Real Estate Show Landlords and Tenants

Real Estate Show Landlords and Tenants

Full Video Transcript Below

[00:00:00] Alice Lema: Well, good morning, Southern Oregon. Welcome back to the real estate show. I'm Alice Lema. I'm a broker here in beautiful Southern Oregon with John L. Scott real estate. And I am your host here of the real estate show. And today we have one of our favorite favorite guests, Ms. Tia Politi she is the owner of the rental housing support services, LLC.

[00:00:22] She's also the current president of Oregon housing association and also the current president of the Lincoln county renter owners association. She also runs five tenant hotlines, landlord, tenant hotlines, just a wealth of information. She comes on the show every so often to bring us up to speed about what's going on in the, in the topsy-turvy world of Oregon landlord tenancy.

[00:00:48] And whether you're a landlord, thinking about being a landlord or a tenant, you want to listen to this cause you want to have the hard facts. You want to know what the rules really are. And you know, it's, it's just, doesn't hurt to run, especially if you're a landlord to run your business like a business. And that's part of what Tia politi teaches.

[00:01:07] And when she comes on, the show talks about what's, what's going on and what's working and what's not lots and lots of great tips. Speaking of great tips, wanting to pass on a couple of interest rate possibilities because you know, the rates are up to 5%. Some people paying a little more, some people paying a little less, but just wanted to give a shout out to some things that you can do to deal with all of this, because boy, it happened fast and it happened hard didn't it?

[00:01:34] We've got some folks out there trying to buy houses and their payments are now $300 a month more than they were even a couple of months ago. And I know it's been hard for everybody to adjust to this and sellers are having some adjustment as well. Some of them are taking their houses off the market and renting them.

[00:01:55] Some of them are deciding to remodel and just stay put. And some of them are just getting on board with making it work in this kind of a market. So just real quick, consider what we used to do back in the seventies and eighties, we used to buy down the rate, talk to your lender about possibly giving them more money and having a lower interest rate forced down because of that.

[00:02:18] There's also some lenders out there that are doing this interesting program. I think they're calling a lock shop and go, but what they're doing is they're locking buyers in with an interest in, even before they have an address. Super cool. Not all lenders are doing it, but call your lender and find out.

[00:02:35] And if you're selling, you know, please stay on the market. We still have a lot of buyer traffic out there. It's still a great time to move. And for those of us older folks, 5% was still a good deal at least back in the day. So stay tuned. We've got a quick commercial break coming up and then we're going to be talking to Tia Politi.

[00:02:55] We'll be right back. Well, welcome back to the real estate show everybody. I'm Alice Lema, broker John L. Scott here in beautiful Southern Oregon. And we're with Tia Politi one of our favorite favorite guests. She is what I lovingly call the walking, talking encyclopedia of all things. Landlord tenant. Welcome back too.

[00:03:14] Tia Politi: Oh, that's very sweet, Alice. Thanks so much for having me. I always enjoy doing your show.

[00:03:19] Alice Lema: Well, and our listeners get so much out of all the great information you give us. For anybody who's new to landlord tenancy, and maybe he doesn't know you, can you take a quick minute and just tell us who you are and what you do.

[00:03:31] Tia Politi: Sure. My name is Tia Politi and I'm the president of the Oregon rental housing association. And I'm also the president of the rental owners association of Lane county. I own and operate rental housing support services, LLC. I provide helpline services to five different landlord associations around the state, including Portland. You know, Multnomah county, Lane county and Benton county Coosbay and Treasure Valley.

[00:03:53] I do evictions for hire, which may sound like a terrible thing to do, but it actually is quite productive. And I help landlords you know, I consult and help them through problems. They're having with their tenants. I'm basically a tenant noncompliance specialists. So, you know, really help landlords wrap their minds around, you know, the requirements for prepare, preparation and service of legal notice and that if, if the tenant doesn't cure. Be able to help them through the court process as well.

[00:04:19] Alice Lema: And in Oregon, it's quite a complicated thing to be a landlord anymore.

