Posts Tagged City of Milwaukee

City of Milwaukee Releases Its 2010 Schedule of Special Sessions for The Landlord Training Program

Jan 10

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in City of Milwaukee, Seminars | 1 Comment

The City of Milwaukee has just released its 2010 Schedule of Special Sessions for The Landlord Training Program.  The focus of these 5 special seminars will be on learning how to effectively and professionally manage your rental properties.  All of the sessions will take place on Saturday mornings to allow those of you who work an additional job (aside from being a landlord) to attend.

I am very honored to have been asked, as president of the Apartment Association of SE Wisconsin, to present one of these special sessions on Saturday, August 14, 2010.  The topic that I will be addressing is the Judicial Eviction Process.  The seminar will run from 9 am – 12 pm at Alverno College’s Wehr Theater which is located at 3441 S. 39th Street.

Other special sessions in the 2010 program include:

February 6, 2010:     (1) The District Attorney’s new diversion program for tenant’s who “bounce” their rent checks  - presented by A.D.A. Ron Dague, and  (2) The EPA’s new renovation rules regarding lead-based paint which will become effective later this year – taught by Ada Duffey of Milwaukee Lead/Asbestos Information Center, Inc.

April 24, 2010:     Screening Tenants and how using a good tenant screening company can assist you during the very important screening process - presented by Kathy Huens of Landlord Services, LLC

June 12, 2010:     Fair Housing Practices – Know Your Local, State and Federal Laws – presented by Margaret Bowitz of the Milwaukee Metro Fair Housing Council

October 2, 2010:    Fire and Building Codes – presented by Deputy Fire Chief Michael Payne and Department of Neighborhood Services Commissioner Art Dahlberg

All sessions are free of charge but ADVANCED REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.  To register call (414) 286-2934 or email jhagne@milwaukee.gov

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DNS Has Started To Implement The New Residential Rental Certificate Program

Jan 8

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in DNS, Legislation, Residential Rental Inspection (RRI) Program / Mandatory Rental Inspections / Landlord Licensing | No Comments

As many of you know the City of Milwaukee’s new Residential Rental Certificate Program ordinance went into effect January 1, 2010. 

It is my understanding that the letter notices, along with a date for the inspection of your rental unit/s, the application, were all mailed out to affected landlords during the week of Dec. 28th — so those of you in the two designated areas should have received your mailing by now – Merry Christmas.

In anticipation of the many questions about the Residential Rental Inspection (RRI) Program the Department of Neighborhood Services (DNS) has added a new FAQ page to its website regarding the program.  The web page also contains a link to a map of the two affected areas, a link to the RRI Application form and a link to the Pre-Inspection Checklist.

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Landlords Sue City of Milwaukee To Stop Residential Rental Certificate Ordinance

Dec 31

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in City of Milwaukee, Legislation, Residential Rental Inspection (RRI) Program / Mandatory Rental Inspections / Landlord Licensing | 3 Comments

On December 29, 2009, three landlords filed a lawsuit against the city of Milwaukee in an attempt to stop the new Residential Rental Certificate Ordinance that was recently passed. 

The lawsuit includes a complaint, motion for temporary injunction, ex parte motion for temporary restraining order (TRO) and supporting affidavits.  Essentially, the plaintiffs are arguing that the ordinance as written is (1) unconstitutionally vague, (2) contains fatal defects, (3) fails to provide for an impartial review and (4)interferes with their constitutional right to contract with their tenants.

I would suggest that you read the entire lawsuit but I will attempt to summarize the plaintiffs’ main arguments.

1.    1st claim: The ordinance is unconstitutionally vague

The plaintiffs’ argue that the ordinance contains terms and phrases that are so vague that they do not properly notify landlords owning rental properties in the two designated areas as to what specific conditions will result in a denial of a residential rental certificate or the revocation of a certificate.  The ordinance gives the DNS Commissioner and his inspectors the subjective power to determine whether the conditions in a rental unit constitute a denial or revocation of the certificate.  This subjective power will result in a non-uniform application of the ordinance.

The plaintiffs cite 7 examples within the ordinance where the landlord does not have sufficient notice as to what specific conditions or number of conditions will trigger a denial or revocation of a rental certificate by the city.

2.     2nd claim:  The ordinance contains fatal defects

Basically this argument states that the ordinance as written contains terms which are unclear, have no definition, and fail to set forth clear standards for which a rental certificate will be granted.  Additionally it is argued that the ordinance gives the DNS Commissioner and his inspectors the arbitrary power to grant, deny or revoke a rental certificate without providing specific standards as to how that discretion should be used.

