Quoted Text

Changes sought in city’s rental inspection policy
Landlords want two-year intervals
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

Landlords are taking a new tack in their fight against the city’s rental certifi cates.
    A small group of landlords and property managers want the city to inspect all rental units every two years, rather than every time a tenant moves out.
    “It makes better sense to go per unit,” said Schenectady Landlords Influencing Change organizer Chris Morris, adding that landlords fi nd the process “exasperating.” They must schedule an appointment, wait for the inspector to be available, fi x any items that are found wanting, wait for a second inspection and then, finally, rent out the unit.
    “When you have to go through the process every time, that doesn’t encourage you to comply,” she said.
    The rental certificate has never been popular. In a city with an estimated 10,000 rental units, just 2,168 apartments have been inspected in the last year, according to city records.
    The new landlords group discussed fighting to abolish the certifi - cates altogether, but City Councilwoman Leesa Perazzo said she told them that would never be supported by the council. “Ultimately, the safety of our tenants is most important,” she said. After hearing about their new request for inspections every two years, she was lukewarm. “I don’t know how I’d feel about two years. Two years is a long time,” she said. “Two years is a lot of smoke detector batteries ... but I’d be willing to hear their reasons as to why.”
    Councilwoman Margaret King was more open to the idea.
    “Probably not such a bad idea,” she said. “Certainly it’s something I would consider. In some ways, it does make sense, in terms of a regular [inspection].”
    Linking the certificate to the tenant — rather than just regularly inspecting each apartment — means some units don’t get inspected for years, while others need to be inspected every few months, at a cost of $50 each time.
    Many landlords simply don’t tell the city when a unit changes hands. Code enforcers must prove a turnover in tenants before insisting on an inspection, and that has been diffi cult. ......................>>>>.......................>>>>......................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00901&AppName=1

If it was about the safety of the tenant then it would be required for all rentals.  It wouldn't exclude owner occupied rentals or even exclude all the single family houses that are being rented now that people can't buy or sell a house.  Its about the city making money.

And I don't think you can take a tenant to court without one....cause the landlord will be fined also....yes?

The city seems to have it all wrapped up so they can rake in the bucks!! But for what? They are almost BROKE!!!!

WTH does this money go????????????????

Quoted from bumblethru

And I don't think you can take a tenant to court without one....cause the landlord will be fined also....yes?

The city seems to have it all wrapped up so they can rake in the bucks!! But for what? They are almost BROKE!!!!

WTH does this money go????????????????

With or without rental certificates it is worthless to take a tenant to court.  I do not know anyone who has ever granted an eviction that took less than 3 months and I have never seen a money judgement granted.  Guido Loyola is very pro-tenant.  

show us da money

I only know of ONE person that won their judgement for back rent. The landlord had the wages garnished and received a check accordingly. This landlord was lucky only because they had a job. But the ones on welfare..........good luck!!

I dont think this Chris Morris guy even owns any apartments in the city.  

The slum lords in Schenectady are pushing out the paying people in favor of section 8'ers who they get more money for, and at the tax payers dime.

Really?

Do Section 8 people really take good care of their apartments?  I'm skeptical based on the people who live near me.

Quoted from JackBauer

Really?

Do Section 8 people really take good care of their apartments?  I'm skeptical based on the people who live near me.

It depends on the person. Section 8 was expanded to include the "unemployable." That kept the unemployable off welfare. Its nowhere close to being any kind of a reasonable system.

Slobs and dirty people exist in all classes of society. The best thing a landlord can do is find out where the tenant currently lives (by mailing an application to their current address) and asking the current owner for a look see. 24 hours notice is all that is required.

Quoted from TakingItBack

With or without rental certificates it is worthless to take a tenant to court.  I do not know anyone who has ever granted an eviction that took less than 3 months and I have never seen a money judgement granted.  Guido Loyola is very pro-tenant.  

Yes Judge Loyola is very pro-tenant. But the landlord doesn't have to be. I had to appeal one of the good Judge's determinations and while it cost a bit of time and money, the case was sent back to his court to be heard again. The time lapse made it so that I automatically won because the tenant was no where to be found.

I got a the money judgement and I have the former tenants' information, now I need to find out where they work and then visit the sheriff's department for the wage garnishment.

I also have an active garnishment that is being handled, and I get a check each month.

The actual eviction took less than ten days. Our sheriff's department is awesome.

Quoted from Vaedur

The slum lords in Schenectady are pushing out the paying people in favor of section 8'ers who they get more money for, and at the tax payers dime.

Think you have this a little backwards ....it's the County handing out section 8 vouchers like candy which has lead to the influx in the City. You reap what you sow.

By the way, a section 8 tenant needs an INSPECTION of the property prior to getting approval. Therefore, all the City has to do is go to Section 8, make sure their inspection is done and bingo....you've just saved every inspector massive overtime!!

This $50 inspection is yet another way the City is trying to collect money from the only source of their income...the ATM taxpayers (property owners).

Maybe Leeza is working with Proctors on this one...I mean Proctors is charging volunteers $75 to work for free.....let's start charging landlords $50 for tenants. What a waste!!!!!!

PatZ said it best....  "It depends on the person." "Slobs and dirty people exist in all classes of society."

The City Code is a large part of the reason why good and bad landlords are renting more to Section 8 tenants.  All units rented to Section 8 are exempt from the Rental Certificates.  

§ 210-8 Application; standards; issuance; temporary certificate.
A. Rental certificate.
(1) This chapter shall apply to all buildings in the City of Schenectady which contain two or
more rental units, except rental units inspected and leased under contract with the
Schenectady Municipal Housing Authority and the United States Department of Housing
and Urban Development.
(2) Whenever a vacancy shall exist in a rental unit and a leasing is about to occur, or
whenever there is a change in occupancy, the owner shall submit a written application
for a rental certificate. This application shall indicate the name and address of the owner,
the location of the property and the identity of the rental unit by number or other suitable
means.

I've understood that "Section 8 apartments," i.e., the landlord is willing to rent to Section 8 eligible tenants, must be inspected by some other entity and subject to whatever Section 8 "codes" are for habilitability.    I don't know if this is true, and I wish I could remember who/how I heard it, that someone was looking to rent some apartment somewhere and asked the landlord if they take Section 8 (I think the landlord didn't know much about it), and then how old the carpeting was (about 15 years old) and the prospective tenant mumbled something about "well, that's got to be changed," and also something about that wallpaper needs to be removed for a section 8 tenant.   Of course this was heresay and supposedly verbally said by a tenant and perhaps the tenant didn't like the carpeting or wallpaper and told the landlord it had to go.   GOsh I wish I could remember if I personally knew the landlord or if someone was telling me about someone in their family or whatever who was a landlord.   But if it was a tenant who suspected the landlord didn't know anything about section 8, then the tenant could have been kind of telling the landlord a lie.   But maybe section 8 is substantially stricter.   Curious.

But then, there is one thing about Section 8 where they should work with the city - they should withhold payments to the landlord if the landlord is behind on taxes, or I should say, the section 8 "office" should forward the rent payments the city, town, etc, whatever the taxing entity.

From what I understand, the inspections for city vs Sec. 8 (SMHA)  are very similar. One difference is the inspection for Sec. 8 is done every year whether or not there is a change in tenancy. So, if a tenant lives in the same place for a decade, the inspection is done yearly. For the city, currently, the inspection only occurs at a change of tenancy. Or should occur, from what I read in the arrticle, that is hardly the case.