[00:04:23] Tia Politi: Well, it certainly has gotten more complicated over the years. Yes, we're, we're facing definitely a, an uphill battle, depending on how November elections come out you know, with a triple Democrat majority in Salem. If that continues for the long session. In next year, we are we're in for it. I'm really telling people, I don't, I'm not telling you who to vote for.

[00:04:44] I'm just telling me if we don't change that triple majority, we are doomed as landlords to far more onerous changes then what you've experienced so far. So definitely want to see some balance back in our legislature. So folks have to work together to craft really in a responsible legislation that addresses concerns of both sides, not just one side of a problem.

[00:05:06] Alice Lema: Right, right. Fairness is everything. It really is. So let's go back in time a little bit. When last time you were here a few months ago and let's recap some of the changes that happened during the last episode we had. Cause there were some big ones and, and not everybody is still aware of not only the changes, but how to properly execute those changes.

[00:05:32] Tia Politi: Really it's confusing for landlords and tenants alike. You know, we've had so many different overlays during the pandemic. You know, three different executive orders, two house bills, three Senate bills. Right now, or we're fingers crossed we're, we're heading down the slope to the end of the worst of it. We're still under the mandates of Senate bill 8 91.

[00:05:53] So for, for housing providers who aren't aware we're still obligated to, to serve a ten day notice for non-payment of rent instead of a 72 hour notice or a 144 hour notice. That rule continues through September 30th of this year, beginning, unless something changes, you know, don't hold me to it. As of today, this is what we're under. I mean, we've, we've gotten really used to, today, this is the law. We'll see what comes tomorrow because it's changed so quickly. And it's just been really, really tough.

[00:06:24] I mean, I'm even hearing of some tenants still trying to give their landlord a declaration of financial hardship and that hasn't been applicable since last June 30th. But right now we're still under the mandates of Senate bill 8 91. The 10 day notice or 13 day notice is required to be served. And then if your renter provides you with written evidence that they have applied for rental assistance, they are protected. They're in this protected state called the safe Harbor period.

[00:06:46] And, and what that means is basically while that application is pending, you are not allowed to take any action against your renter for nonpayment, except with one exception, which is damage to the premises. So that was something they parsed out for us from the last bill that Senate, Senate bill 8 91 modified to continue because OHCS, oh assured us that, that they would be able to process these applications in 60 days. No problem, no problem. And Margaret Salazar, the director who promised that to the legislature was rewarded for her failure by an appointment to the Biden administration. So that's what failure in government looks like. Yeah. Yeah. You can't hear the sarcasm in my tone. I'm sure.

[00:07:35] Alice Lema: Oh, well we're all disappointed for sure.

[00:07:37] Tia Politi: That's right. Well, aside from that, not only did they not do it in 60 days, some counties extended it to 90 days. And even that wasn't enough time. We still hear stories about landlords, whose tenants show them proof of written proof of application for rent assistance last August and the landlord still hasn't heard anything.

[00:07:55] So right now w why we did not oppose Senate bill 891, I knew it was because in the beginning we were only going to be reimbursed for the 60 days safe Harbor period or, and not even the 90 day safe Harbor period that some counties were implementing. So we agreed to extend it a little bit longer with the promise that we will be reimbursed for the entirety of the safe Harbor period while the landlord's waiting for a decision that that period will be fully covered.

[00:08:23] So they say we're hoping there's enough money in that landlord guarantee fund. They to pay everyone, you know, they They put $10 million in there, hoping that's going to be enough. In addition, you know, for the, for the renters who get rent assistance, that's coming out of a different pot of money. But, but let's say the landlord is notified that their application is no longer pending. What they say it's canceled. It's denied for whatever reason, the landlord will be able to applied to be reimbursed for the safe Harbor period, only through this $10 million fund called the landlord guarantee program. It's being administered by home forward. So if landlord's wondering about that program, they can just Google landlord guarantee program home forward and you'll get to the home forward website.

[00:09:02] And I've had some, I've never applied yet, but I've had some colleagues who have applied to be reimbursed for that safe Harbor period. And they say of all the programs that, that OHCS has created for us that have gone sideways, this one is is actually easy to do. They finally like worked out all the bugs.

