But not this time! AB183 Will Harm Both Tenants and Landlords – Tenant Resource Center Board of Directors Speaks Out in Opposition of Bill Being Voted on Tomorrow
For Immediate Release May 13, 2013 Contact:
Rudy Moore: 608-695-9333
Charlie Breunig: 608-692-6122
The Tenant Resource Center Board of Directors is proud of its long-standing service to both tenants and landlords throughout Wisconsin and does not often weigh in on legislative matters that benefit either tenants or landlords. However, AB183 is so harmful to both tenants and landlords that the Tenant Resource Center is taking a position against it.
“I’m a landlord and serve on the TRC board. I am very concerned that this bill is misleading for landlords. In the end, it may result in more lawsuits, longer court cases, and worse outcomes for both parties due to many misunderstandings of what these laws do,” said Rudy Moore, attorney and President of the Board of Directors.
2011 Wis. Act 108 went into effect in December 2011 and preempted a portion of Madison and Dane County laws. Act 143 went into effect in March 2012 and affected tenant–landlord relationships statewide. AB183 makes more than 20 additional changes to local Madison law, as well as 20 further changes statewide.
During the Assembly Housing and Real Estate Committee hearings and executive session, it became clear that no tenants, tenant attorneys, or bipartisan housing groups had been consulted on this bill, and only a small handful of realtors who are landlords had even been included.
The 21-page AB183 was circulated for sponsors on Monday, April 29, and scheduled for a hearing at the Assembly Housing and Real Estate Committee three days later on Thursday, May 2. It was scheduled for a vote on Thursday, May 9 with an additional six-page amendment released on Tuesday, May 7. The bill will go to the Assembly floor tomorrow, Tuesday, May 14, two weeks after it was first introduced.
“The sponsors are rushing this bill through the Assembly and not giving anyone a chance to analyze its possible effects. Last year with Act 143 they made mistakes they’re trying to correct now, but I’m afraid they’re making new mistakes,” said Charlie Breunig, Treasurer of the board of directors and volunteer housing counselor for the Tenant Resource Center. “Several landlords and their attorneys testified at the Assembly hearing that tweaks were needed, but we think this bill needs more than tweaks.”
Contrary to its intent, this bill will cause more confusion and delays in eviction proceedings. It imposes impractical time restrictions on local courts, landlords, and sheriff’s departments, and also removes mandatory third-party oversight of property left behind. These changes to the eviction process pose new risks to tenants. In one possible scenario, tenants could be served a five-day eviction notice for nonpayment of rent, pay it in full one day after it expires, never receive the summons and complaint which can now simply be mailed to them, still be evicted before the month is even over, and before the landlord comes back from the eviction hearing find that the landlord has towed their vehicle and thrown away all of their property.
According to Eagle Movers, a professional bonded moving company that has done evictions in Milwaukee for 40 years, the new option for landlords to remove a tenant’s property themselves is extremely problematic for landlords. In a statement released on Wednesday, May 8, they explained that it will result in increased police contact to resolve disputes when the landlord disposes of property, and there will actually be more costs for landlords who try to avoid this by asking for the sheriff’s oversight, which will now be less efficient without the required presence of professionals.
“I’m glad our board has decided to follow in the City of Madison’s footsteps,” says Brenda Konkel, Executive Director of the Tenant Resource Center. “On Tuesday, May 7, the Common Council and Mayor Soglin unanimously sponsored and supported a resolution against this bill. This isn’t a matter of being on the side of tenants or landlords. It’s more a matter of creating good laws that make sense and that people can easily understand and follow. That is not happening here.”
For the City of Madison it is also an issue of local control. AB183 will have an impact on more than 20 Madison General Ordinances, which Alder Lisa Subeck described as simple consumer protections. AB183 would remove these protections by preempting any Madison ordinance that asks the landlord to communicate with tenants, so landlords will no longer have to tell applicants whether they will use minimum income requirements or why their rental applications were denied, or inform a tenant moving in that there are penalties in the City of Madison for misusing the smoke alarms. Or do something as simple as providing the tenant a phone number.
Additionally, Alder Lauren Cnare summed it up talking about AB183 by saying, “This is just asking landlords and property owners of multi-family houses to provide common courtesies and generally behave yourself well in the community….This is really more than just being mean to renters, it’s about ruining communities.” The Tenant Resource Center agrees: this bill is extremely detrimental to tenants and landlords alike, and as Cnare suggests, it will be harmful to communities as well.
Please see below for a detailed explanation of what the bill would do.
– Learn how AB183 might effect your housing experience in Madison, Fitchburg, and/or Dane County here.
– For statewide tenants and landlords, a more detailed account of how some of these changes can effect you can be found here.
– This is an analysis of the amendment to be considered in the Assembly Housing and Real Estate Committee does.
