MMHA Government & Public Affairs

2010 Census Compliance Update

Apartment properties will continue to see Census workers in their neighborhoods through July, gathering information from residents who did not complete a 2010 Census questionnaire.  According to Title 13, Section 223 of the U.S. Code, apartment firms are required only to: (1) furnish the names of the occupants of the premises; or (2) provide Census workers free ingress to and egress from the property.
Census enumerators are trained to seek access to the property and knock on unit doors to contact the resident directly. They have not been instructed to simply request a list of residents from the property manager. They are also never instructed to challenge property owners with threats of fines for failure to comply, as has been sporadically reported.
If you have questions about a particular census worker or concerns about their legitimacy, you are encouraged to call the regional Census office in Seattle at (425)-908-3000. Remember, complying with the Census allows valuable data to be collected to effectively allocate federal funding for services and infrastructure.

Carbon Monoxide Alarms in Rental Housing

Government Relations & Public Affairs 2008-2009

Overview

Since 1993 Metro Multifamily Housing Association has served its members and the general landlord community with the best up-to-date rental forms, educational opportunities, effective legislative and local government advocacy. In 2007 MMHA strengthened its members’ voice for the industry by partnering with a government relations consultant and in 2008 hiring a Legislative Analyst.

Each legislative session Metro Multifamily Housing Association works on dozens of bills that affect property owners and managers of rental housing. In addition, we work on ordinances in many local jurisdictions that can be precedents—good or bad— for other jurisdictions or even statewide policy. The MMHA legislative team works to achieve results so our members can offer the best quality rental housing while retaining profitability in an increasingly complex political and regulatory environment.

Developing relationships to achieve success

MMHA works with a diverse network of collaborators to promote quality rental housing and the rental industry as a whole. While some agencies can be competitors or even adversaries, these strategic and mutual beneficial alliances allow the relationship building and cooperation that’s necessary to realize significant legislative achievements.

Oregon Association of Realtors

Rental Housing Association of Oregon

Oregon Home Builders Association

Institute of Real Estate Management

National Multi Housing Council

Oregon Fair Housing Council of Oregon

Oregon Law Center

Lane County Legal Aid

Community Alliance of Tenants

Multnomah County Public Health

Oregon Real Estate Agency

Bureau of Development Services

Portland Housing Bureau

National Association of Real Estate Professionals

City of Gresham, Dept of Community Development

Negotiated better Oregon Real Estate Agency (REA) rules:

    •  Convenient electronic and out-of-state file storage options are
       now allowed for property management companies.
    •  Companies can now determine their business practices as long
       as an audit trail is provided.
    •  With MMHA leadership, our industry has a higher, more
       respected profile, through minimum education requirements for
       licensure and new standards for providers and instructors of
       continuing education credits towards licensure.

Created easier explanation for “no-cause” termination notices:

    •  Landlords can now explain the reason for terminating the
       tenancy, without converting a No-Cause Notice into a For Cause
       Notice.

Created Temporary Occupant option, so guests won’t morph into tenants :

    •  Offered solution so that a landlord may allow an individual to
       become a temporary occupant of the tenant's dwelling as a guest
       of the tenant via a written agreement of the landlord, the tenant,
       and the temporary occupant—without gaining tenant rights.

Streamlined abandoned property of deceased tenant:

    •  A landlord can now allow the designated person of a deceased
       tenant to remove any personal property, if state probate
       procedures fail to address the issue. Landlords following these
       provisions are not liable to another person that has a claim or
       interest in the personal property.

Accelerated eviction for occupancies conditional upon employment by landlord:

    •  Landlords are only required to give 24 hours written notice to an
       employee of a resident of a dwelling unit, including members of
       the employee’s household, whose occupancy is conditional
       upon employment in and about the premises.

Fought for realistic and practical consumer protections for towing on rental property:

    •  Successfully challenged provisions requiring a two-hour waiting
       period before towing any vehicle, and requiring property
       managers/owners to contact vehicle owner prior to any tow.

    •  Retained landlord’s right to tow without notice at parking lots
       where there are more residential units than there are parking
       spaces or a vehicle blocks access by emergency vehicles,
       blocks entry to premises, or blocks another parked vehicle.

    •  Towing operator must photograph each vehicle in violation
       noting the date and time and if the owner or operator of vehicle is
       present at the time of the tow, the tower is required to drop
       vehicle at no charge.

    •  If the parking facility has assigned space parking, the owner/
       agent of parking facility must first notify the assigned tenant prior
       to towing a vehicle from that assigned space.

Forced Reasonable Carbon Monoxide Alarm Regulations:

    •  Negotiated reasonable definition of “carbon monoxide source”
       applied to multifamily housing.

    •  Stopped immediate installation provision and ensured phased
       implementation dates for carbon monoxide alarms.

    •  Successfully removed call for special inspections, and pushed
       for carbon monoxide alarm responsibilities to be in line with
       existing smoke alarm statutes.

Made Smoking Policy Disclosure for rental properties more reasonable:

    •  Collaborated with Governor’s Task Force for Smoking
       Disclosure to only apply to new residents.

    •  Removed provision that would have had required landlord to warn
       tenants of second hand smoke dangers during lease signing.

    •  MMHA rental agreement will be modified to have the necessary
       language to disclose the smoking policy.

