First Posting- Housing and landlords april 2012

Everyone has been a renter at some point. This means we all have had a landlord. Lakewood has 1,500 one and two family structure landlords. Tonight, April 17th, 2012, City Hall is hosting its 4th landlord training session. This session, as well as the three previous sessions, is full. 200 seats are taken.

Lakewood's landlords are responding to our call to" help them to help us." There has probably never been a more difficult time to be a landlord. The housing crisis of this downturn hurts everyone.

Landlords will learn about Housing Court experiences, laws, and advice from Judge Patrick Carroll. This is free legal information that you cannot 'buy". Federal, State, and local Fair housing laws will be reviewed. This helps landlords gain a better understanding of the boundaries of their responsibilities- to themselves and our society. This is an important and complicated subject. I learn more each time I hear it. This is my fourth time tonight. bring it on!

Landlords are also given a briefing of Lakewood’s Criminal Nuisance laws. This law holds landlords accountable for any disruption to our neighborhoods by their tenants. We have issued over 300 warning letters during the past 4 years. We have had about 100 convictions with fines during this same time period. This is very important to Lakewood's neighborhoods. Some landlords feel this accountability is unfair. I feel it is a very fair law. Our neighborhoods generally agree with me.

We need our landlords to be informed, fair, attentive, responsive, and financially successful. We need them to be all of these things so that they can and will reinvest in their house. Their house is in our neighborhood. Lakewood: many communities, one home, one Lakewood

#1lkwd www.onelakewood.com