http://wral.com/news/local/story/3059115/

It seems like every time they come up with anything innovative lately it ends up being the biggest dumbass idea ever.

I mean we had the garbage disposal debacle. That one was just lovely, they outright banned new garbage disposals without doing any research or realizing that Raleigh would be the only city in the US that had banned them.

Now they have an innovative way to deal with criminals living in Rental housing. Hold the FUCKING LANDLORDS responsible for their tenants actions in the property. They have also passed a tax on rental properties that requires each owner pay $30 per property and $10 for each additional unit on those properties.

Do not be fooled in to thinking you will not be the one paying that if you rent. Certainly the landlords are going to add it on as an annual fee.

I for one am glad that they are busy thinking of ways to extract money from property owners during a real estate crash AND tenants during an economic downturn. If you do not pay attention to who you vote for in local elections or do not even vote it might be time to start.

Quote :

"Raleigh, N.C. — To eliminate rundown rental housing that becomes a haven for crime, the City Council on Tuesday tentatively approved new fees and regulations for landlords. Changes to the city's Probationary Rental Occupancy Permit, or PROP, ordinance could go into effect in January if the council gives final approval to the proposal next month. Under the proposed changes, landlords would have to register every rental property in Raleigh with city inspectors. The registration fee would be $30 for the first rental unit in a building and $10 for each extra unit in that building or complex. Failure to register could lead to fines of up to $2,000 per month. Tenants could be fined $100 for noise or nuisance violations, and some crimes they commit could be held against the landlord's permit, under the proposal. The crimes include prostitution, possession of stolen goods, weapons and liquor offenses and gambling violations. Landlords who receive several violations could be fined and be forced to attend management classes. The city initially adopted the PROP ordinance three years ago, and the Raleigh Police Department pushed for tougher regulations to crack down on bad landlords. City Councilman James West said the new rules unfairly target poor neighborhoods. "It will create a sour taste in the mouth of some people," West said. Councilman Philip Isley also voted against the changes, calling the registration fees "a tax on tenants." Colin Crossman, government affairs director for the Triangle Apartment Association, predicted landlords would pass the fees onto tenants through higher rents. "If you raise property taxes, it gets passed onto the tenant. In addition, this fee structure will be passed onto the tenant," Crossman said. City officials estimated the fees would raise about $775,000, which would be used to hire people to enforce the new rules. Mayor Charles Meeker said he thinks the changes will help curb crime. "When there are criminal violations or party violations at a rental property, ultimately the landlord is responsible. What this does, it requires after two or three instances the landlord do something," Meeker said."

Quote :

"The crimes include prostitution, possession of stolen goods, weapons and liquor offenses and gambling violations."

SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME HOW IN THE FLYING FUCK A LANDLORD IS SUPPOSED TO PREVENT A TENANT FROM POSSESSING STOLEN GOODS

Each one of those things is already a crime and if the same tenants continue to have violations with them then the laws need to be toughened and the tenant needs to serve some jail time. I do not understand the logic behind coming down on the landlord like a ton of bricks when the tenants are committing the crimes.

6/18/2008 12:09:26 AM

NPO

ordinance about how many unrelated people can live as roommates

etc

6/18/2008 12:15:29 AM

excellent post b...seriously you kilt that shit

6/18/2008 1:18:54 AM

Quote :

"When there are criminal violations or party violations at a rental property, ultimately the landlord is responsible. What this does, it requires after two or three instances the landlord do something,"

How exactly is that going to work? If your property gets called on a couple of times for a noise violation, you get fined? I could maybe stretch my logic and understand that. Maybe. But what if it's a mixed bag of violations? Or what is the statue of limitations between calls to the police? I could also see this being used for a vindictive person to just call in a bunch of party complaints to screw the landlord.

[Edited on June 18, 2008 at 7:01 AM. Reason : ,]

6/18/2008 7:01:24 AM

Quote :

"I for one am glad that they are busy thinking of ways to extract money from property owners during a real estate crash AND tenants during an economic downturn."

My favorite was the blanket reevaluation in Wake county that they did a few months ago where they evaluated everyone's home to be worth something like 60% more - all while you heard that the values of homes were falling 600 times a day on the news.

Sure, it does seem to be a regional thing and our area hasn't been affected as much as others, but it's still fun to see the tax collectors appraise your house by leaps and bounds in what could be the opposite direction.

I guess landlords will have to do background checks and refuse to rent to certain people. That or add about 20 pages to the lease and have a lawyer present.

[Edited on June 18, 2008 at 8:05 AM. Reason : -]

6/18/2008 8:01:29 AM

Quote :

"I could also see this being used for a vindictive person to just call in a bunch of party complaints to screw the landlord."

6/18/2008 9:46:26 AM

Hey why not make banks and other mortgage-holders responsible for crimes committed in houses that haven't been paid for yet?

Quote :

"...When there are criminal violations or party violations at a rental property, ultimately the landlord is responsible."

If the Landlord is responsible for crimes that occur inside their property, why aren't bank-owners fined when a robbery occurs inside the bank? After all, they're "ultimately responsible" for what goes on inside their bank, aren't they?

That Meeker is a piece of work.

6/18/2008 10:19:49 AM

Quote :

"Hey why not make banks and other mortgage-holders responsible for crimes committed in houses that haven't been paid for yet? "

If they could find a way to generate some revenue for the city out of that...

6/18/2008 11:57:56 AM

Quote :

"City officials estimated the fees would raise about $775,000, which would be used to hire people to enforce the new rules."

So they're raising money for their own paychecks.

Nice.

6/18/2008 12:12:54 PM

So basically they are claiming to need $775,000.00 to cover the cost of creating a database of rental properties and the owners contact information......

6/18/2008 12:24:23 PM

ah ha, career opportunity

6/18/2008 12:44:29 PM

i'm glad to say that my district's councilman voted against this. as did my gf's favorite councilman, baldwin (never thought i'd end up liking her)

6/18/2008 1:10:55 PM

Isley, West, & Baldwin are the only ones with any sense at all.

6/18/2008 1:12:00 PM

they are elected right...why not do something about it

6/18/2008 1:14:35 PM

so can we punish the city for crimes committed by the homeless? I mean if anyone is responsible for Raleigh having violent bums lurking about it must be the city managers. They could crack down on the vagrants who make the outside their own apartment.

I doubt the public will do anything about this. I mean they continue to pass BILLION dollar school bonds every couple of years and then we are all like "gee golly property taxes are going up... huh huh huh why's that? " Get a clue.

6/18/2008 8:47:57 PM

^^^^ Do you know where to look that up online? I'm curious to see how my district voted.

^ I remember a few years ago when the people voted against a school bond and they went ahead and got the bond anyway. Yay for non-binding bond votes

6/19/2008 5:50:47 AM

^ I'm checking on the votes--I'll get back to this thread with the info.

In the meantime, these links might prove informative:

Minutes

http://tinyurl.com/4r8dea

Agenda

http://tinyurl.com/45c85a

PROP Ordinance FAQs

http://tinyurl.com/3jbu85

6/19/2008 6:13:05 AM

As promised:

FOR the new PROP changes:

Thomas Crowder
Rodger Koopman
Nancy McFarlane
Charles Meeker
Russ Stephenson

AGAINST the new PROP changes:

Mary-Ann Baldwin
Philip Isley
James West

Source: WRAL

6/21/2008 10:32:21 PM

west was at my neighborhood cookout today. too bad it rained before i had a chance to thank for his vote on this issue.

6/22/2008 12:08:25 AM

Sweet, my guy voted against it.

6/22/2008 12:27:00 AM