Tristan Pettit recently wrote a great blog article about whether or not rental property owners can charge application fees to applicants.
Link to Article
RPA attorney Heiner Giese has had a letter published in the January issue of the Wisconsin Lawyer, which is the monthly publication of the State Bar of Wisconsin.
The letter points out that providing free lawyers for tenants in evictions often just delays a case and that a better answer is to provide rent assistance instead of paying attorneys.
The link to the letter is here.
Tristan Pettit recently included a link on his blog summarizing Landlord-Tenant Bills that some In Madison are hoping to get passed in 2024.
As Tristan notes: If these are not the type of laws that you want passed then I suggest you get involved, join the Rental Property Association of Wisconsin, and start talking to your elected officials in Madison.
Program promotes homeownership for low-income Milwaukee renters
The Metcalfe Park Homeownership Initiative is a lease-purchase program in the Metcalfe Park neighborhood on the north side of Milwaukee. Thirty single-family homes were built 15 years ago on tax-foreclosed lots. Now the homes, which are valued at about $125,000 each, are being sold to tenants for anywhere between $40,000 and $80,000.
They're available at those rates because of a provision in the federal low-income housing tax credit that allows tenants to buy their homes at a discount 15 years after development. It's known as the eventual tenant ownership model. Developers who receive the tax credit agree to those terms.
Three of the 30 homes at Metcalfe Park were sold last year. Now advocates are promoting the benefits of homeownership to other eligible tenants.
These residents have formed a development group to create affordable housing opportunities
Alice Pugh, a career educator, shared on social media her interest in an informational meeting on the Homes MKE initiative, which renovates vacant, foreclosed City of Milwaukee properties and then sells them to residents at affordable prices.
Adrienne Hunter reached out to Pugh about their husbands’ shared interest in the initiative. And then the two decided to work together to send a proposal to the Department of City Development to be one of the developers to participate in this project.
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/raw/proposal/2023/-5444
Excerpt:
DISCLOSURES REGARDING REAL PROPERTY WHOLESALERS
The bill requires a real property wholesaler to provide certain disclosures to other parties involved in a real property transaction. Under the bill, “real property wholesaler" is defined as a person that enters into a purchase agreement as a buyer and intends to sell the person's rights as buyer to a third party, and “purchase agreement” is defined as a contract for the sale, exchange, option, rental, or purchase of residential real property that includes one to four dwelling units.
The bill requires a real property wholesaler, no later than entering into a purchase agreement as a buyer, to provide written notice to the seller that the buyer is a real property wholesaler. Under the bill, if the real property wholesaler fails to provide the notice, the seller may rescind the purchase agreement at any time before the closing and retain any deposits or option fees paid by the real property wholesaler.
In addition, if the real property wholesaler contracts to sell its interest in the purchase agreement to a third party, the bill requires the real property wholesaler, no later than entering into the contract, to provide written notice to the third party that the real property wholesaler is a real property wholesaler that holds an equitable interest in the property as a buyer under the purchase agreement and that the real property wholesaler is conveying its interest in the purchase agreement, not title to the property.
Under the bill, if the real property wholesaler fails to provide the notice, the third party may rescind the contract at any time before the closing and is entitled to the return of any deposits or option fees paid by the third party.
Link to full Article on Rent Cafe's Website
The next RPA Landlord Boot Camp will be held on Saturday, April 13, 2024.
Sign-ups will begin soon, please watch for more information via email in the future!
Why should you attend Landlord Boot Camp?
This in-person event will be held at the Sonesta Milwaukee West. The day includes lunch and a downloadable PDF of the course materials. (Printed materials available for an extra cost.)
HACM is the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee.
We apologize for any delays some of you may be experiencing with scheduling inspections. Your patience is greatly appreciated.
Here are some general rules of thumb for inspections:
ANNUAL INSPECTIONS
Approximately 120 days prior to your HACM tenant lease end date, you and your tenant should receive a notice telling you either when your inspection will be (approximately 90 days prior to lease end) or that your unit does not need to be inspected this year. If the lease ends in an odd month, (Jan, Mar, May, etc) the unit will have to be inspected before the lease is renewed in 2024.
