Tuscarawas County Real Estate Investors Assoc.

Transcription

1 Tuscarawas County Real Estate Investors Assoc TuscREIA Officers: President: Chris Hopkins Vice President: Tommy Cannon Treasurer: Patty McCreery Secretary: Linda Sherer 2014 Advisory Board: Jack Lewis, Bryan Mitchell, Jack Jones, John McCreery, Bill Walsh & Janet Stear General Meeting Scheduled: Thursday, Sept. 7pm Location: Geib Family Center, East High Ave., New Phila Speaker: Mr. Mike Chek, Health Dept. for Tuscarawas County Mr. Chek will join us for our regularly scheduled September meeting. He will bring us information on changes coming in 2015 concerning Well & Septic. In order to have a property transfer you must have the systems ok d that they are in correct operating order. Increases in costs for having your system check and approved will go into effect Mr. Check will also bring information on other issues that are part of the Tuscarawas Health Department. Join us on Sept. 7pm for this and many other items. Volume 3, Issue 5 September 2014 Inside this issue: Secretaries minutes 2 Credit Checks costs New & Improved 2014 Presidents note 3 FREE Ads: Unit s 4 Rent Introducing our 2014 Officers & Board Legislative Updates Articles from around our state Sept. Refreshments will be provided by: Board member: Bryan & Nelllie Mitchell Thank you! TO: Bill & Christine Walsh for July s delicious refreshments. TO: Tommy Cannon for helping us get our July speaker, Jamie Zucal GREAT PROGRAM!! Sept General Meeting: Scheduled: Thursday, 7pm Meeting Location: Geib Family Center, East High Ave, New Phila

2 Unit s of News Secretary notes. From: July General Meeting & August Board Meeting. Secretary Notes - July 2014 TuscREIA Meeting The 4th meeting of TuscREIA was held July 10th at the NP Geib Family Center with Jim Zucal, Service Director for New Philadelphia, as our guest speaker. Mr. Zucal has 23 years of experience in urban planning as a systems specialist, mapping, global positioning systems, land use, and development. So what does that mean? What does he do? Just to mention a few of the many hats he wears - enforcement of city codes and regulations, street and sanitation responsibilities, bring in jobs and projects for community improvement, rezoning, applying for grants, and abandoned property tear downs (this process takes about 5 years). The West High widening project taking place right now has been on the books for 16 years getting through the endless government red tape. This opens many more possibilities for growth and new businesses to our area hotels, restaurants, and maybe a Menards store or other business at the old K-Mart location (nothing is final at this time). So what s in the future for New Philadelphia? These are all possibilities University Drive widening to Kent State, water and sewer line improvements, Southside Park improvements, a new Fire Station, Knisely Industrial Park development, and new businesses to our area! The future is bright for New Philadelphia! Thanks to Bill and Christine Walsh for providing the delicious refreshments for the meeting. Our next meeting will be Thursday 9/11/14. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend. Respectfully submitted Secretary Linda Sherer ******************************************************************************************* On 08/14/2014 the officers & advisory board met at Bob Evans to discuss topics/speakers for the September 11th general meeting, as well as starting to plan on the November Holiday Dinner. Coming changes from the Tuscarawas Health Dept concerning Wells & Septic were brought up. Apparently changes concerning the inspections and the charges are about to change in Because many new people are moving to our county and surrounding counties, what should we as owners be aware of? Hearing about vaccinations, what should we as residents and owners be aware of? Bed bugs, are any increases noted? Lead based paint, any changes? Join us for the evening to get these and many more questions answered. Respectfully submitted Executive Director, Terri Jones Our next meeting will be Thursday 09/11/2014. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend. Are you running CREDIT CHECKS on the perspective tenants? >>For $15.00/person you can run a Limit Report. This report gives you a credit score, credit history, court proceedings, creditors. >>For $25.00/person you can run a Full Report. This report gives you all of the items listed above from the Limited Report as well as Nationwide search on the following: Evictions, Criminal Background check, Court Judgments, Address Search, etc. This report is a wealth of knowledge for people who are coming in from out of our area/state. Page TuscREIA Officers:

3 STRUCTURED THOUGHTS. A note from our President. Over the past year, more and more TuscREIA members are taking advantage of the Application to Rent (Exhibit A) process that is a benefit of membership and an excellent screening tool for us as landlords. Along with the Application to Rent, more and more of our members also are charging those prospective tenants a fee for the application to be processed which can be done through TuscREIA. The idea behind a rental application is for the property owner to find a good tenant based on their ability to pay the rent, their credit history and their rental history. These are all important to take into consideration when looking for a tenant. The most important reason to use an application is simple you weed out the worst possible tenants immediately. Dishonest applicants are betting that you won t check out their applications and accept them at face value. As a landlord, you cannot afford to take that bet. It s risky and costly. You should offer an Application to Rent to all prospects who view your rental property. Husbands and wives should fill out separate applications and adult roommates regardless of their relationship to one another, should each fill out separate applications as well. Tell applicants you will be checking them out to verify the information provided, including calling current or previous landlords and their employers to verify rent amounts and monthly/ weekly income and how long they have been employed. Once a completed application is returned to you, make sure every application is signed and dated at the bottom of the form. Their signature is your authorization to conduct a credit check. Tell the applicant upfront your required fee for every adult over the age of 18 who will be living in the unit and that the fee is non-refundable. You will be paying a fee to TuscREIA to process the report, plus your time to check and validate information is valuable. Time is money. AND REMEMBER whenever you rent out a dwelling you are entrusting a valuable piece of property to a stranger and you need to know as much about that stranger s true identity as you can. So be cautious use the application process. ********** Does your rental advertising and lease or rental agreements inform tenants that your property is smoke free? If you are one of the many landlords who have gone smoke-free you ve undoubtedly experienced the many benefits of non-smoking rentals. But, how do you stand on e-cigarettes? Those devices that look similar to cigarettes but operate electronically. The system uses liquid nicotine to produce a mist or vapor that can be inhaled. The process is powered by a rechargeable battery. Some cities are now looking at extending their smoking bans to include e-cigarettes. Smoke free workplaces also are looking at policies regarding e-cigarettes. Chris Hopkins 2014 TuscREIA President Tell the applicant upfront your required fee for every adult over the age of 18 Special for members, FREE UNIT S FOR RENT ADS: Your ads are still needed. Typically, members have been renting their unit s out within the week the ad is posted to our web site. Send your ad (with optional up to 5 photos) to Terri. taej_tdsone@yahoo.com Volume 3, Issue 5 Page 3