[00:09:20] Now, then you've got the issue though, where the tenant, you know, the tenant still owes the money before and after that safe Harbor period, if they don't get rent assistance, certainly if the, if the renter's application is approved, the landlord gets their back rent. They get current rent and they get three months moving forward typically.

[00:09:36] So while that application is pending, you can't do anything. That last through September 30th. Beginning July one. We're no longer going to have to include, what's called the important notice about your rights to protection from eviction. So tenants have through June 30th to take advantage of this safe Harbor period by applying for rent assistance.

[00:09:54] The, the OHCS program has opened and closed and opened and closed. And because they, they lacked funding, they dedicated all the funding. Then they found more money. And I don't know where it's at right now, whether it's open or closed. I think it may be closed at this time, but, but a landlord should be aware of that.

[00:10:11] That's not the only place a tenant can go for rent assistance. For example, here in Lane county, Lane county still have. That they're distributed, so attending could apply and willing county tenant could apply there. We're seeing applications come from Catholic community services. Maybe even some from shelter care.

[00:10:26] So not sure what the, what the social service or aid organizations are in your area, but just because they can't access. Oh Rapp, which is the Oregon emergency rental assistance program. Doesn't mean they're not going to be able to get assistance elsewhere. So doesn't just have to be that one program.

[00:10:42] You need to be aware of that. And another thing that's really driving me crazy as landlords who are not demanding written evidence from their tenants. So the safe Harbor period, you're only going to get reimbursed from that, if the tenant shows you written evidence and when you apply, that's part of what you have to provide.

[00:10:57] Yeah, it's not from the day, the tenant applied for assistance that you're going to get reimbursed. It's only from the day they show you that written evidence. That's a big battle. And so a lot of landlords I've talked to. Well, you know, my tenant has said they applied for rent assistance. I'm like, that's not good enough.

[00:11:13] Right? You got to, you got to get that written evidence from them. You may have to start them that 10 day notice to force them to give you that. Then if they do the tenant is protected through the earlier of September 30th, the end of this period the day you're notified that their application is no longer pending the day you get possession of the property either willingly from the tenant or forcibly in court.

[00:11:32] And that's your safe Harbor period. Then the tenant owes you everything in front and behind. But if you have a tenant, like I said earlier, who has caused damage to the premises and refuses to pay you for that? The landlord could serve a For cause termination notice giving that tenant an additional couple of weeks to pay, and you can take that to court.

[00:11:50] You can go to court and you don't have to include the important notice if it's for damage alone, but any other notice, whether it's a 10 day or a 13 day or a notice of termination with cause or other charges like late, these that remain unpaid you must include the important notice about the tenants rights to protection from eviction through June 30th.

[00:12:07] I'm also seeing a problem some landlords are serving the old notice that that only told the tenant that they had protection through February 28. So it's really important you get the correct notice. There was one available on the Oregon rental housing association website. It's available at the Oregon law center.

[00:12:24] There's, there's a million places to get this. You've got to make sure that that important notice. Gives tells them that through June 30th, they can apply and show their landlord written evidence. So that's, you know, one thing I'm seeing another thing another cautionary tale for landlords is when you get this notification, you need to check with the assisting agency to ensure that they have your correct information.

[00:12:47] I have been told by more than one landlord that they never checked. And it turned out that when, you know, we're not sure whether they accidentally or purposefully gave the wrong landlord information to the agency, but when they can't reach the landlord, they're giving the money directly to the tenant.

[00:13:04] You may or may not know may or may not pass it on. Yes. It's very important that landlords confirm that whatever agency is assisting them, that they have the landlord's correct information. And yeah, I heard of one landlord whose tenant got a $6,000, pay the landlord 2000 of that. So that's terrible.

[00:13:23] Yeah, it is. It's a very challenging time we're in and it's so challenging to keep these rules straight. I tell you, you know, if you're a landlord out there, who's not a member of a local landlord association, you're making a big mistake. You either need to keep checking our website at Oregon rental housing so you can stay up on the latest, or if you are a member of an association like for example, the Southern Oregon rental owners association, the ROA of Southwestern Oregon, which is based out of Coosbay area, you know, any of them will make sure that you're getting this information and it's really important.

