David, I would prefer to not get involved in this debate. But for your, and some others, information landlords have in the past attempted to share information, or "pool" as you suggest. They were jumped on heavily by tenant advocate groups for doing so. Almost considered an "anti-trust" matter with threats of suits for running a "Blacklist". The City of Minneapolis could also maintain such a pool, but let them try it and see what happens.
At present, other than through background checks and credit reports, there is no way of screening tenants. That process costs money, and the applicant either bears the cost, or the eventual renter bears the cost. The cost of running the "business" is always passed on to someone, and it almost always is to the consumer. Some might say well just charge it to the landlord, whether it be taxes or fees, but they forget that the person who will always eventually pay the cost is the renter. The problem comes when unscrupulous landlords charge the application fee, but do not pay to have the background check done. Gary this is already illegal What Gary should look at is two pronged. 1. Create a City ordinance (or lobby to have the State legislate) that application fees must be paid to cover actual costs of doing the background and credit checks(already the law) and have such reports given to the prospective tenant as his or her property. 2. Create a mechanism so that a person can present an agency report, bought by the prospective renter, and which must be accepted by a landlord in place of an application fee. In this way a renter only has to pay once for it, and have it remain valid for three or six months (or some such time). The other renters in a building should not be subjected to having to live in a building with bad people. A rental property provider should not have to rent to someone who will destroy his or her building (or have people engaging in criminal behavior that might jeopardize ownership interest). A rental property owner may be criminally charged for maintaining a "Disorderly House" because of the criminal behavior of tenants, a jeopardy that few would assume without the background check mechanism to protect one's self. Bad people and problem tenants jeopardize the property owner, the neighborhood surrounding them, but especially to unfortunate "Good" people forced to rent apartments in the same building. We need a mechanism to insure these good folks are not victimized by either. Neither jeopardized by having to live in the same building with criminals, nor by unscrupulous landlords seeking to profit by "renting" a unit rather than by providing affordable, quality, rental housing. Keith is correct about the shared interests of renters and rental property providers. What is needed is for responsible elected representatives, such as Gary, to provide a forum for a discussion among these two groups to create a mechanism whereby each is protected from both "Bad" landlords and "Bad" tenants. The "Property Rights" group should transition into a "Rental Property Owners and Tenants Association" or such a group needs to be created. Sustainable, affordable, rental housing makes such a natural alliance not just desirable but necessary. Probably because of my childhood on tenant and sharecropper farms, I have always been bothered by the term "Landlord". And the very implications of the word. We need more professional "Rental Property Providers" and a little less land "Lording" for the good of our community. I think most ethical people have more pride in providing housing for other good people than in being viewed as a "Lord". The term does an injustice to the good work most do and to the relationship most owners have with their customers, who are not "serfs", but most times "friends". Jim Graham, Ventura Village, Phillips Community Planning District, Sixth Ward of Minneapolis REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