Reduced owner liability with 100 year flood plain disclosure:

    •  Disclosure of whether or not the property exists on a federally
       designated 100 year flood plain will remove liability from
       property owners for any damage to tenant possessions.

    •  Using MMHA’s rental agreement will keep landlords compliant
       with the requirement to disclose whether or not the property
       exists on a federally designated 100 year flood plain.

Energy Efficiency Building Goals:

    •  Lowered efficiency mandates for existing multifamily residential
       buildings from 15 to 10 percent.

    •  Removed Energy Star as benchmark in favor of ratings
       developed by state and local building industry.

Prevented multiple Real Estate Transfer Tax proposals:

    •  MMHA concurred with a historic compromise between Realtors,
       Home Builders, Bankers, and Affordable Housing Advocates to
       produce this bill raising the current recording fee for real estate
       documents $15 to build goodwill and fund affordable housing
       programs in Oregon, while holding back other real estate
       transfer tax efforts.

Protected Non-compliance Fees :

    •  Secured landlord ability to charge non-compliance fees of up to
       $50 for five common circumstances including late payment of
       utility or service charge that the tenant owes the landlord, Failure
       to clean up pet waste, garbage or rubbish from premises (other
       than dwelling unit), parking violations and improper use of
       vehicles within the premises.

SUCCESSFULLY CHALLENGED

Call to Action – Onerous Federal Energy Efficiency Building Codes

In Washington D.C. a sweeping energy and climate change bill is currently working its way through the House of Representatives that includes an onerous building codes section (Title 2 of H.R. 2594, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009). Comparable legislation is also being marked up in the Senate. Click on the following links to…

» Download  letter to send to your Senators and Representatives

» Find your Senators and House Representatives

» Review comparisons of these measures

» Learn more details about this Call to Action

Portland's WaterSense Toilet Rebate Program

» Rebate Flyer
»WaterSense label description
» Eligibility Form
» Find a WaterSense toilet (list of models)

Virginia Graeme Baker Pool & Spa Act

These new federal laws when into effect in December 2008. The new regulations are meant to prevent entrapment danger from the drains in pools and spas. Please view the following links to make sure your pool or spa is in compliance.

NAA Media Coverage of the 2008 Democrat and Republican conventions

The National Apartment Association compiled this documnet tracking housing related issues covered in the two conventions.  »Download NAA Media Coverage

Quality Rental Homes Workgroup – Fall 2008 Update

In 2007 the Portland City Council appointed the Quality Rental Housing Workgroup, a diverse group representing landlords, tenants, and public health advocates, to explore issues of substandard rental housing. The workgroup’s draft proposals culminate a 16-month pragmatic process addressing an array of concerns, recommendations, and actions. The workgroup’s findings are now up for public comment and your participation is essential. Please view links below including an explanatory letter from the MMHA Board of Directors and the complete 79-page draft report.

» Letter from the MMHA Board of Directors

»Complete 79-page draft report-Quality Rental Homes

New Columbia River Bridge getting closer to a reality

Portland City Council approved a resolution calling for a new bridge with light rail and no more than three lanes in each direction for through traffic. The Columbia River Crossing (CRC) is a 4.2 billion plan to replace the six lane I-5 bridge with a new toll bridge, light rail extension and six interchange rebuilds. The endorsement came with many conditions including charging tolls on the I-5 and I-205 bridges.  »View the CRC timeline/project schedule

Consumer Identity Theft Prevention
for Multifamily Companies

This information is provided as a starting point for property management companies / landlords to formulate written policies and procedures to protect “personal information” as required by the Oregon Consumer Identity Theft Protection Act. The Act requires all businesses in Oregon which possess consumers’ personal information to have written policies and procedures in place to protect that information.  »Further Information

Section 8 lawsuit petitions US Supreme Court

In Montgomery County, Maryland a landlord has sued as local ordinance requires mandatory participation in the federal Section 8 Housing Program. The law firm representing the landlord is actively recruiting amicus briefs (friend of the Court briefs) in support of the Court granting our petition and hearing our case. The California Apartment Association and the National Association of Realtors have already pledged their intention to file briefs. The MMHA board has not yet deliberated the case to determine its course of action.
»Further information 

WARNING:

New Interpretation of Post and Mail Statute

After 10 years, some tenant attorneys are pushing a new interpretation of the post and mail statute which may make such service invalid at certain communities. If your on-site office is located inside a building, such that the door to the office is not accessible at all hours, then you should cease posting and mailing notices until you put into place the new Addendum to Rental Agreement that is linked below. MMHA has just updated its rental agreement with language that addresses this issue (edition February 2008). However, existing tenants do not have the correct language. Make sure to serve the attached amendment which includes the new language and solves the problem.

»Full Explanation from Andy Hahs
»Download revised Amendment to Rental Agreement(M160-OR)

2007 Legislative Updates

2007 was certainly an active year for legislative changes affecting the local, state, and national levels. MMHA has been at the front lines in these decisions, cooperatively exuding our influence towards equitable results for our members. Please click on the following links to read up on the newest changes.
»Metro Area Updates
»Oregon Statewide Update
»Domestic Violence Update
»Real Estate Agency Administration Rules Update
»Federal Update

»2006 Legislative Update from Norton Cabell