[00:13:56] Alice Lema: So I I'm just flabbergasted that the reimbursement that a landlord is supposed to get the landlord who possibly was not getting paid by the tenant and they were still paying their mortgage, could accidentally be given to the tenant and the tenant can cash the money. And that could be the end of it. I just can't believe that that can even happen.

[00:14:16] Tia Politi: Well, it's supposed to be paid to the landlord. I, you know, I'm not an attorney. A lot of things, but I'm not that. And I don't know if that's, you know, sort of fraud or criminal act of some sort. It certainly seems you know, it's certainly not, what's certainly not right.

[00:14:30] Alice Lema: Certainly not right. Oh, those poor landlords. Good grief. Okay. So get your notices straight and make sure that the agencies involved in these tenant situations have the landlords corrected. Is that the lesson?

[00:14:46] Tia Politi: Your correct email address, your correct contact information. That's essential. These are kind of heartbreaking stories because you know, if the landlord doesn't know how to go about it, how to go about you know checking, then they're potentially going to be hurt.

[00:15:01] Alice Lema: No good grief. Well we have to take a quick break here Tia. You were talking to Tia Politi rental housing support services, LLC. She is the current Oregon housing president. She's also president of Lane county renters, owner association, and just a wealth of information. And I'm so happy to have you back to you always. Always super educational. We'll be back after a quick message from our sponsors. We're brought to you today by John L. Scott Ashland, Medford, Guy Giles mutual of Omaha mortgage and our local Rogue Valley association of realtors. We'll be right back.

[00:15:38] Well, welcome back folks to the real estate show. Alice Lema broker, John L. Scott here welcoming you back to the real estate show. Tia Felitti is our guest today. She comes on every so often and brings us up to speed on all things. Landlord tenant. Welcome back.

[00:15:53] Tia Politi: Thank you, Alice. I always enjoy your show. You're just a wonderful interviewer and I'm excited to have this opportunity.

[00:16:01] Alice Lema: Well, I'm just so happy to have you back. So in the first segment we were kind of getting caught up on the COVID and how that's all kind of unwinding. Before we finished that topic, though, you know, there are outbreaks back here. It's spiking. Our numbers are spiking in Oregon. I call it the COVID sandwich again. Is there any, are there any rumors if what's going to happen if we do have another major outbreak, has anybody said.

[00:16:27] Tia Politi: I have not heard anything about that I, fingers crossed, you know I'd have to ask the magic eight ball. I've completely lost all confidence in my ability to predict the future anymore.

[00:16:38] Since this last two years of you know, horror. But, but I, you know, they've got to have money. They, I think, I think finally everybody realized we just can't, you know, we can't allow the rental industry to collapse right. We can't allow private landlords to, to go bankrupt because they still have a mortgage to pay and tenants are required to pay their rent.

[00:17:02] So I'm really hopeful that we're not going to see any more impacts on on housing providers. But again, I've lost all confidence in my ability to predict the future.

[00:17:11] Alice Lema: Well, and the state's reaction left and right is caught all of us by surprise, over and over again. So probably wasn't a fair question. Just wondered if the rumor rumor mill was heating up yet. So, well, let's, let's talk about some of the more practical day-to-day issues with landlord tenants. We had some changes in the laws in the last year or so, why don't we talk about that.

[00:17:32] Tia Politi: We did last year short session really had to narrow their focus to two COVID things. So it really prevented a lot of the, the wishlist that the tenant advocates would like to have seen happen. We know they're gearing up for 2023, so I'd really like to, again, remind you all that, how you vote is extremely important especially your vote for governor and your vote for, if we can flip that even by a couple of votes. Or get a more reasonable governor in place and potentially gain a better balance in the Senate, then, you know, it forces the other side to have to work with us and not just steamroll us.

[00:18:09] So I really can't emphasize strongly. How important your vote is this year, especially for governor and for Senate. You know, the Senate has always been our backstop for, for really outrageous law changes. And, and I just, I really encourage you all to get out and vote and try to bring some balance back to our legislature.

