Welcome, Guest.
Please login or register.
Landlord Responsibility Act
Rotterdam NY...the people's voice    Rotterdam's Virtual Internet Community    Outside Rotterdam  ›  Landlord Responsibility Act Moderators: Admin
Users Browsing Forum
No Members and 20 Guests

Landlord Responsibility Act  This thread currently has 848 views. |
1 Pages 1 Recommend Thread
Admin
September 6, 2007, 4:44am Report to Moderator
Board Moderator
Posts
18,484
Reputation
64.00%
Reputation Score
+16 / -9
Time Online
769 days 23 minutes
http://www.dailygazette.com
Quoted Text
SCHENECTADY
New version of responsibility law would cover local landlords too

BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

   The city’s proposed Landlord Responsibility Act has been extended to apply to all landlords, not just those who live far from Schenectady.
   According to the latest draft of the law, everyone who owns property in Schenectady would have to register with the city and provide contact information, including home phone numbers. Landlords who live outside Schenectady County would also have to designate a local person as managing agent; landlords who live within the county can designate themselves.
   If they do not register, or they register with deliberately incorrect information, they could be fi ned $100 to $500 per week until they correct the situation.
   The Schenectady City Council accepted the stricter version of the law at Tuesday’s council committees meeting. They will vote on it after holding a public hearing at 7 p.m. on Sept. 24 at City Hall.
   Council President Mark Blanchfield, who proposed the law, said he hopes it will allow city officials to reach owners quickly in emergencies. Some landlords have deliberately hidden from process servers sent to notify them of fires and major code violations. In one instance, a landlord ignored frantic messages from the city while her building slowly collapsed on State Street.
   “I want, at the very least, someone on the ground to deal with the problem without having to go too far,” Blanchfield said. “You could designate a tenant to be managing agent, if they were responsible enough to make the phone call to you.”
   The law also incorporates the existing rental certificate rules, but changes those rules in two small ways.
   First, landlords would be required to post the city’s trash collection schedule in every rental unit, in addition to the current rules forcing them to post the rental certificate.
   Secondly, landlords who rent a unit without the certificate — which can only be issued after the unit passes a building inspection — would face higher fines. Right now, the fine is $200 to $500 for each violation. Under the new act, first offenders would be fined $150 to $250, but repeat offenders would face a fine of $500 to $1,000 for every day in which they do not have a rental certificate.
   The higher fines would only be used if the landlord intentionally refused to apply for a rental certificate, according to the latest draft of the act.
   Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden said he raised the ante for repeat offenders after some landlords received relatively small fi nes in court.
   “This will limit, to some extent, the discretion the judge has to do a slap on the hand,” Van Norden said.
   If the law passes, city officials may notify landlords by sending a letter with the tax bills. In that case, the law would take effect on Jan. 1, 2008. However, council members have not yet decided whether to take that route.



  
  
  

Logged
Private Message
BIGK75
September 7, 2007, 9:40am Report to Moderator
Guest User
Sounds like the city legislating for the entire county to me.  Is there a reason that we have County Legislators if the city is just going to do it?
Logged
E-mail Reply: 1 - 3
senders
September 7, 2007, 9:45am Report to Moderator
Hero Member
Posts
29,348
Reputation
70.97%
Reputation Score
+22 / -9
Time Online
1574 days 2 hours 22 minutes
Maybe they would like to talk to Mr.Marotta.....I wonder if he owns property in the city??


...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......

The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.


STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS

Logged Offline
Private Message Reply: 2 - 3
bumblethru
September 7, 2007, 5:56pm Report to Moderator
Hero Member
Posts
30,841
Reputation
78.26%
Reputation Score
+36 / -10
Time Online
412 days 18 hours 59 minutes
I can see this in some cases, as there are a lot of mfh that are owned by companies who live out of state. Take Southgate for example. It is generally referred to as 'welfare-gate'. The owners live in NYC and pay a maintance person to take care of it. IT IS A MESS!!!!
I drove through Schenectady today, as I had to go there on business.....WHAT A FREAKIN' MESS!!!  I was at a stop light on State Street and there were 2 cars in front of me. The light was red. So the guy in the first car got out and went to talk to the guy in the second car. I guess they were freinds. They had their nice little conversation while the light turned green. People were blowing their horns and ya know what? These guys could have cared less!!!!

BUT, let's not forget how great the two blocks of State Street look!!!


When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM
In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche


“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.”
Adolph Hitler
Logged
Private Message Reply: 3 - 3
1 Pages 1 Recommend Thread
|


Thread Rating
There is currently no rating for this thread