Goodbye Local Control, Republicans want to ban Rental Permits and Inspections; Kick People out in 5 Days for Suspected Criminal Activity!!!

I think I’ve figured it out. There's a reason why Republicans are wiping out the idea of local control with sweeping one size fits all statewide regulations. Heck, they even justify it by saying it makes government less confusing and fair. After all, who wants a patchwork of locally controlled regulations?

Sneaky too, because when Republicans are kicked out of office again, they’ll fire up the base by demanding a return to local control. And around and around we go.

The Republican Authority Targets Peoples Homes: Since Republicans have already bypassed local law enforcement officials with recently passed gun laws, you can now add tenant rights to that list. They’re giving landlords the power to throw people out of their rental housing within five days...on just a whim that there's is illegal activity, bypassing law enforcement again:

Landlords could evict tenants in five days if they suspect criminal activity under a Republican-backed plan to rewrite Wisconsin's landlord-tenant laws. Backers of the plan said that if police don't investigate criminal behavior, it can leave landlords with few options. 

"This is used for criminal activity," said Attorney Tristan Pettit, who represents landlords in tenant disputes. "The drug dealing. The beating somebody up. The threatening. The shooting off of guns. That is what we need this for, because right now, landlords cannot do anything about that."

So what about the unintended consequences...:

Tony Gibard, with Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said "I just want the committee to think about what that means in the life of a domestic violence victim who may have just been beaten, bloodied and brutalized and has five days to figure out what to do."  

WISC had this coverage with one of the cosponsors, Sen. Frank Lasee:

”I feel like if you have bad-acting tenants, often the other tenants living nearby are paying a greater price than the landlord,”

The Republican Authority to Let Rental Housing deteriorate: I know, that sounds crazy right, but I swear it’s true. Killing local control statewide over the quality of rental housing is beyond anything I could have imagine.

According to the WPR report (audio below) Republicans want to ban local communities from requiring rental permits that make sure housing is up to code and provide for routine inspections over a 3 to 5-year period. 

We are after all talking about a businesses that are supposed to provide a safe and healthy place where people live, eat and bathe. No quality control? Just imagine Republicans catering to the food service lobby by banning unfair restaurant inspections…hmm, maybe I shouldn’t have brought that up. 

Renters lose their freedoms and liberty!! LandLORD taking on whole new meaning.

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.  

"It's Working"...fewer families live in homes now, Low Apartment Availability.

Gov. Scott Walker's plan is working, and families continue to see the American dream slipping away. Thank you Scott Walker for cutting the pay of public workers, the loss of consumer certainty, thank you big banks sitting on their money, Wall Street gamblers, and thank you Republican deregulators. Channel3000:



Walker says it's working...

Madison's apartment vacancy rate hit its lowest level in at least 16 years, as economic challenges have forced thousands of Madison residents to seek affordable units. Only 2.6 percent of the city's apartment units were available in the third quarter … Vacancies have dwindled nearly every year since 2005, when 6.4 percent of units didn't have occupants.

The high demand is causing rent prices to increase and allowing landlords to turn more potential tenants away, said Brenda Konkel, executive director at the Tenant Resource Center in Madison. "It's probably the worst I've seen it," she said. "For people who have had problems with unemployment, who don't have steady income, for people who have any type of blemish on their rental record, it's become incredibly difficult."

The vacancy rates are all below 1 percent in the 53726 and 53715 zip codes on the near West Side … Many people who can't afford to buy a home are staying in apartments, while banks turn others seeking a mortgage away. Many others facing foreclosures return to rentals, and developers have been unwilling to add affordable units into the market.