I still don’t have all the notes done, but this is a start!
Just a little background to get you started if you weren’t there. About 30 people attended and we broke into three groups and people were asked to brainstorm issues in four different categories: Tenant/Landlord, Homelessness, Affordable Housing/Development and Fair Housing. The groups then voted to determine which issues they thought were most important. The groups also brainstormed solutions to the issues they identified.
I attempted to add all three groups together and group like issues to determine what issues seemed most important. Here’s the list of items that got some votes, sort of in order of most to least, but there were several ties:
– Acceptance Criteria – criminal, credit, housing history, past rental history, including discrimination based on race/criminal background
– Leases including more charges for various fees, not clearly set out in the lease
– Bad landlords/bad tenants, vindictive landlords
– Low level harassment by landlord – selective enforcement of rules
– Renters in foreclosure – tenants not informed of new law protecting them
– Cash flow
– Lack of ability to break lease
– Knowing how to find housing/housing search + Lack of case management to assist in housing search
– Repairs and Promises to repair, failure to get promise in writing, tenants don’t know their rights, ordinance is too restrictive
– No enforcement mechanism of landlord/tenant laws/chapter 32
– Priority given to college students
– Price of Rent
– Failure to return security deposit, improper charges, charging for normal wear & tear
– Transportation access
– Landlord licensing
Items that were identified but did not receive votes were as follows, some items were identified in several groups and are identified with an *:
– Teenagers
– Overly strict rules regarding kids outside
– Over-showing of apartment, disrupting tenant’s quiet enjoyment – broad times in notices to enter
– Unlawful entry* – lack of remedy for tenants
– Deteriorating housing stock
– Technology (craigslist, etc)
– August 14/15 “homeless”
– Tenant complaints
– Chronic nuisance
– Lack of communication between tenant and landlord (i.e. repair issues)
– Earnest money being withheld
– Education for landlords
– Lack of financial education
Nothing earth shattering, as in most of the categories, but people really want to know the results and I’m slow at compiling them, so that’s a start. Now that I have comments enabled, I can ask, what tenant landlord issues do you think we missed?
More to come, soon . . . .
