http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2013/02/01/arkansas-doesnt-protect-renters Comments On: Arkansas doesn't protect renters by Cheree Franco en-us Copyright 2013 Arkansas Times. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, Arkansas Times readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact Arkansas Times. robert@arktimes.com (Arkansas Times Webmaster) Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:01 -0500 Sat, 18 May 2013 13:45:00 -0500 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Otherwise there is none. NADA. Anyone saying otherwise is lying.
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Posted by lastmall]]> Sat, 02 Feb 2013 20:42:06 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by plainjim]]> Sat, 02 Feb 2013 14:35:18 -0600 Arkansas Times
I live in Foxcroft so yes we are neighbors.

The City Board does respond when we have stormed a meeting on 2 occasions over the years. One was a business operating out of a private home with 6 to 10 customer visits per day. Not much traffic but what if every lawyer or CPA in the neighborhood moved office home and had 2 or 3 a day?

Other was a collapsing house we demanded demolished.

But we had the luxury of many of us having business dealings with board members.

The board does respond when their own accountants, lawyers, doctors and florist customers tell them to take action. They hate to hide from angry constituents on the course or at the club.

Most neighborhoods don't have that "access".

And to Chuck Goss.

No reasonable logical person in any way suggests to hamper landlord business people and be forced to give away free rent nor to endure damage or destruction.

I suggest that to be taken seriously and not come off as a whiny demogogue don't present a persecuted scenario no one would endorse.

And then not solidify your whiny image by lumping in some unrelated "wah wah wah some people get free care at UAMS" mention.

Try to stay on topic and grownup and we can have a little back and forth to maybe move this issue along and hash out some solutions.
Posted by Citizen1]]> Sat, 02 Feb 2013 10:39:24 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by CatMan Did]]> Sat, 02 Feb 2013 09:48:37 -0600 Arkansas Times
We already have a rental inspection program in Little Rock. Every rental property is to be registered every year, and inspected every three years. While the landlords are paying the business license fees for the registration, the inspections are not happening (mine have NEVER been inspected.)

What would I tell the city? FORGET THE TECH PARK. Put that money into the rental inspection program. START ON BASELINE AND GEYER SPRINGS and work your way back to the NW. (There was a complex on Baseline shut down recently for code violations, and was set on fire last weekend.)

But that's my PERSONAL opnion, no connection to the Landlords Association or the Commission.
Posted by Slingerland]]> Sat, 02 Feb 2013 09:25:46 -0600 Arkansas Times
To answer your question, I guess the best way is to storm the city Board meetings and grab the microphone. Bring photos of the damage to the neighborhood. DEMAND the board DO SOMETHING. (In other words, what was done.)

You're right, Valley View definitely went downhill. Arkansas Business ran a feature about it a few months back (the reporter interviewed me and Jason Bolden.) And while I hate to say it, the bottom line is that Valley View:

1) Changed owners.
2) The new owners shifted their focus from spending teh money to draw in young, professional renters to the Section 8 crowd.
3) Didn't perform any background checks. Didn't keep the criminals out.
4) The bad apples in the Section 8 program started tearing up the building. The new owners stopped putting money into repairs.

At this point, the complex was in a spiral: bad renters, high repair needs, and lower cash flow. The owners decided to just milk the complex for what they could as long as they could. (Same thing at the Avondale on Reservoir Road.)

As far as folks with a rent house next door, if the house is run down, I would do this:
1) Get the tax records from www.pulaskicountyassessor.net
2) Find the home phone number of the owner. Call the owner. Offer to send them, pictures. Be nice, be polite, tell them what is happening. (I have a clause in my lease, two police calls by the neighbors and the tenant is terminated.) I love my neighbors!!!
3) If you don't get results, CALL CODE ENFORCEMENT.

It's not a perfect solution, I know. But landlords don't want to be called about their tenants, and the good ones will respond.
Posted by Slingerland]]> Sat, 02 Feb 2013 09:20:57 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Chuck Goss]]> Sat, 02 Feb 2013 08:36:22 -0600 Arkansas Times
I have never been a landlord and with the horror stories I have heard I never even considered renting out a vacant home. (moved on to a new home before selling the previous etc.)

2 simultaneous mortgage payments was a small burden compared to possibly needing to recarpet or sheetrock a whole house to rerent or sale it.

Here is what I would like info on.

What options do neighbors have to force nearby landlords or renters to maintain the property?

About a mile from the entrance to my neighborhood is Valley View Apartments on Cantrell across from Steinmarts.