The plaintiffs provide 9 examples within the ordinance where significant terms are not defined or are unclear.  Essentially their argument is that the standard as to what will casue the issuance of a rental certificate is a subjective standard contained only in the minds of the Commissioner and his inspectors (and essentailly that the subjective standard will most likely vary from one inspector to the next).  This argument also focuses on the fact that the ordinance allows for the DNS Commissioenr to draft rules or regulations  which have not been made a part of the ordinance.  This means that the Commissioner could change the rules at any time and without providing owners prior notice of the changes.  The rules and regulations are not required to be made publicly available since they are not contained in the ordinance itself.

3.     3rd claim:  Failure to provide impartial review

Under the ordinance as written if a landlord does not agree with the decision rendered by the city inspector, the landlord can appeal that decision to the Commissioner of DNS — the employer of the inspector that made the intial decision.  The plaintiffs argue that as written the ordinance allows the individual and agency that made the unwritten rules for inspection and then subjectively applied those rules, to also act as the decision-maker for the review of any contested determination.  Wisconsin Statutes Sec. 68.11(2) require that all municipalities provide an “imparital decision-maker . . . who did not participate in making or reviewing the initial determination” to preside over any review.

4.     4th claim: Interference with the constitutional right to contract

According to the ordinance, all rental units within the two designated areas will be required to have a rental certificate in place (if there is a tenant residing in the unit) as of January 1st, 2010 — Friday.  If no certificate is in place by 1/1/10 then the owner of the rental will be in violation of the ordinance as written.  The argument made by the plaintiffs is that since the ordinance does not provide for the rental certificates to be issued until after an inspection takes place (which will be at least 30 days after 1/1/10) that landlords will be forced to terminate the tenancies of their tenants or else be in violation of the ordinance.  By being forced to issue a termination notice to their tenants, the plaintiffs argue that the city isinterfering with the landlords and tenants rental agreement – and by doing so they are interfering with a landlords right to enter into a contract with his/her tenant.

The plaintiffs are asking that the court to temporarily enjoin the city from enforcing the residentail rental certificate ordinance.  They are also asking the court to issue an order declaring that the ordinance is invalid.  Finally the plaintiffs are asking the court to permanatly enjoin the city from enforcing the ordinance.

This lawsuit has been tabbed to Judge Timothy Witkowiak.

A hearing on the plaintiff’s motion for a temporary restraining order was held earlier today before Judge Timothy Dugan.  Judge Dugan denied the landlords’ motion for a TRO without reaching the underlying problems with the ordinance.  One of the requirements in order to be granted a TRO is that some “irreperable harm” must be demonstrated.  Judge Dugan felt that becasue no landlord has been issued a citation by the city and because the city has not tried to remove any tenant from the plaintiff’s’ rental units, as of yet, that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate any irreperable harm.”

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Mayor Signs Milwaukee’s Residential Rental Certificate Program Ordinance

Dec 11

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in City of Milwaukee, Legislation, Residential Rental Inspection (RRI) Program / Mandatory Rental Inspections / Landlord Licensing | No Comments

About 1 hour before the close of business yesterday, December 10, 2009, Mayor Tom Barrett signed the city of Milwaukee’s Residential Rental Certificate Program ordinance into law.  Mayor Barrett left everyone waiting and wondering if he would sign it as the deadline to do so was the close of business yesterday.

The ordinance can be read in its entirety here.

The Preinspection Checklist can be found here.  The checklist gives a detailed overview of all items that DNS will be inspecting when they come knocking in 2010.  The landlords in the two designated areas will probably get pretty familiar with that checklist during the next 5 years of the “pilot program.”

The ordinance will go into effect as of January 1, 2010.

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AASEW Continues To Fight Against The City of Milwaukee’s Residential Rental Certificate Program

Dec 7

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in AASEW, Legislation, Residential Rental Inspection (RRI) Program / Mandatory Rental Inspections / Landlord Licensing | 1 Comment

The Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin, Inc. (AASEW) continues its attempt to defeat the recently passed ordinance creating a Residential Rental Certificate Program in two areas of the city.  On December 7, 2009, the AASEW issued a Press Release urging the mayor to veto the legislation in order to avoid expensive litigation. 

Additonally, President of the AASEW Tristan Pettit wrote a letter to Mayor Tom Barrett pointing out many of the legal problems with the ordinance.  A similar letter was sent to the members of the Common Council  prior to their vote last week – which went ignored.  The letter specifically delineates 6 of the many structural and legal problems with the ordinance and encourages the mayor to veto the legislation in order to spare the city the time and expense of defending the poorly drafted legislation in court.

The Mayor has until the close of business on Thursday, December 10, 2009 to sign the legislation or else it would go back to the Common Council for reconsideration.  If the Mayor vetoes the ordinance then the Common Council would have to garner 10 votes (from the 15 members) in order to override the veto.

