001e e e it's a great way to end the end the year um so I'll go ahead and call the meeting to order welcome to to the December 19th meeting of the anabor renters commission the purpose of the renters commission is to advise the city council and the city administrator in matters affecting renters in the city the an arbor renters commission is made up of voting members who are appointed by the mayor and approved by city council two non-voting city council Liaisons two non-voting members representing different landlord perspectives and the non-voting representative to the University of Michigan Student Legal Services to speak during any of the public comment opportunities you'll be able to speak through the webinar link or by phone depending on your method of access to this meeting for phone access please call
002877 5247 or 888 78899 and enter meeting ID 935 941 to be called upon to speak callers must press star n if listening by phone or use the raised hand feature if viewing through the web link a2gov.org rter commmission meeting you'll then be called upon by City staff one by one to use the last three digits of your phone number or by username if available from those for those accessing through the web link you'll hear an automated announcement that the host is allowing you to speak please please state your name at the beginning of your comments City staff will indicate when callers have 30 seconds left or their three minute comment period oh sorry left of their three minute com three minute comment period after three minutes they'll be placed on mute so that we
003can proceed to the next speaker we're moving on to roll call committ um commissioner Low's is not here uh commissioner El here thank you commissioner dran here in an arbor thank you commissioner Ratcliffe I'm here in an arbor commissioner Chan I me for L Florida thank you oh warmth uh council member Rina um is not here tonight he did send an email though with the council update for later and council member Harrison um has also indicated previously that she wouldn't be here for tonight um council member sorry commissioner good here in an arbor welcome commissioner pittz is sick tonight unfortunately commissioner Lea here in Albi in Michigan oh it's winter vacation right it is still cold unfortunately not Florida well congrat congratulations on the making it to the end of the semester commissioner wood here
004and an arbor great and commissioner Laris here in an arbor welcome and now we'll move on to the approval oh sorry uh faith I don't know your last name but Comm that's okay it's uh red wine ooto okay and you're you're here tonight yes Ann Arbor and um I don't know if you guys remember but she's here from a the seat that's filled with an hhb member um so we'll move on to approval of the the agenda is I'm here too by the way oh my gosh it's okay so sorry G that's okay I feeling left out at all I'm so sorry and I'm here also in an aror no place for um is there a motion to approve the agenda as presented I will promotion motion thank you Commission Chen is there a second
005I second thank you commissioner Laren the agenda is now open to be approved as presented um is oops all those in favor please unmute and say I I all those opposed say nay all right great the agenda is um approved as amended I mean sorry just approved and now we'll move on to the approval of the minutes from November of 2021 I know that they were added a little bit late but I hope that everyone had a chance to um to read them is there a motion to approve the minutes from November so moved second thank you um so we'll move on to approving the amendment all those in favor please say I unmute and say I I all those opposed please unmute and say May okay great then we will um the minutes were
006approved and we'll move on to the first uh general public comment question to address the renters commission about any topic for up to three minutes you can um make your public comment by phone by calling 87 5247 or 888 78899 and entering meeting ID 935 941 can also join the meeting using the zoom link and that is a2gov.org renters commission meeting and if you'd like to be called on to speak you can press star n if calling in you can can use the raised hand feature if you are joining with the web link there are no attendees now but we'll give it just a second there are no callers okay so then we'll go ahead and move on to unfinished business which is item 6A the annual approval of the winter commission bylaws um kisten
007can you pull those up onto the screen please the dra if you recall we had dis it had been discussed in the tenant education committee meeting um and there were were drafted changes made to the bylaws and then um they were attached to the agenda for people to go over um is it at the first change Kristen yes okay so the what I'll do is I'll read the changes and see if there's any discussion after each change um the first one is Article 4 in membership it's under 4.1a um and that one is changing it's so that well A and B it's removing the attorney seat itself as a separate seat and absorbing that into one of the regular voting seats um and it would be just saying that we along with someone who is
008um a student or youth or lowincome lgbtq an immigrant person with criminal records Etc as well or somebody who is an attorney with experience representing renters or advocates for renters interests um so that's the change it's also one that if Chang if it is changed it has to be changed at the council level um because within the with the resolution or the ordinance that created the renters commission it's um there is a separate voting seed um see he yes um I guess my only question is because there are people with manufactured homes who are renting land are they considered renters as well and and if so how can they be incorporated in this you know letting them know that they too can say something if the rent in their land what their their lot rent
