels are at historic lows but their I.Q. scores are also going down,”…Bob can’t CTPOA fix any of this?

Well the answer is both yes and no! We can’t fix any of this legislatively, we’ve tried for many years but in Connecticut the cards are stacked against landlords. However, landlords can get organized and work together as a team to unseat Legislators that are openly hostile to private landlords and businesses and at the same time elect pro-landlord legislators.

The progress we have made at the Capitol has ground to a halt the past couple of years as liberal committee leaders favor tenants over landlords. No better example is Representative William Tong of Stamford who is now running for Attorney General in CT. Last year several landlords asked to meet with him in his district to discuss housing matters, specifically the complaints about the CHRO process being totally one-sided and favoring tenants. His response was devastating, he basically said that frivolous discrimination complaints are in fact a cost of doing business and that landlords had to suck it up. Then he continued to say basically that you don’t have the votes to change things!”

We pursued to fix the CHRO law despite Tong’s assertion with a Bill proposed by Representative Cara Pavalock of Bristol, (Bill# 7303) and when it arrived in Tongs committee (he is the House Chair on Judiciary) it was basically stripped of all language that was going to help landlords and instead new language was inserted to help CHRO and tenants….we then had to  work hard to kill our own Bill.

There is no way to fix things legislatively unless the players change at the State Capitol. Liberal leaders run committees and their agenda is just not in line with most business owners. This November there is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fix things at the State Capitol.  Landlords will have an opportunity this November to get organized and vote out several anti-business, anti-landlord legislators and help elect pro-landlord legislators. Then and only then can things possible get better for rental owner in the State of Connecticut. Remember we did this in New Britain in 2013 when that city’s mayor attacked landlords, we can do it again in November, it’s the only solution!

2018 Legislative Session; a bumpy ride so far!

bob

The 2018 General Assembly Session has been anything but a smooth ride as several harmful Bills advanced further than they should have. This could be a  signal for trouble on the horizon for CT Landlords unless they wake up and get more involved in the political process and make Legislators understand what they face on a daily basis dealing with their properties.

Bill # 5376 “An Act Limiting Rent Increases In Certain MultiFamily Dwellings” would limit rent increases for owners who received State or Federal funds to improve their property. What was horribly wrong with the Bill besides limiting profits was it tied the rate of increases to the CPI and property owners costs are not tied to that index but property taxes, insurance and utility costs so it was just a bad idea to begin with. The Bill was opposed by CTPOA but few other testified against it and while this version said “if an owner received State or Federal funding”…this is only one amendment away from making this apply to all rental property owners.

Another Bill that concerns us is Bill # 356 “An Act Concerning Licensing and Registration Requirements For Operators Of Certain Short-Term Rental Properties” The proposal requires licensing for those involved in short term rentals of less than 30 days. Again, it’s not that far of  a stretch to eliminate the words “less than 30 days” and substitute instead, “all rental properties!” The result would be a windfall of revenue for the cities and State from licensing fees on rental property owners.

There are other troubling Bills alive and kicking but we’ve met with several legislators to try and persuade them not to bring these Bills forward, only time will tell. There are only 3 weeks left in this session so we’ll know soon enough what the future looks like for CT rental property owners!