Three quick points. First, A $25.00 application fee is enough to obtain credit, criminal and UD background checks. That information is relatively quick and easy to obtain. The $25.00 won't give us rental or employment history information. Rental and employment information takes days to gather and is labor intensive as we wait for humans to call us back. Greg Luce said "the vast majority of tenants would support a small increase in rent." Hogwash. So, the landlord must decide if we want to foot the bill or reduce our standards. Given the current market state, most have no choice but to reduce our standards. Without all of the data, rental property in your neighborhood will let in tenants with historical behavioral problems.
Second, The big problem with this ordinance is the "1 application per apartment" restriction. Some out here claim that landlords profit by taking multiple applications and only running a few. It is against state law to do this and EASY to prove. Please refrain from allegations and show us some prosecutions. If this part of the ordinance succeeds, expect landlords to do the following: a) Start a two step application process. First we will run a quick and dirty history to see if the applicant is close. The only data we can obtain instantaneous is the credit report. People with bad credit, but otherwise are good applicants will have a tough time getting to the second phase of the application. b) If landlords are committed to a single tenant, that tenant must commit to me. I will start requiring a damage deposit and first months rent with the application. This will not give people who require Emergency Assistance time to get their finances lined up. No rent money with the application, no application. I think many of you underestimate the number of failing applications I receive -- even though I have written criteria. There is a better way to do this -- and I have already implemented it. I tell all applicants that IF THEY MEET THE CRITERIA, I will offer them an apartment or return their application fee. Third, The metro area vacancy rate is 7.4%. According to the US Census 2000, there are 233,816 rental units in Hennepin and Ramsey county. This means there are 17,302 vacant rental homes today. Landlords are hungry and some are starting to fail. If a renter cannot find an apartment in today's market, they either have a financial gap or historical behavioral problems. It never fails to amaze me the inconsistencies I see on this board and at the Star Tribune. How can we complain that landlords need to do a better job keeping problem tenants out of our neighborhood while we propose legislation to make it harder/more expensive? Don't we have our thinking caps on? Regards, Bill Cullen Whittier Landlord. P.S. I, and other landlords, heard this ordinance was being proposed and asked for information about it. I am DISAPPOINTED that some of the frequent posters to this board were part of the design of this ordinance yet decided to not invite a single landlord to help design it. Now those same people express surprise that landlords are fighting it. Go figure. 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