009is going up that's what my question is trying to be inclusive um let's see attorney Riser unfortunately isn't here tonight um the who he's the City attorney Kristen do you know is the question um in addition to renters broadly to identify renters in a manufactured home Community as part of the like the perspectives that you're looking for um yes because they too are renting it's just that they're doing lot rent and they have been from my I've been hearing around that they too are complaining that their LP rent is going up and they're trying to I'm sorry go ahead if you wanted to um if the group wanted to specifically include um renters in manufactured home communities I don't think that would be an issue as part of this 4.1a um yeah I think if
010if you guys wanted to move to add that as your as one of the amendments to your bylaws that would be fine um separately it's also something we could call out on the website if the group is interested in doing that also it's less formal than the bylaws but it is something that might help somebody know that this is group they can talk to okay thank you I'll I'll mention that to them thank you I have a question yes standon yes so here is the uh new change attorney was experience representing renters or advocating for renters interest after this is that a period or a what is the things I'm not sure I cannot see it clearly if it is a period then there's something wrong with the grammatic pattern so is it possible just
011to put the attorney with experience representing renters after and and groups persons who have experienced homeless or historically under represented groups and attorney with experience representing renters and or advocating for renters interest like this because if it's a period it's something wrong with the whole sentence I see what you're saying I think that's a comma Kristen after interest on the red is that a period or a comma I believe it is a comma and it's um because it's underlined I think that is why it is uh difficult oh oh that that's fine that's fine I'm just a curious thank you okay um so then are we adding in um mobile home renters or is that the correct name for it um I believe we should because there are some who are actually renting mobile homes
012and there's some that have their own homes on lot in lot and they're experiencing rent increase um Julia um I'd rather we didn't add it there aren't a lot of mobile homes in um the city proper and I don't think we can list every single group of people who are covered by the law every type of renters like Cooperative co- housing mobile home it falls because it falls under categories like that right there's all kinds of people not listed and and I don't think it it it gets a little cumbersome to try to list every single kind of tenant there is um Barb sorry um I didn't hear everything that was just said because I was trying to open up uh the actual uh document on my on my computer and blow it up so
013I could read it so um I just want to add if it hasn't already been added that because we're getting rid of B we have to get rid of the and from a that procees it and put up period at the end of groups oh thank you sure I didn't notice that um say I would just say worded as man ured homes like Cooperative or group housing manufactured homes and then like tenant advocacy groups because I mean reading this paper is difficult to really I mean sometimes you read and you wonder okay so is this group inclusive so just by mentioning the group then they know that it's inclusive well does it need to be mentioned within the bylaws or just on the website because it's be it's being representative various renters perspectives in the
014cities and then what's listed is just such as so it's kind of like you know including but not limited to okay I'm looking well it says voting membership of the commission should be representative of various renter perspectives in the city such as students youth lowincome lgbtq it's just a a l a it's not an exhaustive list of every type of renter there is or person who we would like to join the renters commission it's a list of um some different attributes but on the website you know we have more room to add whomever but it doesn't necessarily have to be in the bylaws because it's not an exhaustive list on the bylaws it's just examples okay gotcha um Julia and then Barb um I I if it sounded like Faith isn't going to keep pushing
015this um because I if it doesn't seem includ of the way it is then I would say take out all the listing I mean it's a little weird to have Cooperative group housing in here when they aren't covered by most of Ann Arbor's tenant law um it falls into a different category um but you know so maybe take all of them out and just say to have a commission that reflects the diversity of the city or something um but I I I wouldn't want to add more I personally I'm good with it the way it is and then adding more on the website if need be um but I think Barb was your hand up sorry I forgot to take my hand down okay yeah I just I was going to say what you just
016said I think let's just leave it I mean I think goal in writing this the first time around was like to cover the the personal characteristics that make people more at risk um and so when I look at it that way like adding more context on the website seems pertinent because I do I do think we do want to come off as inclusive and people who live in mobile home parks are actually a pretty vulnerable group a lot of the time and so I think that there is value in that but I think spelling that out on the website and saying hey we welcome you to this work and we welcome uh we welcome hearing from you on the website is helpful thank you um okay so then moving forward to the next one um
017Kristen oh okay this 4.8 and it a with the change it says consistent with city code was it 1 171 when one or more city council members are appointed as members of or Liaisons to a border commission the Border commission shall designate a group consisting of at least one city council member and one or more voting members of the board or commission to review applications for membership on the board or commission this group May submit recommendations for appointments to the mayor or to the city council for appointments made by city council from among the applications reviewed the change listed um is to at least one instead of saying having both City Council Members is there any discussion on this one okay moving forward Kristen okay and then 7.5 public notice of all meetings shall be
