Meeting Recap, September 17, 2008
The Wednesday 17 September meeting featured two speakers regarding rental property which included an overview of city regulations and tenant rights. A third speaker shared her knowledge of back-up emergency generating power with focus on solutions for the home.
Judging by the relatively high number of people in attendance (approximately 50) and the high level of audience participation, the topics were timely, of high interest and very informative.
Following introductions by the IHA President Steve Kelley, Councilman George Klepacz (216-524-1008 Email George) first shared the surprising news that there are very few regulations in Independence regarding rental properties. Permits do not currently exist for either Renters or Landlords. Furthermore, there is not a mandatory requirement to register with any city service departments (Building, Fire, Police, etc.).
He sees two major issues with needing legislation regarding rental property: Maintaining the quality of the housing stock and Safety.
One knowledgeable audience member did share that there are considerable and enforced regulations which focus on the exterior maintenance of housing not the occupants on the property. As Independence has 95 percent of "owner occupied" housing, only 5 percent (a few hundred homes) are in the rental category. Of the 160 properties, only 4 complaints have been confirmed related to rental properties. In fact, more may be related, the City just doesn't track it.
At least in Independence, it does seem to appear that rental property being poorly maintained is, at least for now, an anecdotal problem. Other audience members did voice their concerns and opinions regarding the economic pressures towards more rental property and the consequent negative impact on property values.
His second issue of Safety is a very important consideration especially in the event of a natural disaster or some other catastrophe. The city does have an automated phone dialer solution to inform all residents with information that they may need during an emergency. The Safety issue can be readily resolved very simply by contacting the Building department (www.independenceohio.org 216-524-1019) and ensuring accuracy of the contact information for people residing at the home. With this method, it is not relevant if the occupants are owners or renters only that they can be reached. The occupant information may just be a cell phone number as it is increasingly common that people no longer have "land line" phones.
Rental legislation has been voted on over the last few years but continues to fail (most recently by 4 to 3 vote against the legislation). Based on the active audience participation and feedback, is clear that this issue is complex and does not present a simple, obvious solution that maintains community standards. George and the audience presented a balanced and intelligent interactive discussion on this topic.
Michael Peipsny J.D. (Cleveland Tenants Website 216-432-0617, 216-432-0609, 216-432-0614, 216-432-0617) was the next Speaker. He is the Executive Director of the Cleveland Tenants Organization which is a non-profit 11 employee strong group that helps people in the entire Cleveland community (including Independence) ensure that the Tenant (Renter)-Landlord relationship is successful on a partnership level.
His organization primarily focuses on helping Tenants meet rent obligations but also actively helps Landlords find appropriate Tenants. Therefore, the CTO is a valuable resource not just for Renters but also Landlords. Landlords should visit: housingcleveland.org or call 877-428-8844 for further information.
Michael primarily focused on the inner city of Cleveland and shared some very troubling data including that 1 in 5 homes have dangerous levels of lead paint. He also discussed that Tenants do have a higher responsibility for insurance and maintenance than is generally understood which leads to conflicts in the Tenant-Landlord relationship.
His information was excellent and was an "eye opener" as it further shows how fortunate we are by living in Independence and, by comparison, how our Cleveland neighbors are struggling.
Pamela Humphrey is the Proprietress of Sills Motor Sales (sillsmotor@aol.com 216-749-1363 www.sillsmotor.com ). She was our final Speaker and focused on portable Generators for the home. She and her team shared information on safely installing a breaker box transfer switch in the home (this isolates the Generator from the electrical power). The importance of doing an energy survey before purchasing a generator was also discussed.
Her team can help with both installation and hardware and should be contacted if you are looking to add back-up emergency power to your home.
This topic was very timely as the high wind remnants of the recent hurricane affected Ohio and left many people without power for a few days. Her company sells Honda Generators so she brought a few models as demonstrators for the audience to see. She also had a portable load tester (which measures appliance loads) that she gave to a randomly chosen but lucky audience member.
As always, refreshments were available throughout the informative and enjoyable evening.
- Mike Zubic IHA Secretary