Just who are the Republicans state legislators representing?
If you’re a renter, and more people are after the
housing market collapsed, you may be wondering why your fellow conservatives
are taking your rights away. Oh, I’m sorry, according to Scott Walker we don’t
really have rights unless they’re enshrined in the Constitution. Everything
else is a freeloading “entitlement.”
WSJ: Tenant rights would be curtailed in a variety of ways under a new state bill moving quickly through the Legislature, under the chief sponsorship of an Assembly Republican, State Rep. Duey Stroebel, who also is a landlord.
The first attack on renters, Senate Bill 107, went into effect in late December : Supporters note the new law serves to standardize renting rules throughout the state … critics note many of the stricter local rules were put in place historically to protect the large student population … Landlords could require tenants to make three times the amount of their rent in income, or apply other minimum income standards … Landlords may deny people housing based on an arrest or conviction record, no matter how old and even if it has nothing to do with housing … Landlords can require tenants to provide their social security number, requiring tenants to risk identity theft and making it difficult for international students, visiting staff and professors and others to find housing … Security deposits will no longer be limited to one month's rent, as they were in Madison and Fitchburg. Landlords are already asking some tenants to provide 4 months rent in advance to be accepted.
Among the newer changes from Assembly Bill 561: Renters would have to notify their landlords, in writing, of any repair or maintenance need, and give the landlord "adequate time" to fix the problem, the bill doesn't define what "adequate time" is … Landlords would no longer have to provide any notice to former tenants who leave behind personal property, before the landlords can sell the items and keep the money or throw the items away, at the former tenants' cost … Local governments wouldn't be able to prohibit landlords from evicting anyone over Christmas, or impose any other special circumstances … Double damages, court costs and attorney fees could no longer be awarded to tenants who successfully sue over failure to return a security deposit or disclose repair issues.
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