018posted at City Hall or at any location designated by the city administrator or city council and on the city's website um and the addition is on the city's website is there any are there any questions or comments about this the 7.5 all right for 7.8 it's talking about the Quorum and so the changes the the presence of half of the commission voting members plus one shall constitute a quorum um before it was six voting members but that's hard when uh the membership numers fluctuate um are there any questions or comments about this one all right moving forward that's that's it okay is there a motion if are there any other changes that people want to make or does someone want to make a motion to approve the amended bylaws I'll make a motion to approve
019thank you and second to Second it I'll second thank you all those in favor please unmute and say I I I all those opposed please unmute and say nay right the motion is approved and the bylaws are approved um and we'll go to the city the city staff and the City attorney to make sure everything's legal all right uh moving on to new business it is for the first one is 7A approval of the renters commission uh 2025 work plan uh Kristen can you bring the draft up please okay in um The Last Tenant education committee meeting L by Hannah thank you Hannah um we discussed some of the um things that we'd like to do for 2025 um and so we would like to keep the uh this is for discussion um from the
020previous 2024 plan we couldn't quite remember if we had completed this one which was the audit of chapter 105 um and the existing enforc process for efficacy and proposing amendments if necessary uh as long as supporting enforcement process changes if necessary I vaguely remembered it from meetings before and I remember Julia had um gone through it Julia do you remember if that was completed no this is the I forget what the numbers are this is the um right to renew in the early leasing okay should we keep this or should it be taken off the the 2025 work plan or should it be a lower priority are there any suggestions I I would say it's still a high priority we're still hearing complaints about it it's not clear how much action is being taken okay
021thank you Julia um the second uh was keeping what is it it was proposed the ordinance ordinance Amendment language to require owner occupied rentals to obtain a certificate of compliance and to inform current and prospective tenants of open code violations establishing Support Enforcement process should that stay I think I think that was something that I added at some point because I see um I I guess I don't understand why owner occupied units where their renting to tenants aren't covered by the aren't required to have a certificate of compliance whether that's high priority or not I don't know but it still continues to be an issue at least for some of my clients thank you Gale Jordan yeah I agree with Gail I think the big the question is like what is the scope right like
022how do we have a handle on how many of these there are is there a way to get that information from rental housing like where it sounds like almost nothing is tracked from my understanding so maybe some clarity on on how big of a problem we think this is would help guide our kind of priority and scope of it but I'm not sure how I'm not sure how to calculate how much of a problem this is because they the city wouldn't know necessarily that I don't think the city would know necessarily that you know someone is renting out to one or two people and its owner occupied unless that tenant reaches out so I'm not sure how how they could track that but so then should we go ahead and keep it as high so
023it's something to tackle for the new year I would for sure keep it would be my recommendation I I don't know that it's a high priority maybe you know maybe if there's a way to figure out how much this impacts other uh tenants that would change its priority level I I just don't know how to do that I agree we should keep it see I think if I definitely think we should keep it I don't think it should be a low priority um to me it's either medium or high I don't have strong feelings on that to be honest I mean I think we can put it to medium and if I can try to I talk to someone at the city to see if we can get some understanding of how many people this
024impacts I can I can see if that's possible and then maybe we move it to high back to high but for now all right uh Kristen can you change that to medium please and then for High um we had advocating for Staffing for enforcement um and in within 2025 actually sending a resolution to council about that probably around the budget season time because that's when um they typically make those decisions does anyone have any comments or concerns about that one okay the next one is um by the end of 2025 having some type of legislation from city council about exploring a landlord tenant edsman um and we had that as a high priority I know that there's been talks about um like the right to counsel and that's been at the state level but as
025like was it a pre preventative step so that it doesn't get to court and something doesn't get onto someone's records and that we know a lot of times landlords they just want their rent or tenants just want issues resolved that it may be a viable solution depending on cost and all of that that's why it says exploring um does anyone have any comments or concerns about oh Barb oh you're on mute all right I'm sorry um I think it's a great idea uh and I I just want to make a general comment because I I'll be honest with you I didn't I was like on overload when I looked at this today I was like I'll deal with it later so this is all new to me and a lot of it is has to