4 Tuscarawas County Real Estate Investors Assoc. P. O. Box 483 New Philadelphia OH Phone: 330/ Summer tyme and the liven is easy, Never did you hear from a landlord Officers President: Chris Hopkins Vice Pres.: Tommy Cannon Treasurer: Patty McCreery Secretary: Linda Sherer TuscREIA is a NOT FOR PROFIT educational based organization. Investors should consult an attorney and/or accountant before making any investment or legal decisions. All members and guests assume the risk of making their own investment decisions. TuscREIA does not endorse any person or organization or the advertisers appearing in this newsletter. Its programs are designed to be educational, motivational and enjoyable. Through education & experience we can attain our goals! Unit s of News 2014 Advisory Board Jack Lewis Bryan Mitchell Janet Stear Bill Walsh Jack Jones John McCreery Keep calm & think of the Beach Notes & quick Thoughts from your Executive Director. Uhrichsville & Dennison trash collection: As you may or may not know Neither Uhrichsville or Dennison has ever had any type of public trash collection. On August 14th, Uhrichsville passed an ordinance to contract with Kimble s for both trash collection & recycling. Dennison followed their lead a week later. Kimble s will begin the service at the beginning of September. The owner will be charged and then have to collect from the tenant, much like the water department. A larger container for each the trash and the recycling will be delivered before the end of August. The cost has been set for the next three years. Many were opposed, as they do not use Kimbles and do not want to change their service but this is a mandatory city regulation by these ordinances. My question: I ve had issues with Kimble s bill dept. in the past (and have heard from others too), do they really think adding this many additional customers will go very smoothly? I m guessing not, but maybe they ll prove me wrong.

5 ARTICLE S OF INTEREST FROM AROUND OUR STATE> August 25, 2014: MASSILLON, Ohio (AP) A couple who owns three northeast Ohio apartment complexes has agreed to pay $850,000 to settle a federal bias complaint in which they were accused of limiting the number of blacks and families with children to whom they would rent.seventeen people will receive a portion of the settlement from John and Mary Ruth, who own apartment complexes in Massillon in Stark County. The consent order containing the settlement was filed today in federal court in Cleveland. An attorney for the Ruths declined to comment, but the order says the couple denied violating any housing laws.the complaint says managers were told by the Ruths that only one-third of apartment units at their complexes could house black residents. Families with children were discouraged from renting and were limited to basement and first-floor apartments, the complaint said. Managers were told to pressure black people and families to move out of the Ruths apartments and to manufacture reasons to evict them, the complaint said. Ten former employees testified about the Ruths discriminatory practices. - See more at: August 18, 2014: YOUNGSTOWN The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce has canceled the Youngstown, Ohio Utica and Natural Gas Conference and trade show scheduled for Sept. 11. This cancellation also includes the job fair that was set to take place Sept. 11.The YOUNG golf outing and casino night will go on as planned for Sept. 10. YOUNG had three successful years, according to the chamber, but this year there was a decline in participation. Some of the major oil and gas companies have reprioritized their areas of exploration, and there are other industry delays overall, Vice President of Marketing and Business Services for the chamber Kim Calvert said in a statement. We hold our events to the highest standards and did not feel that we could move forward with this particular event if it was going to be anything less than it has been the past three years or not meaningful or valuable to participants and attendees. - See more at: Ohio SB 349 ("The Grybowsky Bill") Seeks to Level the Playing Field for Housing Providers OREIA members should, by now, be familiar with the case of Helen Grybosky, the 78 year old widow from Northeastern Ohio who was accused of discrimination after being tested by a local Fair Housing agency on 8 separate occasions, with each tester claiming a different and apparently entirely made-up set of familial or medical factors. In 2 of these cases, the Fair Housing Resource Center, a fair housing agency, accused Ms. Grybosky of discrimination and demanded a $3500 settlement. When she refused to pay, the FHRC filed complaints against her with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which sent the cases to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission for investigation. Because Ohio law imposes mandatory damages and attorney s fees on defendants found guilty of discrimination in these cases, Ms. Grybosky was ultimately fined $100 for her discrimination and $9,000 to pay the attorneys who prosecuted her. This case has drawn national attention to Ohio and the problem of Fair Housing Bounty Hunting. This practice, legal and, in fact, incentivized by the current anti-landlord slant of Ohio law, works like this: Visit: for more on this and other articles from our state.