Annual inspection dates are non-negotiable. An adult must be present to let our inspector in. If we cannot access the unit, the unit will fail inspection, and we will determine when the reinspection will take place.
You don’t have to wait for our call or a letter. By using the portal, you can check for any upcoming inspections!
NEW TENANT INSPECTION / REINSPECTION
Within 48 hours of receiving a Request for Tenancy Approval (RFTA) form from you or your prospective tenant, the owner/agent should expect a call from either a Leasing and Contract Specialist to discuss rent reasonableness, or from Jose Guzman to set up an inspection.
To set up a reinspection you must contact jose.guzman@hacm.org 414-286-5658.
Message from HACM (Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee):
Beginning March 1, 2024, we will no longer mail out rent increase forms. Up until this time, we have typically mailed out rent increase forms 150-120 days prior to lease end dates along with annual inspection notices.
We are now providing a generic rent increase form on our website. You can also request one from stephen.fendt@hacm.org. Please complete and sign the form, have your tenant sign it, and return it to us at section8leasing@hacm.org no less than 90 days prior to the lease end date.
We ask that you be proactive and monitor the lease end dates for your HACM tenants so you know when future rent increase forms are due. If you are on the Landlord Portal, and we encourage all of you to go there and register, you can see your lease renewal dates by clicking on the “Unit Info” icon.
MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers, together with the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), announced today that two new loan programs, Restore Main Street and Vacancy-to-Vitality, are now available and expected to spur the development of new affordable housing units across the state.
“Expanding access to safe, reliable, affordable housing statewide in Wisconsin is critical to addressing our state’s pressing workforce challenges while connecting the dots to ensure our kids, workers, and families can be successful and thrive,” said Gov. Evers. “As we revitalize main streets and turn vacant commercial spaces into affordable residential units, we are building a brighter future for our workforce, our economy, and our state. I am proud that, through these new programs and investments we made in the budget, we are able to help Wisconsinites access the safe, stable housing they deserve.”
“Together, these new programs give us even more opportunities to add much-needed affordable housing in both urban and rural areas of our state that are desperate for safe, stable homes for working individuals, families, and seniors,” said WHEDA Executive Director Elmer Moore Jr.
Access to safe, reliable, and affordable housing is a critical part of helping address the workforce challenges facing the state. For years, Gov. Evers has proposed robust provisions and investments in expanding access to housing statewide, including in his 2023-25 proposed budget. The governor was glad to have the Wisconsin State Legislature join him in supporting this critical effort. The 2023-25 biennial budget signed by Gov. Evers provides one of the largest state investments in workforce housing—$525 million—in state history, including measures to fund both the Main Street Housing Rehabilitation Revolving Loan Fund and Loan Program, now called Restore Main Street, and Commercial-to-Housing Conversion Revolving Loan Fund and Loan Program, now called Vacancy-to-Vitality. Both programs were created earlier this year as part of a bipartisan package of bills Gov. Evers signed to help expand access to safe, affordable housing for working families.
The Restore Main Street Loan Program provides loan funding for building owners to cover the costs to improve housing located on the second or third floors of an existing building with commercial space on the ground level. Borrowers can apply for up to $20,000 per housing unit or 25 percent of the total rehabilitation cost at a low-interest rate of three percent or one percent in municipalities with a population of less than 10,000.
The Vacancy-to-Vitality Loan Program allows a developer to apply for a loan to cover the costs of converting a vacant commercial building to workforce or senior housing. Developers can apply for up to $1 million or 20 percent of the total project cost, including land at a low-interest rate of three percent or one percent in municipalities with a population of less than 10,000 or senior housing.
Both programs require municipalities to take steps to reduce the cost of the eligible project by voluntarily revising ordinances or regulations that affect the project on or after Jan. 1, 2023. Municipalities are also required to have updated the housing element of their comprehensive plans within five years.
For additional information about the loan programs, please visit WHEDA’s website here.
An online version of this release is available here.
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