[00:18:28] Alice Lema: Surely all we want, we just want fairness. It's just so one-sided right now. So yeah, exactly.

[00:18:33] Tia Politi: So thank you for letting me say that. So we did have a couple of changes. One that came out of last year's long session and, and became effective in January one of this year. And that was related to screening. So Basically that law, I think it was called Senate bill 2 91 kind of aligned state law, more closely with federal law in regards to screening for criminal history. So it's kind of made some more it makes the landlord have to really look at criminal history, really look at what is called supplemental evidence that a tenant can submit to help overcome a negative screening outcome. And they ask you to look at various things like the age of the applicant at the time the crime occurred you know. The nature of the crime, like does it, you know, we've always been under this, this sort of law that, Hey, if the client doesn't pose, you know, someone with criminal history, The crimes don't pose a present danger to you or other tenants or to the property that you really need to overlook that.

[00:19:33] You know, let me, like an example might be, you know, a wildlife violation, right? I mean, you know, I, I have a good friend who was a great hunter and, you know, he just did a stupid thing. One day I was driving down the road and he saw a deer out in the field. And gosh, darn, if it wasn't one of those mechanical deer. And fish and wildlife, you know, gave him a ticket, he had criminal history now and they confiscated his gun.

[00:19:57] You know, I mean, that's not something that's generally going to pose it, you know, a problem to a landlord or tenants. So, you know, certain things you're, you've always been required to overlook. We're still allowed to deny for violent criminal history. We're allowed to deny sex offenders crimes of violence, drug manufacturing, but not marijuana or medical marijuana.

[00:20:16] Now we're asked to look at criminal history with a lens. Most managers, most professional managers already do this because the HUD memo has been out there since 2016. And it basically said, you know, someone with an event criminal event in their past was no further violations within the last six or seven years is no more likely to re-offend than someone with no criminal history at all.

[00:20:40] And so basically what I like to remind landlords is what happened matters. How long ago was it, how old was the person. What were maybe, you know, exonerating circumstances. My favorite example is a fellow I ran it two years ago and he had assault four on his record about two and a half years prior.

[00:20:57] And that's everything else about him checked out perfectly. And so anytime someone has criminal history, we asked them to provide an explanation. So he had a really good explanation. The fellow came home from work one day to find his wife having sex with his best friend and beat the snot out of his best friend. I didn't consider the man a danger to society at large, just people who had sex with his wife.

[00:21:21] So, you know, he checked out perfectly, otherwise. He said, yep, I did it. He pled guilty. He paid his fines. You know, we all have our breaking point. And, and so, you know, That's important. It's important to look at the why it's important to look at how long ago it was, whether they accept responsibility for whatever it was.

[00:21:38] I ran into one of my favorite success stories is a woman named Jennifer, who I taught through vendors rehab, which is one of the volunteer things I do. And Jennifer had a meth possession. Meth manufacturing, absolutely not. No, but she had meth possession. She had lost custody of both of her daughters. When she came to look to rent from the company I was working for, she had one year living in a clean and sober living environment.

[00:22:01] She had paid all their fines, totally complied with the terms of parole and probation got glowing reference from the house mother at the, at the you know, the drug and alcohol rehab home. So I rented to her. But with a higher deposit and a qualified co-signer because she was a higher risk you know, someone with with criminal history does pose a higher risk potentially.

[00:22:20] And in that year, she was with us she regained custody of her daughters and had to move out and find a bigger place. So I'm still in touch with Jennifer to this day. And, you know, we all love those kinds of stories.

[00:22:31] Alice Lema: Yeah, that's awesome.

[00:22:32] Tia Politi: Right. But we did our due diligence. We got that higher deposit to mitigate the risk and, you know, kept close track of her. So one change is that criminal history. So you need to look at that. You need to take into consideration various things. Also, if the tenant is in participating in a diversion program, a conditional discharge program for pending charges, normally if there's pending charges, That we wouldn't normally rent to that have not been adjudicated at the time they apply. We can say no. But now if they're in this diversion program you have to kind of take that away. So just a few changes there.