026do with issues that you've been dealing with you know over the past year and they're kind of new to me but my one comment would be yes I think an two comments I think an OM Ombudsman and keeping this as a high priority is a good idea but I also would like to comment that we don't want to keep we don't want to put too much in the high so that we're not getting to everything that's so the well the um like the last issue that we dealt with I'm glad you put it down to medium because it to me it's just not a high high priority and you know we've already I mean I've only been at several meetings now but it just seems like we've got so much that we're supposed to be
027doing that I think it's important not to put too many things give too many things high priority or we'll never get to them so do you think medium or low Uh Oh you mean for the the utsman yeah um I would say this probably I would put it in the medium category personally Kristen can you change this one too it was something that I had brought up so priorities and all of that that's yeah um let's see so if that's changed to medium and then the next one I think what I did was just uh I think I just what is it erased what was in there that we had already completed and just stuck it in as opposed to actually going through the priorities um level the next one is the tenant opportunity opportunity
028to purchase and write a first refusal um which is something that we don't have here it was something that was at the state level um um from talking with staff and the council members previously it was like they weren't sure about the legality of it but one thing that the commission there are people who are tenants who want to purchase and one thing that the commission can do is urge the city and the council um about prioritizing education for renters and how to get to a point where they can potentially buy um the county has a free program U ofm has the real estate certificate program there's other resources that I think that could go on the city website or renters commission website or something to be able to help the people within the city
029who want to to learn how to buy to be able to um it doesn't have to be high priority but I do think it's something that we should talk to the council about um are there any questions concerns a no Barb I don't really understand what any of that is well turn like was it people use like is it the right of first refusal I guess is the sling term and the more official term is tenant opportunity to purchase in the normal sense it's like if where your renting is getting sold then it would be that whoever is renting there would have the first opportunity to to buy it if they could right um but when we were going over the comprehensive plan um and I was in one of the group work groups for
030that on the city staff side they weren't sure about the legality of it and what that would mean for the city um as well as how much it would cost the city to actually do the the right of first refusal but they were interested and intrigued by the idea of providing where people could go for more information to get themselves ready to purchase something right so the city won't be like necessarily say landlord or homeowner you have to ask your tenants first but the city can post the resources somewhere about how a tenant can get their credit together and see what kind of mortgage they can get and all of that information and there are free resources and potential Partnerships within the area that they could do for that part at least thank you that
031sounds good okay thank you and I just wasn't sure about the priority level of of that that because I know you said we have a lot to do and I just left it as high because that's what was there before but um I think it's kind of a well again I'd put that as medium okay can you change that please Kristen thank you um we kept the update to rights and responsib rights and duties of tenants booklet and kept that as medium um because that's in 2025 we're going to have the pre-tenancy um in the junk fees ordinances uh most likely pass and so that's going to have to go into the rights and respon rights and duties of tenant booklet um and then also we kept addressing the junk fee problem because and that's
032not passing until 2025 so and we'll have to keep track somehow of how that's um working out B um I was just curious do you have anything on here about um repairs and I'm asking because U when I was a part of the McKinley um a renters um organization so to speak um there were issues with repairs and plus I used to stay at a condo and there was issues with repairs as well and I think that's something that's really important for tenants who are trying have who are living somewhere and there're just some things that are not you know repaired properly well I think to me that falls under like the landlord tenant edsman if it reaches that point as well as us advocating for more Staffing for enforcement um because right now rental
033Inspection Services has a very high case load and they need I think they said at least two new staff members um and that also falls under under that is well um if you have repairs that need to be done and it's not getting done um within a timely manner or it's not getting done well then that's something that that office handles the complaints Hannah I just stakeholder education portion of the work plan uh should we remove it either from this section and leave it in the stakeholder education section um I would say leave it in the stakeholder and move it from this one does that sound right yeah I like that okay thank you Kristen um Faith did that answer your question um it did but at the same time I guess I'm looking at
034it as you know these landlords you want to rent your home out or your apartment building or whatever you should be held to some accountability and making sure the home is completely safe for movings and I guess I'm looking as in terms of a social worker because I am a social worker working with all these know tenants and clients who are having issues with an apartment complex or a home just something that these landlords can be held accountable to make sure their home is livable before they written it out I guess that's what I'm looking at right and that's that's what falls under um enforcement and also would fall under the umman program if if there something that we can get them to but and it's also it falls under that and I think it
