Megan Goodmundson recommended that all landlords use the Crime/Drug free housing addendums as it allows landlords to demand problem tenants “be out in a matter or days. No court proceedings.”
My response: If only it was that easy. There is a problem with the Crime free/Drug free addendum: it violates state law. The addendum says that if a resident or their guests violate the addendum (drugs or crime), that it is “GOOD CAUSE FOR IMMEDIATE TERMINATION OF TENANCY.” However, State law requires an eviction procedure to forcefully take away a tenants right to their home. Many landlords, including myself, still use the crime/drug free addendum. But, I consider it a growing dog with no teeth. As Barb Lickness pointed out, the courts require (sigh) evidence. Do you think I can just swagger into court and declare that a tenant is dealing, hooking, gang banging or worst? Heck no. Remember, us landlords are scum (thanks to many on this board for helping with that image) and some housing court referees require us to have more than ample evidence. Police reports often fail us. In an effort to avoid slander suits, the police want as little information in the public version as possible. The private version of police reports are often hard or impossible to get a glimpse of until the criminal investigation (read: years) is complete. The solution is multi-faceted: a) The courts should quit abusing the eviction procedures. Our state law is clear: an evicted tenant must be out in 24 hours except for "extreme hardship." Courts have extended "extreme hardship" to apply to tenants that claim "I have no place to go." Well, duh! b) Our police department must be required to follow state law 13.82. It details what information MUST BE PUBLIC in a police report. We recently asked St. Paul to follow this law, and they have promised to (thank you!). c) The courts need to quit granting UD expungement for frivolous cases. d) It would be nice if the courts were not so biased. I would love to see some neighbors show a housing court referee what damage is done by tenants. I do want to give kudos where they belong. Hennepin county Sheriff is the best department I have ever worked with. When I need them to escort a tenant to the door (after lawful eviction), they usually respond in 24 hours. Ramsey county takes 10 to 14 days! Regards, Bill Cullen. Whittier Landlord. And President of St. Paul Association of Responsible Landlords P.S. Did you know that Southern Metro Regional Legal Services, an agency that “provides free legal assistance to low income people on critical legal problems,” was taking cases when their clients admit guilt? SMRLS would threaten to run up legal bills during an eviction hoping the landlord would settle. They do this because a section 8 voucher holder will loose their voucher if they are evicted. We asked SMRLS to justify their actions. Since PHA has a multi-year waiting list of families for section 8 vouchers, it only seems appropriate that when a family material breaches a lease that the voucher is given to the next family on the list. SMRLS key argument is that they must represent their clients. It appears to me that SMRLS, a government sponsored agency, is manipulating Government subsidies in favor of those that violate civil contracts (and maybe criminal law!). This seems like bad policy for tenants, landlords and neighborhoods. SMRLS made it clear to us that they will continue with this form of legal activism. We wonder why section 8 has a bad reputation! Sorry about the interruption... Back to landlord bashing! -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.7.8/22 - Release Date: 6/17/2005 REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact 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 Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