[00:23:04] Also, we did have a change in our lead based paint renovation roles. So lead based paint has always, you know, for the longest time, landlords could do their own work on a lead based paint property, but that changed a while ago, even landlords who work on a pre their own pre 1978 built house have to be lead based paint certified.

[00:23:23] So that's been the law for some time now though, property managers and landlords can, what they call third parties can be held liable if they hire someone who isn't properly certified or liable if that person causes a problem. So it's so important to know if you're getting your home painted and it's pre 1978, bill you trust me, not want to get fined by the EPA.

[00:23:44] I had that situation happen years ago with a property that I was that I was managing. The property next door, and I saw that it was this old historic home in Eugene. And literally somebody had pressure washed this home. Spewed lead chips everywhere across the neighboring property, that neighboring property, the EPA fines start at $6,000 just for not providing a form.

[00:24:10] That guy had to pay a lot of money, tens of thousands of dollars in fines. He had to remediate contamination on all his own property and all the surrounding properties. And then in the end hire lead based paint certified painter to finish this. Not worth messing around with this, you know, lead based paint is harmful to children and other living things. You do not want lead contamination in your home and you certainly don't want it ingested by your child. It permanently impacts. Permanently since they've gotten lead poisoning. So really important that you know how to deal with hazardous materials and they can deal with them properly.

[00:24:47] Alice Lema: I don't sorry, I don't think most landlords know that. So do you have any idea what the, if you're going to work on your own building and you're going to do your own lead based paint remediation, what you have to what's the process to be.

[00:25:03] Tia Politi: Well, I'm not certified. I know a little bit about it. You must be certified in and you, I was going to say you can get certified through a lot of different hazardous material companies are offering that training.

[00:25:12] I believe the home builders association offers that training a Sunday class. It teaches you how to test for lead based paint. It teaches you, you can't pressure wash, lead based paint over the ground. You have to scrape it. You, if you have tenants in place, you must provide them with a pamphlet called renovate.

[00:25:28] And, and so it's, it's a public health issue and it's really important that housing providers understand what their liabilities are. Ryan Barker from New York and housing authority is going to be presenting through the treasure valley association. So if you're a member of Sora or, or any of these landlord groups, we're having him come speak at our July meeting, our general meeting, you'll get notifications of these types of trainings.

[00:25:49] And it's so important that if you're going to run a business, any business, you have to stay up on the changing law and landlording is no different. You, you know, you blow it, you mess up one thing. I've got a one of my own members right now is facing a lawsuit for more than $13,000 for one mistake, one mistake!

[00:26:06] And, and you know, what is they say, if you think education is expensive, try ignorance, right? And nowhere, is that more true than in the of rental property? You know, you're, you're providing a unit to someone and it has to be safe and it has to be free of, you know, if you're going to be disturbing hazardous materials, you have to do it right or face very painful consequences.

[00:26:26] Alice Lema: Well, and then the lead based paint, I just think people underestimate the danger and they also underestimate doing things like power washing. You think you're just, you know, getting the cobwebs off your place and you have no idea what is being put into the soil, the air, your neighbors, the animals, the neighbor's garden. Yeah. That is a super big deal and really kind of scary.

[00:26:49] Tia Politi: It is. It is. And there's, you know, a lot of a lot of risks out there for housing providers. And one of the things I recommend that you all consider it, cause this fellow, if he had had it, he would have been covered likely for his mistake is get yourself a personal liability umbrella. You know, my husband and I have a $2 million personal liability umbrella, and that'll cover us in a lawsuit up to up to the maximum amounts of our coverage. And it costs us like 300, like 75 bucks a year. And it's a tax deductible business expense. You just can't afford to not protect yourself with proper insurance.

[00:27:22] And, and then knowing the rules, knowing the laws, you know, one of the best benefits of belonging to an association is you have access to that helpline, that educated person who can help you and help answer questions. Not every question, cause we're not attorneys, but but, but help guide. You just got to know what you're doing.

[00:27:39] And we also had another change this year related to air conditioning. So I don't know if we have time to talk about that in this segment, or if you want me to hang on with that .

