With more than 260,000 rental units in Utah, there are thousands of security deposit disputes each year. In many of these cases, the dispute comes down to a disagreement between the landlord and tenant over damages and cleaning. This problem is best solved with a thorough and detailed inspection process.

Housing cost burdens among working renters rise for third straight year; cost burdens remain steady but challenging for working owners.

Buried under mountains of property management paperwork? Do the projects seem to never end? Imagine how good you would feel if every day you could start with a clean and organized desk? Well dream no further! By following the three powerful tips listed below, your dreams will become reality!

Setting up your system:

Qualifying prospective renters can seem especially challenging when you must establish their eligibility to rent based upon income. While it is necessary to determine if callers and visitors can qualify to rent at your community, coming right out and asking someone for their annual income can be perceived as an invasion of privacy. (Would you like a total stranger to ask: “How much money do YOU make?”) Recently the following question on this subject came up:

Dear Maintenance Men:
My tenant has a toilet that has little cracks in various places. It has small cracks, but no leakage. I looked online and they said you could epoxy it or replace it...but you must do something. How can you tell what will work? What would be the best thing? Also, do toilets just crack over time? (“I read your column every time! That and the Legal Corner one.”)
Kristina

Dear Kristina:

Not long ago, it was common to smell cigarette smoke in Washington workplaces and restaurants. But with mounting evidence that secondhand smoke causes disease and death, and the passage of Washington’s smoke-free indoor air law, people have come to expect clean air where they work and live.

Following seven consecutive months of gains, the list of improving U.S. housing markets remained virtually unchanged in April, with 273 metros on the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI), released today. This total reflects a net reduction of one market since March and again includes entrants from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Don’t let TV’s ‘World’s Worst Tenants’ on Spike TV dictate how you manage your properties. Most of us have seen depictions of landlords on TV and in movies as illimitable in their abilities of ridding of delinquent tenants. Landlords who implement the methods that these shows illustrate for entertainment purposes could find themselves in big trouble. It is absolutely against Landlord-Tenant Law to use “force” to evict a tenant. Locking your tenant out or shutting off the utilities to the unit is very illegal.

I am seeing more in the marketplace about LED lights. Is this a proven technology and what applications make sense for multifamily properties?

240 Meetings with Legislators from 28 States Focus on Carried Interest, Internet Sales Tax Fairness, and Lead Paint in Commercial Buildings

Some 320 members of the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM®) and the CCIM Institute recently visited Capitol Hill to raise awareness of key issues affecting the commercial real estate industry. IREM® and CCIM Members representing 28 states and the District of Columbia held 240 meetings with their respective senators, representatives and their staffs to raise awareness of the industry’s legislative positions on:

• Carried Interest