Philip Winburn will lead the realtors and property managers in a meeting.

Philip Winburn will lead the realtors and property managers in a meeting.
February 22nd, 2012 2:58 PM
JUST ANNOUNCED
Philip Winburn will lead the realtors and property managers in a meeting at the same time and place as Camille and Michelle. That meeting will take place at the Cahaba Shriner's Temple at 6:00PM on Thursday, February 23, 2012 (yes, that is tomorrow). The address is 6001 Pulaski Pike (where Winchester Road dead ends into Pulaski Pike).
A REMINDER
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 @ 12:00PM Suzanne Hicks will lead the meeting of the multi-family housing industry. That meeting will take place at Arbor Park Apartments. That address is 4401 Spartacus Drive. You can call my office (256) 562 - 1999 for directions or reach Suzanne directly at (256) 852 - 0131. Thursday, February 23, 2012 @ 6:00PM Camille Mueller and Michelle Cummings will lead the meeting for investors and owners. That meeting will take place at the Cahaba Shriner's Temple. That address is 6001 Pulaski Pike (where Winchester Road dead ends into Pulaski Pike). You can call my office at (256) 562 - 1999 for directions or reach Michelle at (256) 715 - 0625.
This is a reminder of the meetings that will occur this week. Michelle Cummings and Camille Mueller attended the HCNA meeting last night and will be available to give an update on what happened.

I hope that everyone will be able to attend these meetings. It will be a meaningful opportunity to discuss new developments as well as strategy - especially now that the mayor's race has gotten more interesting!



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Downtown Huntsville AL

Preliminaries (should we organize?):

Should this organization be perpetual?
What do we see as goals for this organization?
What would we like to call this organization?
What assets and benefits does our particular group have that the other groups could use (i.e., for Suzanne, this would be the resources of the ANAA, for Philip, this would be the resources of the HAAR)?

Response to Ordinance (if we organize, what do we want to do?):


An internal self-monitoring system to Homes for sale in Huntsville appease the HCNA that works in conjunction with the HCNA?
A letter of introduction to the City Council and mayor asking to be kept in the loop?
A letter writing campaign that specifically addresses the HCNA resolution?

The most important question, however, is "how do we stay unified (if we organize, and have a set agenda, how do we make sure everyone works for the common goal?)" If people aren’t going to be able to stick to the “talking points” and/or whatever the decision is re: party line, then we are all sort of wasting our time. I know a lot of people have "gone rogue" and we have some VERY strong personalities in the room, so perhaps if we ask the group how to stay unified, they would have some suggestions.

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The proposed ordinance requires an annual inspection of all rental property at a cost of $20 per apartment and $50 per house. The cost of the inspection will be the responsibility of the owner.
In our experience city inspectors are not well trained or experienced. They tend require homeowners to repair anything they can find. These inspections can result in thousands in unneeded repairs by the homeowner. Older homes could be required to be upgraded to current building codes. In addition to the costs of inspections and repairs a homeowner mayhave to wait weeks for inspections and certificates of occupancy. During this time, owners are potential loss of rental income.
The Alabama Tenant Landlord law prevents entry to an occupied rental dwelling without the approval of the tenant or a posted two day notice except in the case of emergency. The logistics of coordinating the proposed annual inspections with the city inspector, tenants and homeowners is mind boggling. It would be an enormous drain on the resources of property managers requiring additional staff and expenses. Property managers would have no option except to pass those costs to the homeowner.

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Under the proposed ordinance the city will level fines on homeowners for failure to comply with the ordinance. The fines are $300 for the first offense, $400 for the second offense and $500 for the third offense.
Under the proposed ordinance Homeowners will be required to get a certificate of occupancy before their property can be occupied.
Under the proposed ordinance the homeowner will be responsible for the actions of their tenants under the Nuisance Abatement Law.
Under the proposed ordinance Homeowners will be required to have a criminal background check done on each tenant. The cost of the investigation will be the responsibility of the homeowner. The proposal is not specific on what is required in the background check. The check could require local, state and national database research. The proposal does not specify what action or inaction the homeowner must take with data from a background check or if fines would be imposed for renting a property with any sort of criminal action or misdemeanor on their record. The ordinance does not state if the homeowner could be fined for renting to a tenants with a minor traffic offense.
If this ill-conceived proposal ordinance were to be approved by the City Council, it would be a horrible blow to homeowners and property managers. I foresee a spike in foreclosures resulting in neighborhood blight and lower property values city wide.