[00:27:47] Alice Lema: We might have to wait for the next one cause we have another break and it's always so hard to stop cause you are just such a wealth of information. So can you repeat the class that's being done on the lead based paint. In like the 10 seconds we have left.

[00:28:01] Tia Politi: I would just Google Oregon health authority. But the classes through the treasure valley rental association, you can want to the Oregon rental housing association website and see that class and sign up even if your not a member.

[00:28:11] Alice Lema: Okay. Great. Great. We're talking to Tia Politi she's the president of the Oregon housing association, also Lane county renter owner association, president, and she owns rental housing and support services. We'll be right back after a quick word from these sponsors.

[00:28:30] Well, welcome back again to the real estate show folks. Alice Lema here, broker John L. Scott, talking to Tia Politi. One of my favorite favorite people, the walking, talking encyclopedia of all things landlord. I hope it's okay to call you that I just kind of named you accidentally.

[00:28:45] Tia Politi: actually think that's a great title. I have an ability to memorize things.

[00:28:49] Alice Lema: Yeah. Yeah. I hope it wasn't annoying, but you know, I wanted to ask a question and the last thing that we were talking about, the criminal background, I can't tell you how many people come to me. And they are tenants right now. And they're worried about applying to another tenant situation because they had an arrest between where they are and where they're going. And they're worried that they're going to be denied housing. There's still that idea that you can be denied housing.

[00:29:17] Tia Politi: You can, but now under this new bill that I partially talked about, if you know, what a tenant needs to do is they need to go belly up, right. They need to say, here's what I did. Here's what happened here's why I'm not a danger to you. They need to admit what they did. When I'm teaching renter's rehab, don't lie to me because if you find out you lied, then that's an automatic denial. If you go belly up, tell, tell me what happened, why it happened. You're also, we also ask you to provide what is called supplemental evidence to help overcome that.

[00:29:48] So have you completed programs? Did you comply with the terms of parole and probation? If any, did you pay your debt to society in effect? And what can you show me that that demonstrates the changed life. And, and so I think that's really important. And then if now with the new line is for landlords, is if a tenant has provided you with that supplemental evidence to help overcome a negative screening outcome and you deny them anyway, now you have to explain why.

[00:30:16] That supplemental evidence did not overcome your decision to deny their application. So that's going to be a big challenge for housing providers now. And even if you use a screening company, they're not going to be able to help you with that part, you, the landlord, you, the owner of the property or your manager has got, gotta provide that information. And I think that's where we're probably likely to see some issues for housing providers coming.

[00:30:38] Alice Lema: Oh, that's interesting.

[00:30:40] Tia Politi: It really is. And, and so, you know, what, what happened? Why did it happen? I mean, honestly, I've run into a sec to sex offenders, one in particular, and it's a really interesting kind of cautionary tale in it.

[00:30:52] And it's kind of a sad tale as well. Kelly, fellow, I ran into. His wife were, were, you know, absolutely great renters, but Kelly was a registered sex offender, but the story, the why kind of demonstrates why it's important to hear the story. So Kelly made a poor choice back in the eighties. And when you gotta go, you gotta go and and urinated in public and somebody saw his weiner and they called the police. And he was cited for misdemeanor exposure of his genitals. Then he made another poor choice about 10 years later. And it was witnessed by a Walmart camera, parking lot camera pleasuring himself in his vehicle. Oh no. I mean, it's not a happy story, but, but you know, Because of the prior misdemeanor crime of exposure, he is now a felon and is an the Oregon state police reclassified sex offenders in the state.

[00:31:45] And now poor Kelly is classified as a high risk predatory sex offender. And the man has never laid a hand on anyone but himself. He was not a predator. He did not forcibly raped anyone. And so I keep asking for housing council, like when are you going to start separating out statutory sex crimes from predatory sex?

[00:32:05] Hey, when I was 17, my boyfriend was 27. Right. He committed a statutory sex crime. I'll admit it. And so, you know, but that's very different than forcible, you know? And, and I think. Most people understand that. Right? Most of us understand that there's a big difference between a predator who assaults someone.

