 |
 |
PMAM Announcement!
As you know, the PMAM has had two bills introduced in the Michigan House and two matching bills introduced in the Michigan Senate to make it easier for landlords to evict tenants who commit crimes. The first part of the bills removes the obligation of a landlord to make a formal police complaint before utilizing a 24-hour notice to quit against a drug offender and the second part of the bill adds a 7-day notice to quit against a resident who assaults or threatens to assault another resident or employee of the landlord.
Presently, our sponsor of the House bills, Rep. David Nathan, is working to have these bills taken up by the House Committee on Urban Policy. At this time, however, the chair of this committee, Rep. Gabe Leland, is not willing to do so.
It is our hope that if you have faced a problem with a tenant whom you could not evict without waiting for 30-days either because on the drug issue you did not initiate a formal police complaint or because the resident committed or threatened to commit a violent act, that you would send an email recounting your experience to Reps. Nathan and Leland with a copy to our lobbyist, Mia McNeil. If we can show that these are serious issues affecting the health and safety of other residents and employees, we may be able to sway Rep. Leland’s mind.
I am also enclosing a letter an apartment manager already sent in as a suggestion. Please email Rep. Leland at gabeleland@house.mi.gov and Rep. Nathan at DavidNathan@house.mi.gov. Mia McNeil is at MMcNeil@kelley-cawthorne.com.
Thank you very much for your help. If we can get these bills passed, it will make life much better for residents and employees alike.
I. Matthew Miller Chair, Legislative Committee Property Management Association of Michigan (PMAM) PMAM Announcement! SB 635 Becomes Law in Michigan
SB 635 was signed by Governor Jennifer Granholm on January 6, 2009 as new law regarding inspections reform in Michigan. PA 408 language will be posted here as soon as it is available from the state of Michigan. Please contact PMAM with any questions that you may have at (616) 531-5243.
PMAM would like to thank everyone that helped get this legislation passed! The History of SB 635
On September 21, 1999 Kristen D. Larcom, Assistant City Attorney for the City of Ann Arbor produced a memo to the Housing Board of Appeals to their question of “Why the City was justified in going to a 2 ½ year inspection cycle?” At that time, the Washtenaw Area Apartment Association was pressing the City of Ann Arbor to extend their inspection cycles to 3 years. The city could justify a 2 ½ year cycle because the Housing Law of Michigan was not clear on the issue but the Association was told if we wanted it to go longer we needed to change the Housing Law at the State level to allow it. Since that time it has been my priority and that of the Property Management Association of Michigan to change that portion of the Housing Law to allow municipalities to extent the periodic inspection cycle. In 2000, the Property Management Association of West Michigan filed lawsuit against the city of Grand Rapids that alleged the city had violated the Hedley Amendment (which states that if fees exceed costs the voters have a right to vote on it). In September 2001, a decision from the appeals court forced Grand Rapids to reduce their fees for inspections to a reasonable level but left the inspection program in place. At that time however, Grand Rapids inspection program allowed for a graduated inspection cycle and incentivized the rental housing provider. If the property passed well they got a longer inspection cycle and if the property was a problem they were forced to a shorter inspection cycle. This was contrary to what State Law allowed and they have since amended their code. More to follow on their local housing code amendments. In 2002, The Property Management Association of Michigan hired contract lobbyist David Gregory from Kelly Cawthorne and gave him a list of legislative priorities. The number one priority was Housing Law inspection reform to change, force, or allow a longer inspection cycle. The Legislative Committee under the direction of Miria Rabideau and made up of representatives from the DMAA, WA3, PMAMM and PMAWM provided David Gregory with a wish list of what changes they wanted made in the Housing Law regarding inspections. This list included such things as mandating a 3 year inspection cycle, increasing (beyond the 3 years) the inspection cycles for multi unit facilities that do not have substantial or critical violations allowing for 4 or 5 year cycles, requirement that local units of government reconcile actual costs with the fees charged and a request to include additional tools to address the crucial problem of non-uniformity such as capping allowable labor cost and allocate overhead. By April of 2004 we had our first draft of legislation to review and it was introduced as HB 4473 and sponsored by Representative Chris Ward (R-Livingston County). Over the next year the PMAM had this reviewed by our friends at NAA and contacts made in Region III through legislative activities nationally. During this time the Michigan Municipal League and local municipalities made this legislation their number 1 priority to defeat. The very first work group was attended by David Gregory, Kathy Vallie and Alice Ehn along with representatives from East Lansing, Ann Arbor, Holland, Grand Rapids, and a plethora of other municipalities. If memory serves there were about 30 in the room. The Michigan Municipal League did an effective job of stalling legislation by only complaining about what was wrong with the bill and not giving an indication what it would take to fix it and make it palatable to everyone. Through MML’s stall tactics they were able to delay passage of legislation until fall of 2008. On June 25, 2008 Senate Bill 635 sponsored by Senator Garcia, passed the Senate unanimously. This bill includes allowing (not mandating) a 4 year inspection cycle and a 6 year inspection cycle if there are no violations reported. It allows (not mandates) the local units of government to accept other governmental inspections such as HUD or MSHDA inspections in lieu of a local inspection. It allows for percentage basis of inspections whereby not all units must be inspected and a compliance basis. It does not require you to pay for the inspection if the enforcing agency is at fault. Finally, the enforcing agency must to prepare a report, if asked, that will show income and expense for the program as well as total units inspected. On December 18, 2008 the House passed Senate Bill 635 with only 1 no vote. The Governor signed it into law and Public Act 408 on January 5, 2009. During this transition, The Rental Property Owners Association negotiated with the City of Grand Rapids in the reformation of their local inspection laws to a periodic inspection cycle of 3 years with the provision that it could go longer if state legislation changed at any point going forward. Now it is time for all of us to contact our local municipalities and encourage them to increase the inspection cycles to 3 or 4 years. The local municipalities that have implemented periodic inspections are Ann Arbor with a 2 ½ year cycle, Ypsilanti at 2 years, Pittsfield at 2 years and Ypsilanti Township on single family rentals at 2 years. Finally, as you can see this took many years and many persons time to accomplish this important legislation. The association (PMAM) would like to thank all of the members that over the years have counseled, testified, sat in endless meetings, wrote letters and made phone calls to all of the necessary individuals to bring this to fruition. Especially, PMAM would like to thank David Gregory for his guidance and direction to the PMAM Legislative Committee and the Board of Directors. Boiler Rules and Information
Find all boiler rules and information at the links below. PMAM Members also made inquiries regarding these rules and regulations and have shared information related to boilers. PMAM also suggests contacting the State Bureau of Construction Codes at:
Construction Codes
P.O. Box 30254
Lansing, MI 48909
Ph: (517) 241-9313
Fx: (517) 241-9308
bccinfo@michigan.govEnforcement of ASME Code CSD-1 for Inspectors
Information Provided By PMAM Members April 2008
Additional Information from PMAM Members April 2008