Association News

It is CTAA Board of Directors election time again. The 2008 slate is:

Vice President

Carrie Rocray – AvalonBay Communities, Inc.

Vice President of Associate Affairs

Rachel Vincent – CORT

Treasurer

Steve Boucher – Northland Investment Corp.

Secretary

Mindy Semmler – Northland Investment Corp.

Director of Northern CT

Odis Coleman – Winn Residential

Director of Southern CT

Joan Heckman – Konover Residential

Director at Large

Brian Lemire – Winn Residential

Director Associate Affairs (two will be chosen of the three)

Robert Chesson, Esq. – The Landlord Law Firm

Andrew Harrison – ForRent Media Solutions

Jim Mas - CORT

If you have not received your ballot in the mail, contact Valerie Stolfi Collins.

CTAA Capitol Alert

An update on the CT General Assembly’s 2008 Legislative Session

The Connecticut General Assembly convened February 6^th and will adjourn on May 7^th, 2008. Through its Government Relations firm, TCORS Capitol Group, and CTAA’s Legislative Committee Chair, Jay Adams, the Connecticut Apartment Association has had an active presence and lobbying effort at the State Capitol and has either testified or submitted testimony in support or opposition of the following proposed legislation. 

Senate Bill 36 AN ACT CONCERNING EVICTION FOR ILLEGAL DRUG OR FIREARM SALES OR POSSESSION empowers property owners to bypass normal, lengthy judicial procedures and quickly evict criminals guilty of possessing and/or selling drugs and/or firearms.  This helps to protect the living environment of Connecticut residents that live in rented dwellings.  This is in the interest of both property owners and renters.  The CTAA strongly supports this proposed legislation that currently sits before the Judiciary Committee and is working in conjunction with Governor’s Office to ensure its passage.

Senate Bill 350 AN ACT CONCERNING BACKGROUND CRIMINAL ACTIVITY CHECKS OF APPLICANTS FOR RENTAL HOUSING limits property owners’ ability to use criminal background checks as a means to screen prospective residents.  Under this proposed legislation a property owner would only be able to deny a prospective resident if they have been convicted of a class A felony in the last five years.  Simply because an individual has not been convicted of a class A felony does not mean such a person lacks an extensive record of violent and/or sexual criminal acts indicating a significant danger to a community.  In choosing to rent, people depend on property management companies to properly screen the people living within the community to insure that they live in a safe, crime-free environment as is reasonably possible.  The CTAA strongly opposes this proposed legislation that currently sits before the Select Committee on Housing.

House Bill 5548 AN ACT CONCERNING RENTAL HOUSING APPLICATION FEES mandates that landlords refund application fees paid by prospective tenants in excess of seventy-five dollars if the landlord does not approve the application or the prospective tenant does not enter into a rental agreement with the landlord.  The CTAA opposed this legislation due to the fact that there are significant costs for property owners in processing applications such as, administrative costs, labor time associated with credit, criminal, rental and reference checks, and the costs of third party screening services typically utilized during the application approval process.  These costs alone can be well over the seventy-five dollar threshold set in bill 5548, particularly when there is more than one party for an application. CTAA also argued that the competitive market place will dictate what reasonable application fees can be charged.  If a property has an unreasonably high application fee, relative to their competitors, of which little or none is refunded in the event of non-approval or backing-out, they create an obstacle to getting applicants, thus losing applicants to other properties.  CTAA opposes this proposed legislation that currently sits before the Planning and Development Committee.

House Bill 5549 AN ACT CONERNING THE CREDIT HISTORY OF APPLICANTS FOR RENTAL HOUSING limits the ability of a landlord to review an applicants’ credit history to only the payment of debts in determining whether a prospective resident is credit worthy to rent a dwelling unit.  CTAA strongly opposed this proposed legislation because it potentially makes illegal, the use of third-party screening services and credit bureaus that do not render credit decisions based solely upon timely debt payment. Such services render recommendations regarding applicant credit-worthiness based upon well-tested actuarial models and the income to rent ratio.  The CTAA opposes this proposed legislation that currently sits before the Select Committee on Housing.

Annual Meeting
The CTAA Annual meeting is a meeting of the CTAA membership. The purpose of the meeting is to update the membership on the association and install officers to serve on the CTAA Board of Directors.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Hawthorne Inn - 2421 Berlin Turnpike
Berlin , CT 06037
Time: 8:30 - 11:00 am

The Appropriately Meddling Landlord Seminar
Presented by the Landlord Law Firm - Just because a tenant assumes occupancy does not mean you are no longer the owner/manager of your property. A landlord must always be aware of the condition of its premises to ensure tenant issues are addressed as well as to prevent the possibility of legal liability. Learn about:

    - How, when, and why landlords should be inspecting their properties

    - The value of tenant’s insurance to the landlord

    - What to do when a tenant prevents access to your property
    - How to avoid creating tenant lawsuits against you

Certified Apartment Manager (CAM) & Supplier (CAS)
Two modules will be offered: Marketng and Risk Management

The CAM course was developed by the NAA Education Institute to provide the highest standard of professional training for the on-site manager. CAM contains 9 modules. CAS was also developed by the NAA and is designed to provide product and service council members with basic training in property management to more clearly define for the supplier the role of a property manager and thereby build a better partnership between them. CAS contains 4 modules.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

242 Trumbull Street
Hartford, CT
Time: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Certified Apartment Manager (CAM) & Supplier (CAS)
One Module will be offered: Management of Residential Issues

The CAM course was developed by the NAA Education Institute to provide the highest standard of professional training for the on-site manager. CAM contains 9 modules. CAS was also developed by the NAA and is designed to provide product and service council members with basic training in property management to more clearly define for the supplier the role of a property manager and thereby build a better partnership between them. CAS contains 4 modules.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

42 Trumbull Street
Hartford , CT
Time: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

New Members

Associate members

Capitol Sweeping

Contact: Dave Fisher, Operations Manager

405 Sullivan Ave

South Windsor, CT 06074

860-289-7555 phone

860-289-1266 fax

dfisher@CapitolSweeping.com

http://www.CapitolSweeping.com

Energy New England

Contact: John Muro

100 Foxboro Blvd. Ste 110

Foxboro, MA 02035

508-698-1215 phone

508-698-0222 fax

jmuro@EnergyNewEngland.com

http://www.EnergyNewEngland.com

Servpro of Stamford

Contact: Diane Peters, Sales & Marketing Rep

20 Garland Drive

Stamford, CT 06907

203-324-1624 phone

203-348-8384 fax

petersd@servpro5564.com

Member News – Promotions, Changes, New Hires …

For Rent Media Solutions has added a new employee in Connecticut.  General Sales Manager Andrew Harrison is pleased to announce his sales staff has just doubled by adding a new Account Executive, Lydia Ashford.  Lydia comes to For Rent from within the Real Estate industry, previously working for homes.com.

Articles and information you can use….

Freddie Mac Plans New Multifamily Program

Digested From "GSE Plans New Multifamily Program"
National Mortgage News (02/11/08) Vol. 32, No. 32, P. 1; by Poonkulali Thangavelu

Freddie Mac has announced plans to launch a new program that will securitize multifamily housing mortgages on a regular basis by purchasing and pooling the loans before securitizing them via a broker/dealer. The government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) views current market turmoil as the ideal time to look for opportunity in the multifamily securitization business. The program's first securitization should be completed by the end of this year. In terms of other plans for its multifamily business, the GSE hopes to make enhancements to its rehabilitation product and add more delegated lenders to its network.