Ted Verdone
Rent escrow push
It hasn’t happened to him, but landlord Ted Verdone has heard from other small property owners who have dealt with what he calls “unscrupulous” tenants.
They are the kind of tenants that every landlord has nightmares about. They break or ruin something in the apartment, complain to authorities about a health code violation and withhold rent. Then they refuse to let a landlord correct or repair the problem, and will disappear, leaving unpaid rent in their wake.
Verdone and other landlords are hoping to put a stop these rent-free days. They’ve been pushing for a law that would require tenants to continue paying rent into an escrow account during those types of disputes.
The rent escrow bill, which is stalled in the Legislature, is just one of the issues that Verdone and other Bay State landlords will be discussing at an educational conference later this month.
The one-day conference, organized by the Massachusetts Rental Housing Association – a statewide coalition of local property owner groups across the state – will take place April 20 at the Best Western Royal Plaza in Marlborough. It is the second conference that MRHA has organized.
“I call it ‘Crash Course in Landlording 101,'” said Verdone, referring to the conference.
The conference will feature sessions on housing discrimination, Section 8 tenants, home inspections, housing court and other issues.
An MRHA member for two years, Paul Weston said the conference helps landlords by providing information on their rights and responsibilities.
“It’s a difficult business to be in,” said Weston, the owner of a two-family home in Malden who heads the Rental Properties Association of Greater Malden.
According to MRHA President John F. Luchini, some of the key topics that will be discussed at the conference are fair housing laws and housing courts.
“There’s always the need for better understanding of fair housing laws,” he said.
Last year’s conference, held at the Ramada Inn in Auburn, was packed – drawing about 130 attendees. Conference organizers had to turn people away last year due to limited space.
This year, MRHA decided to have the conference at a different location to accommodate more people. The conference organizers are expecting about 300 people to show up. So far, 125 have registered, according to Verdone, who is the conference coordinator.
Myth-conceptions
This year’s guest speaker, Erin Kemple, executive director of the Housing Discrimination Project in Holyoke, will be addressing the myths and misconceptions surrounding housing discrimination and fair housing laws.
Kemple’s office receives more than 300 housing discrimination complaints a year. She said it is clear from those complaints that most people, including landlords, do not understand fair housing laws.
A common misconception among landlords is that they must refuse to rent to families with young children if lead paint is present in the home, she said. Another misconception is that landlords cannot enforce legitimate rules and regulations about behavior or payment of rent against people who are disabled.
Many landlords believe they don’t have the right to do anything when a disabled person doesn’t pay rent or violates the lease, she said.
“That’s simply not true. People who are protected by the law have the same obligation to follow the rules and regulations … of the landlord as anybody else,” said Kemple.
Kemple, who has provided housing discrimination training for MRHA and the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, said she is glad she will be talking to small-property owners about discrimination because Massachusetts has three of the most racially segregated cities in the country.
According to a study done by Harvard University’s Center for Civil Rights about a year ago that was based on 2000 Census data, Lawrence, New Bedford and Greater Springfield ranked in the top 10 most segregated cities, she said.
“What a lot of people don’t know is that Massachusetts has a high degree of segregation,” she said.
Besides housing discrimination and rent escrowing, another issue that will be of interest to landlords is water sub-metering.
According to local landlords, Massachusetts is the only state that requires landlords to pay water bills, which are typically rolled into the cost of tenants’ rent. Other states allow sub-metering, which means that tenants are billed according to how much water they use, just as they are billed for how much electricity they use.
With drought conditions, the sub-metering issue is gaining more momentum among property owners in Massachusetts.
Verdone, who owns 86 units in the Metrowest region, said even if sub-metering were allowed, there wouldn’t be a rush of owners immediately installing separate meters. However, builders constructing new properties would have that option.
The conference will also give property owners a glimpse of the inner workings of housing courts. Worcester Housing Court Judge John G. Martin will be on hand to talk about how the housing court process works.
“People need to understand how their own courts work and the pitfalls to avoid,” said Luchini.
Verdone explained that attendees will get information on how to prepare themselves before going to court.
In addition, a Worcester attorney will present a talk about the eviction process and selling multifamily properties with problem tenants.
Verdone said that he also expects that attendees will want to hear more about lead paint, particularly after a recent proposal by public health officials to tighten the acceptable lead levels.
“What we’re looking for is reasonable common-sense enforcement of the law by the Department of Public Health and we don’t believe we have that yet,” said Verdone.
Property owners who are interested in attending the conference can register by calling MRHA or visiting www.massrha.org. The cost is $70 for members and $90 for nonmembers. People can register at the door, but the cost will be higher – $80 for members and $95 for nonmembers. The Best Western Royal Plaza is located on Route 20 at 181 Boston Post Road.