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MILWAUKEE’S RESIDENTIAL RENTAL CERTIFICATE ORDINANCE PASSES

Dec 1

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in AASEW, City of Milwaukee, Legislation, Residential Rental Inspection (RRI) Program / Mandatory Rental Inspections / Landlord Licensing | 1 Comment

Earlier today by a vote of 9-5 the city of Milwaukee’s Residential Rental Certificate Program ordinance was passed by the Common Council. 

Voting in favor of the new ordinance were Aldermen Ashanti Hamilton (1st district), Nic Kovac (3rd district), Robert Bauman (4th district), Milele Coggs (6th district), Willie Wade (7th district), Robert Puente (9th district), Michael Murphy (10th district), Terry Witkowski (13 district), and Willie Hines, Jr. (15th district). 

Voting against the ordinance were Aldermen James Bohl, Jr. (5th district), Robert Donovan (8th district), Joe Dudzik (11th district), James Witkowiak (12th district), and Tony Zielinski (14th district).

Alderman Joe Davis, Sr. was not present and did not vote.

There was very little discussion on the proposed ordinance prior to its vote.  Alderman Kovac (the primary sponsor of the ordinance) spoke in favor of the revised ordinance and gave a summary of the revisions that were made.  Alderman Robert Donovan then spoke out against the ordinance and summarized some of the criticism that citizens had with the proposal as expressed at the public hearing earlier.  Alderman Murphy then spoke in favor of the ordinance and emphasized that it is a pilot program that will be reviewed each year.

If you are interested in viewing the video recording of the vote and other related information just click here.

This new ordinance will make it mandatory for all landlords who own rental property in two designated areas of the city (the UWM area on the city’s east side and the Lindsay Heights neighborhood on the city’s north side) to apply for a rental certificate in order to continue renting out their rental properties.  When applying for the certificate the owner will need to pay a $85 per unit fee and allow an inspector from the city’s Department of Neighborhood Services to inspect the interior of the unit.

For more detailed information on this ordinance please refer to my prior post.

The AASEW was opposed to this ordinance and had hired legal counsel to point out the various legal problems with the ordinance and its drafting to the ordinance’s sponsor, Alderman Nic Kovac.  On a positive note, the original ordinance that was proposed was revised to address some of the issues and concerns that were brought to light by the AASEW.   A copy of the newly enacted ordinance (Proposed Substitute C) can be read in its entirety here.

The Department of Neighborhood Services also put together a Residential Rental Inspection Program Preinspection Checklist which it is assumed will be sent to the owners of rental property in the two designated areas prior to the inspection.  This checklist sets forth the specific types of violations that DNS will be looking for during its inspection.  While the checklist is still pretty extensive it is still better then just having the subjective term ”disqualifying violation” in the ordinance as was the case with the prior version.

This ordinance will become effective January 1, 2010.

As this ordinance is phased in please let me know your thoughts as to how it is being implemented.  This is a pilot program and it will be reviewed annually so any and all input from affected landlords is vital.

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MILWAUKEE’S RESIDENTIAL RENTAL CERTIFICATE PROGRAM VOTE PUSHED BACK 1 CYCLE

Nov 3

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in AASEW, City of Milwaukee, DNS, Legislation, Residential Rental Inspection (RRI) Program / Mandatory Rental Inspections / Landlord Licensing | No Comments

The Common Council did not vote on the passing of the city’s proposed Residential Rental Certificate Program earlier today as was planned.  Instead the Comon Council voted 9-5 to hold the proposed ordinance for 1 cycle (1 month) for further review. 

The proposed ordinance, which would require all rental property owners in the UWM-area and Lindsay Heights neighborhood on the north side of Milwaukee to pay an $85 fee per unit fee and submit to an internal inspection of in order to be able to rent out their property, passed out of the ZND committee last week by a vote of 3-2.  The proposed ordinance was to be voted on by the Common Council earlier today. 

In response to the setback of having the proposed ordinance pass out of committee the AASEW, who represents approximately 680 landlords in Milwaukee and the surrounding areas, retained legal counsel to review the ordinance for procedural and drafting errors.  Errors were found and were communicated to the City Attorney.  The AASEW  wrote to the President of the Commom Council and the various council members and pointed out its many concerns with the ordinance as written.

Prior to a vote being taken as to whether or not the ordinance should be passed, a motion was made by Alderman Donovan to hold the ordinance  for one cycle (1 month) to further review any problems and concerns.  This motion passed by a vote of 9-5.  It is assumed that the ordinance will be revised and then referred back to the ZND committee for an additional public hearing.

I will keep you advised as to what happens next.

For additional information on the proposed Residential Rental Certificate Program please refer to my earlier post.

Read Tom Daykin, of the Journal Sentinel, blog post about this change of events here.

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