For my 20 years in the area, the first 15 it seemed kept well. Then little indications started popping up.

1st one I noticed read "Under New Management!"

I didn't think much of that.

Shortly after "New Shorter Leases"

Followed by "1st Month Free!"

Then the one that caused me to utter "Oh CRAP!"

"No Deposit Required!"

Within months grafiti started popping up near by. 1st on dumpsters then on utility boxes followed by fences then the vacant Taco Kid was tagged on all sides.

(Shows my age, it hasn't been Taco Kid since the 70s but that was the most memorable owners) Recently it was a Hookha Bar, whatever that is.

Then the burglaries began!

I never directly connected the "No Deposit" with the grafiti and burglaries till it was reported the police had constant calls for drunk and disorderly, domestic disturbance, discharge of firearms, and then finally found supposedly vacant units at Valley View crammed full of items burglarized from nearby complexes and neighborhoods.

So Slinger

What is the best current avenue, if any, that nearby businesses and residents can employ?

Or what rules or ordinances would be good to enact now that fairly protect the tennants, landlords and neighbors simultaneously?
Posted by Citizen1]]> Sat, 02 Feb 2013 07:33:55 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Verla Sweere]]> Sat, 02 Feb 2013 02:31:24 -0600 Arkansas Times
Back when Sweetster owed hundreds of thousands on his rentals he took very good care of them. He must be in his 80s now so likely some one else is running the show.
Posted by eLwood]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 23:03:42 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Slingerland]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 22:28:23 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by GrizLee Bear]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 22:22:36 -0600 Arkansas Times
All things come to those who wait...
Posted by Slingerland]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 22:05:59 -0600 Arkansas Times
If I get a bad tenant... and it happens from time to time... I WANT to know about it. I want my houses to go up in value, and I want my neighbor's houses to go up in value. I know I'm preaching, but it's something I believe in.

I guess I'm greedy, but in a good way :) .
Posted by Slingerland]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:58:20 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Sound Policy]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:56:53 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Kate]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:51:06 -0600 Arkansas Times
Actually elWood, in Gorman v Ratcliff, the Arkansas Supreme Court found self-help evictions such as removing the door to be illegal. But although it's case law, it's not statute. The Commission recommends Gorman v Ratcliff be written into statute. And I STRONGLY encourage my members to follow it. Does it happen? Sure, and in every state of the Union. But self-help eviction is still wrong.

BTW, if anybody wants to read the Commission report, I'm hosting a copy on the Landlords Association website: www.arkansaslandlords.org
Posted by Slingerland]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:40:24 -0600 Arkansas Times Arkansas is the only state without a warranty of habitability, which means there’s no minimum standard of safety and sanitation to which property owners must adhere."

Nothing to prevent a city or county from having standards of habitability. I know Fayetteville does. There's also fire, electrical and plumbing codes that must be upheld.


>there’s no quick, affordable alternative to the criminal eviction process, which is one reason landlords use it.

Unlawful attainer is used but it isn't quick. You have to wait for a sheriff's service or deliver and have a witness the notice yourself. Then wait 30 days.

However, since there's no statewide habitability rules a landlord can simply remove entrance doors from the premises. Take the toilets too.
Posted by eLwood]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:28:01 -0600 Arkansas Times
As a landlord, I WANT a common-sense warranty of habitability law. I'm tired of being lumped with the slumlords who rent hovels.

And as a landlord I want a straightforward, common-sense eviction procedure that works the same in every county, every court. As the people above stated, the laws are an unpredictable patchwork. I have one procedure to evict in Pulaski, another to evict in Clark County.

(As a sidebar... I cannot accept credit card or debit card payments for rent. Care to guess why? The eviction laws in Arkansas have not caught up with electronic payments. A bad tenant could pay by credit card, then dispute the purchase and I couldn't evict until after the dispute process (30~60 days.) )

As far as two other recommendations... the recommendation on domestic violence and to expand fair housing to cover sexual preference... I would run those bills myself if I was in office.

Most landlords are "mom and pop" people just like you. The Landlords Association has pledged to work with pro-tenant groups towards these ends. It will be slow going... there is a lot of inertia to overcome, and a lot of big-money companies that have to be convinced they will not be hurt. But given time this can be done.
Posted by Slingerland]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:22:36 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by bugeyedlittlefreak]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 20:45:39 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Brad Broadaway]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 20:30:45 -0600 Arkansas Times