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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12.14.2022 RHAB MinutesRental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 1 Rental Housing Advisory Board Minutes December 14, 2022 Present: TJ Hobbs, Timothy Ernst, Lukas Shelton, Anna Lautenbach Excused: Ally Stribbling, Lynnsey Erickson, Donn Lord, Lyle Byre Staff: Kelly Nieforth; Community Development Director, Nichole Krahn; Chief Building Official I. Call to Order Nieforth called the meeting to order at 3:30 pm. II. Welcome New Members – Lyle Byre & Anna Lautenbach RHAB welcomed Lautenbach. Byre was not in attendance. III. Roll Call Roll call was taken and a quorum declared present. IV. Citizen Statements There were no citizen statements. V. Approval Meeting Minutes – October 12, 2022 Motion by Hobbs. Seconded by Shelton. Hobbs provided additional context for their statements on page eight. They asked if Lord’s comments on page six were accurate and if staff could confirm if that’s what was said by Lord. The minutes of the October 12, 2022 meeting were approved as written. VI. Partner Organizations Update ADVOCAP Rental Assistance Scheer stated ADVOCAP assisted over 200 people in September and they no longer have a wait list. Energy Services Inc. are making appointments into February and ADVOCAP is assisting with those applications as well. 85% of the people they’re helping are earning less than 50% of the county median income. Statewide is closer to 68%. They’re finding more and more people who have met the 18- Rental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 2 month maximum. ADVOCAP provides information on their other programs to those individuals and the state has now implemented a similar program. 35-50% of people they’re assisting each week have received assistance previously. They’ve gone through two thirds of the money. They’re anticipating the program will last another year, but they’re not sure. The governor announced additional funds for veterans and the 18-month limit does not apply to those individuals. Scheer stated more landlords are not accepting WERA funds. Some landlords and property management companies are now requesting a $100 fee to complete the WERA paperwork. Some landlords are charging fees to renew leases. They’re expecting more calls in January with utilities being turned back to taxes. They do have funds from the City to assist individuals who have exceeded 18 months. There continue to be evictions for nonpayment of rent. They’re still looking for landlords who are willing to work with their program. They are trying to connect with the State Landlord Association, but not receiving any feedback from them. RHAB thanked Scheer for her time. Ernst stated that the omnibus landlord tenant law that allows landlords to charge these unlimited fees was sponsored by an Oshkosh Assembly representative as well as the Wisconsin and Winnebago Apartment Associations. It’s the same law that prevents the City from enforcing the Rental Inspection program. Winnebago County Eviction Prevention Task Force – Eviction Data RHAB reviewed the updated eviction data provided by Erickson. VII. Inspections Staff Update Social Media Nieforth introduced Nichole Krahn to RHAB as the new Chief Building Official. She stated staff continue regular social media updates for programming, meetings, and board vacancies. Ernst suggested sharing the holiday light recycling information. Hobbs suggested sharing the dates and times of Council meetings. Rental Registry Inspection Program Nieforth stated they have not done a mailing since July. At that time staff sent out 92 letters and two inspections were completed as a result. Staff are still updating the rental registry database. Staff completed around 82 complaint-based inspections in 2022. Ernst asked if the mandatory program would be coming to an end due to the low response rate. Nieforth replied they’re looking at having something in place to be more proactive instead of relying Rental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 3 on only complaint-based inspections. As Ernst pointed out, they are limited in what they can enforce due to state statutes. Council will be taking a look at the program next year and staff will provide updates on that. Ernst asked if it was still worth promoting the mandatory inspection program at this point. Nieforth replied they’ll take a look at it early next year and focus on education efforts. VIII. Public Information Campaign – Tenant and Landlord Rights Brochure Distribution Update/Poster Ernst thanked RHAB members for handing out brochures. He has been waiting for an update on the rental inspection program before moving forward with a redesign of the poster. Nieforth replied the content is applicable whether there’s a program or not. They have extra brochures at City Hall if anyone would like more. Ernst stated he will keep tinkering with the poster and wait to see what Council would like to do with the program moving forward. IX. Discussion Item from Previous Meeting Attorney Update: Appeal/Petition to County Clerk to Strike Evictions Filed 2020-2022 Nieforth stated the City Attorney was unable to attend the meeting, but did provide an update for the meeting. The City is very limited in what they can do. It is something that would need to be addressed at the state or county level. Ernst asked if the board could ask the County to consider action. Nieforth replied she would need to check with the City Attorney’s office. The statute states that no city, village, town, or county may enact an ordinance, so the County is probably limited in what they can do as well. It is a legislative issue. She will check to see if there is a contact person for the County who would be available to attend the next meeting. There might be other organizations better suited to lead the effort with the support of the board. X. Other Business Ernst requested that the Strategic Plan be added to the next agenda and asked if staff could distribute the plan before the next meeting. Hobbs stated they’ve had folks ask them if the no move-out months that landlords have written into their leases with tenants is legal. They reached out to the Wisconsin Bar Association, who referred them to the Wisconsin State Law Library, who shared Administrative Code 1.34.09, which includes Rental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 4 prohibitive rental agreement provisions. It’s basically ten things that landlords cannot put in their lease. The no-move out months aren’t on the list, but it is inherently unfair. It is pro-landlord and it only harms the tenant. There aren’t no eviction months, but there are no move-out months. The Wisconsin State Law Library referred them to the Bureau of Consumer Protection. The Bureau informed them of State Statute 7.04.193 which requires at least 28 days of written notice from a tenant to a landlord in order to break a lease and vacate, at any time, including during no move-out months. They are curious to hear from an attorney on this, but their understanding is that tenants have the right to break a no move-out clause in a lease if they provide a 28-day notice to their landlord. Landlords must then make a good faith effort to fill the apartment with another tenant and the lease then officially ends when the landlord has occupied the unit with a new tenant. They are bringing this up for two reasons. The first reason is to confirm that their understanding is correct. The second reason is, if their understanding is correct, to bring awareness of this to tenants. It would seem that tenants have more rights in terms of breaking a lease than what is indicated by the state. Nieforth replied they would follow up with the City Attorney on this for the next meeting. Ernst asked if the Bureau of Consumer Protection is the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection. Hobbs replied affirmatively. Shelton stated tenants wouldn’t necessarily know to look for that and he questioned what else tenants might not know to look for. He thinks that the board should take the time to figure out what other information is out there. Ernst replied that he agrees and that the education of landlord and tenants was one of the primary goals of the public information campaign. XI. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 4:17 PM. (Hobbs/Shelton)