[00:32:26] Then, then there is somebody who's convicted of something, you know, statutory. So we'll see how that goes. But again, what I, what I, the bottom line I want you to understand is the why matters. And, and it's important to hear the story it's important to see, you know, he had nothing else in his history. He was a great renter.

[00:32:42] They had plenty of, you know, everything was great. And so. You know, I chose to take a chance and rent to him and it was a great experience. I've run into people with drugs in their past, et cetera. And, and, you know, if they can show me their. It is such a rewarding feeling to help someone rebuild their life, rebuild their history.

[00:32:59] And so, yeah, I just encourage housing providers out there. It is now the law, you must consider any sort of exculpatory or supplemental evidence that will help overcome that. The why matters the, what happened matters. How old they were, how long ago it was. All of those things should play into your decision.

[00:33:16] Alice Lema: And chances are just great when they, especially if there's a good reason to feel secure on both sides. So, you know, and a lot of cases, these laws are good.

[00:33:27] Tia Politi: They are, they are because it's just so easy to say no criminal history and just not have to think about that. When I teach this to a and I taught it yesterday and we'll teach it again. You know, when I, when I tell the I that every one of you in this room has done something when you were young, that you regretted. And you wish nobody else knew about right. Well, you know, I was fortunate enough, I did drugs, never got caught. I driven intoxicated, never got caught. And so, you know what I mean? We've all done stuff. And when I see that in I'm in person with people, I can see them, you know, rolling their eyes and smirking.

[00:34:04] You know, we all have that situation. I think, you know, I think we've all done things we regret, so, you know, that's important to take into consideration.

[00:34:11] Alice Lema: Yeah. And again, second chances are really cool. So kind of happens. So we only have a couple of minutes left Tia, so there was a new something that came out in the Southern Oregon rental association. Sora is what we call it down here, newsletter and it had to do with heating and cooling. Can you talk to us about the new requirements for landlords?

[00:34:39] Tia Politi: Sure. Or are you remember last year's heat wave in June? Gobsmacked us all. Senate bill 1536 has now made it a requirement that landlords have to allow what are called portable cooling devices in their units.

[00:34:52] It can't damage the buildingIt can't post a hazard to health and safety. It can't block the only means of egress from a particular room. So you can require, you know, a lot of housing providers don't like the window A/C's, cause they can damage. They can also create leaks and rot, you know, around the window frame, but we have these cool standup portable ones, right? The vent out the window. And. Now we're required to allow it. And if you want to, to limit how the tenant can do it and make sure that they are, you know, doing it in a safe manner, you're going to have to send out a form to them, letting them know, What they can and cannot do. The landlord also has the opportunity to require that they either install it or approve the installation of it.

[00:35:38] It also is going to extend the notice of termination with cause. So I call that notice at 30 14, it's a 30 day notice of termination with a 14 day right to cure. So let's say the tenant after having been sent this, this one pager saying you can't do that, you can't damage the building. Right. And they do anyway.

[00:35:57] You served them a notice of termination with cause to, to remove. That gives a 14 day cure period. There's this special provision in this law that says for every day that the heat index is above a certain amount as measured by the national weather service. And there's going to, there's a website they can go to that they'll have to extend the cure period through the end of that extreme, extraordinary heat event.

[00:36:19] So, you know, it's designed to help keep people from dying. Right. We lost so many people. This was absolutely unprecedented in Oregon and the biggest victims were elderly people.

[00:36:31] And yup. Yup. The most vulnerable of our, of our folks. So Tia Politi, I'm sorry. We have to wrap it up. I hope you'll come back and visit us again.

[00:36:41] Absolutely.

[00:36:42] Alice Lema: Just wonderful as always .This broadcast will be repeated again tomorrow, Sunday at six o'clock a radio eight 80 K CMX. Want to say thanks again to John L. Scott, Ashland, Medford, Guy Giles Mutual of Omaha mortgage and AVAR which is our local road valley association realtors. Have a beautiful weekend.

[00:37:03] Thanks again Tia. Thanks.

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