On October 2, 2017, I received notice a Suburban Times reader, Ms. Elizabeth James, added two comments to my article titled Westside Story – Pencil Vs. Gun. The second comment disclosed her being victimized by Lakewood City Council’s Rental Housing Safety Program (RHSP). My link will take you to the article and her two comments.
Her second comment is quoted below:
“Elizabeth James says
OCTOBER 2, 2017 AT 6:29 AM
We are a renters in the Lakewood area. A family with four children. We are being evicted because of the this!
[This = City of Lakewood’s Rental Housing Safety Program (RHSP) – Bracketed words added by Joe Boyle]
Our landlord gave us a 30 day vacate! We have nowhere to go, nor is this sufficient time to save to move either. Lost, broken and on the verge of homelessness”
END OF QUOTE.
After reading Elizabeth’s remarks, my throat started to constrict making it difficult to breathe. My eyeballs felt like they were going to pop out from the pressure of tears welling up in reaction to Elizabeth’s sad, unnecessary, and tragic event caused by Lakewood City Council’s RHSP.
I have failed Lakewood City Council and I have failed Elizabeth’s family. With more than a half century of problem-solving experience, I have been unable to penetrate the harsh bureaucratic veneer of our Lakewood City Council in my effort to help them understand they are taking our city in the wrong problem-solving direction.
I have written and published countless articles. I have spoken to the Lakewood City Council. All my efforts have had no positive constructive impact and because of my failure, City Council remains blind to the big picture.
City Council’s RHSP turns out to be a home wrecker. Because of City Council’s RHSP a family of two adults and four children have lost their two bedroom home. RHSP has generated the first case of punishing innocent citizens.
While I realize not one person on our city council intended for this to happen, their view from the elevated council dais while drenched in college degrees, wealth, home ownership and power blinds them to the reality of the struggles of a low-income family trying to survive in the trenches of their world.
Perhaps City Council will simply chalk-up this family’s destruction as necessary collateral damage required to implement the RHSP. This kind of unintended outcome is no surprise. It was predicted by RHSP critIcs.
How many innocent people does Lakewood need to crush before City Council is willing to decide that RHSP is not the best slum eradicator?
It appears entirely appropriate that Lakewood City Council should reach out to help their first RHSP victim family. Elizabeth’s family needs Lakewood City Council to provide them with $500 per month so they can manage their new post-RHSP rent which Elizabeth projects to be a minimum of $1,200 per month if and when they find a rental home.
If Lakewood City Council cannot afford to give Elizabeth the $500 per month, how does Council expect Elizabeth to afford their RHSP generated rent increase?
After writing this article, I succeeded in my effort to make direct contact with both the RHSP victim and her RHSP victimized landlord. You can expect an article or two outlining what I learned during my interview of the two victims to follow shortly.
Thank you Joe for your service to our Rental Community. I notified my renters the rent will be going up because of the “Safety Program “ the Lakewood City Council implemented.
I believe we as Landlords and renters should all get together to fight this crazy program. We will have strength in numbers. Please help us get organized. Keep up the great articles! Thank you Joe!
This is a sad unintended consequence to Lakewood’s Landlord Tenant Harassment Program. It’s making me realize that I know of several families that could soon be homeless due to the program. These particular families are on a tight budget, have reasonably nice rental properties to live in, but if the rent goes up due the onerous RHSP, they will be out on the streets. The rental market is very tight due to lack of supply. My tenants often ask me if I have or know of any homes available for a friend or relative. This program will hurt the folks that it’s supposedly in place to help.
Two of my friends each own one rental house and will be selling them and evicting the families that have lived there for years.
More victims of the City of Lakewood RIP.
Nice Homes, Nice people that simply refuse to be treated like they rent slums.
I can’t see voting for any of our existing Council people that voted for this.
Slum lords selling there properties. Yes the problem is working already.
Joe,
You and David Anderson have not failed us. Not one bit. It’s true, only Mr. Wilson stands ignorant of the consequences of this program. He alone imagines that his little rental will be dressed out like a palace, right under his feet and his rent will not increase as a result of the findings of such a ‘safety inspector’.
$7,000 doesn’t go down the toilet… that’s the cost of a new roof. A new roof that will certainly be in need in the next few years on my rental property in Lakewood, right along with a whole house rewiring… ya, I give it up.. let’s see if they’re paying attention. The units are fully remodeled at a cost of about $30,000 or more, the electrical panels have been replaced at $3,000 as they were pointed out as being fire hazards, that was done early on. I still have to replace a beam on the carport, @ $3,000 and need some new appliances in the laundry at @ $2,000. That’s all after an initial $100,000 investment and after 10 years of mortgage payments, plus 2 refinances to aid me in bringing down the payments so that the rents will cover the monthly expenses.
I’m not a slumlord. I’m not getting rich. I’m getting by and I’m providing a valuable service to people who are either unwilling or unable to buy a home of their own.
I fold necessary repairs in as I can, when I can, as soon as I can. I’m not neglecting anything. The simple truth is that the rents barely cover the already existing expenses. IFFFFFFFFF, when, the city comes in and tells me I HAVE TO take care of these RIGHT NOW, never mind the other rental properties I own throughout the area that also need a great deal of upkeep/expense, or they will declare these place uninhabitable and thus reduce my income to cover COSTS, there’s simply no way around it… the rents WILL GO UP, people will lose their homes. The cost to move being $1,000 (at least) deposit, 1 or 2 months of rent $1,300-2,600 and application fees, let’s say we get it right the first time $50. People/tenants just aren’t that solvent on 20 days notice, as required under state landlord tenant laws. No one is. Let’s go ahead and add the cost of actually moving… $500 easy… between truck and/or help and rent overlap for cleaning and prep. Do you have $2,000-5,000 lying around while you figure out what you will do with it???? No one does.
The landlord is out thousands of dollars on repairs that, yes, are on the todo list but not critical at the moment. No, they truly aren’t critical. They are not not not impairing anyone’s quality of life or endangering them in any way whatsoever. But the city inspectors might feel differently and really don’t care about how it will inconvenience you or your tenants… not one bit.
We’re all sucking wind… just to teach Mr. Wilson a lesson in economics.
Thank you Mr. Boyle and Mr. Anderson for your persistence on this issue.
Mr Wilson stands for many. Blowhard!
Waste of time.