NEW EQUAL RIGHTS HOUSING ACT HELPS RENTERS
Under new federal guidelines, renters can now rest assured that they
are on equal footing as their prospective landlords. The laws which
go into effect today require landlords to become licensed through
their state's local FHA office, and bonded through private companies.
The new procedures include a thorough background check of potential
landlords to include credit and criminal histories, as well as
required training through an accredited program. "We are tired of the
same horror stories being repeated throughout the country" says
Richard Ellis, director of the FHA's southeastern regional
offices. "Tenants are being
thrown out on the streets due to property
owners own blunders, mismanagement, and greed".
It is believed much of this legislation was pushed through so quickly
due to the mass evictions in California and Colorado this year.
Historically, landlords have had the upper hand by performing credit
and reference checks, but the same protection was not available to
tenants. Under the new guidelines, any property owner not licensed
and bonded will not be able to remove tenants from their properties
through the traditional methods of notices and evictions. This will
help tenants from being put out in the street with no alternatives.
Landlords will now be required to locate equivalent housing, both in
price and environment providing for a smooth transition for the
renter. If suitable housing cannot be located the landlord will have
the option of subsidizing the rent for a period of two years to
assist the tenant until affordable housing can be located. It is
expected these new laws will help stabilize the housing market by
controlling the rapid rental price increases seen in the last few
years of hyper-inflation.
AP/Distr
3442.655
Comments(0)