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state officials are scrambling over how best to fix the new law. The voter-approved ordinance that caps annual rent increases at 3% and which includes none of the typical exemptions or allowances for new construction, vacant units, or inflation, is set to take effect on May 1, 2022.
The ordinance’s strict provisions have seen developers leave the city almost immediately after its passage in November 2021. Thousands of planned new housings units have been put on hold or canceled, and the number of new multifamily building permits issued by the city has plunged leading to potential further housing shortages. Census Bureau data showing that new multifamily building permits had fallen 80 percent year-over-year in the months after St. Paul passed rent control.
A St. Paul, Minnesota City Council meeting is expected to review a pair of ordinances intended to clear up ambiguities in the new law and provide some certainty for property owners and tenants. The first ordinance would establish basic definitions for terms like “rent” and “rental unit.” The other would direct St. Paul’s Department of Safety and Inspections to articulate what a reasonable rate of return for landlords will be and establish a uniform process for requesting exemptions.
NEW CALIFORNIA SENATE BILL FIGHTS BACK UNNECESSARY CRIMINAL RECORD RESTRICTIONS
Contributed by ApplyConnect
Last year, a California court case sought to redact date of birth information from court records and succeeded. The ruling added unnecessary barriers to the criminal background check process in your tenant screening, added another burden to landlords and tenant screening companies, and jeopardized the objective information housing providers rely on. A new Senate bill has been introduced to eliminate these obstacles.
All background checks rely on personally identifiable information (PII) like dates of birth (DOB) and social security numbers to accurately match the record to the renter. Most courts across the country enable criminal record searches with these identifiers, except in California and Michigan. After “All of Us or None of Us vs. Hamrick,” DOBs and driver’s license numbers were excluded from California criminal records. Superior courts across California have deleted DOB search fields, making it significantly more difficult to verify your renter’s identities during
the criminal background check.
Imagine playing a game of ‘Guess Who?’ and being unable to ask if the person you’re trying to match has glasses. While it’s not impossible to accurately match the person without knowing if they have glasses, it makes it harder. And, if more rules get put into place like banning questions about facial hair or if they have a hat, it makes matching more time-consuming and less reliable.
Landlords and property managers depend on criminal records to protect the public, their assets and ensure the tenants meets their criteria. For example, in your tenant screening you can not only find records of evictions, but also discover in the screening if the person has a record of property damage. Once that is seen, you can decide whether that chance of damaging your property balances well to your needs. Eliminating important PII from criminal public records pokes unnecessary holes in the California criminal database. While this ruling currently only makes your background screening trickier, it’s an alarming trend in the wrong direction. Proposed Senate Bill 1262 aims to fix that.
Introduced by Senator Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood), Senate Bill 1262 would return court record searches to before this new ruling. It would require superior courts to allow criminal searches with driver’s license numbers and DOBs. Ultimately, it would be as if the restrictions from All of Us or None of Us v. Hamrick never existed. So, your tenant screening company can go back to quickly and efficiently matching individuals to their eyeglasses – or in this case, their DOB or driver’s license number.
LIVABLE SMART SAVER TIP OF THE MONTH
Make sure to check the insulation in your property. Good insulation can be an inexpensive way to reduce your electric bill in winter. Adding insulation in your attic is a great place to start since it can keep more heat in your living areas. Another area where heat often escapes is through your walls, especially around electrical outlets and anywhere utilities enter your home. Pay extra attention to plumbing to prevent heat from escaping and protect pipes from potentially freezing. To find out how Livable can save you money, check out http://www.livable. com/apn/ or call (877) 789-6027.
APARTMENT MANAGEMENT MAGAZINE - MAY 2022 CS-7