035also falls under state older education because they need to know where like tenants need to know that they can um make those complaints and how to make the complaint to the city and right here the section that we're in now is are like for resol is more for legislative stuff so like res so resolutions to city council or resolutions and ordinances from City Council that we'd like for them to explore okay so I think I'm saying hold on to that for stakeholder education um then the next portion is the commissioner education and the first one um was as a medium which is in commissioner education is actually educating us as commissioners um and the first one as a medium is tenant Union organizing um and learning more about what's going on with that and the
036um what renters are facing because as we know they're four tenant Union organizing you may not know uh renters who are joining the tenant unions or trying to are trying to create one at their complex some of them are facing threats of eviction and um so learning more about tenant organizing rights there was a bill at the state level um about that but it's the lame duck session and so we still don't know if that's going to pass unfortunately but I think it's something that we should learn about as Commissioners especially since we have the aatu now the NR Tenants Union the next one I had we had as um a low priority was learning more about green rental housing or the enforcement of the green rental housing ordinance because it's low because ordinance hasn't
037passed yet and when we had um the representatives from in Inspection Services there was what we were told by um OSI was that rental Inspection Services was going to do enforcement and then rental Inspection Services said we're not doing enforcement OSI is doing enforcement um but we have to wait for it to pass to know what we can do to to make sure it's getting enforced well um that's why it's a low priority under commission or education uh next I put as a high priority is I put um learning more about senior housing um we know that there I don't know if we all know but at the at the election time in November the for Washton County there was um a senior millage that passed and um what I would like to see and
038talking with some seniors what they'd like to see are more options for the seniors who are renting here within the city because there aren't a lot of really there's already a low number number of um housing unit rental units available for anyone who has a type of disability but then also being a senior is also pretty specific and there aren't quite there are very few options for that and so seeing as Commissioners what can be done because they are a portion of our renters in the city um and finding out what resources there are um and if any of that um could be any of the millage funds could be used or will be used for rental assistance or accessibility um I don't know necessarily know if it's a high priority or not because it
039just passed and I know that it'll take a while to get everything in place at that level but I'd like to learn more about it and like us to learn more about it are there any comments or concerns or um input Barb think you're muted again I'm sorry as a senior um yeah I can tell you that that's definitely my high priority and um it's a priority and like a you know an anxiety issue for like literally all my friends so um yeah it's an issue and as we get as all of these articles talk about what a wonderful place an arbor is to retire to we're just going to get a lot more seniors coming to an arbor so it's it's going to be a rising population to deal with that's my comment thank
040you Anna yeah I agree that it should be high priority um especially with all the regular complaints we get about Courthouse Square like clearly L people are having problems then we have the new millage so I think it makes sense to at least focus on I don't know exploring what options are even in the space of how we could help people okay thank you so we'll keep that there the next one um was medium and it was a medium one from 2024 as well which is the implementation of affordable housing within the city of an arbor um and I like keeping it because I think that as we continue to get more affordable housing units um built by the city and with the city in partnership with organizations and business and private developers that we
041should get um more annual at least annual updates on what's going on and how people can apply by and when people can when those um lists open are there any comments concerns um anything with this one okay then the next one um it was a I put as a high priority which was information sharing between um fair housing in I can never remember is it the fair housing is it Southeast Michigan yeah has thank you and the Human Rights Commission um I think we had Pam Kish from the fair housing center spoke to us before I can't remember how long ago that was though it was about a year ago okay um so that's why you're having it from getting doing for us the in getting the information because I think it should just be
042something that's on here every year anyway okay um that way we know the complaints we know the procedures as commissioner as we get new Commissioners they'll also get updated um and the Human Rights Commission does get complaints from renters um here within the city and so I think it's a good idea to formalize having a relationship with them and um also the next one is H I also had as a high priority which is having more transparency um I didn't quite know how to word it my hope is that after this Kristen and Steph can uh work their magic with the terminology but having more transparency for um what the the role of the county and what it does for like enforcement and regulations for rental housing versus what the city does um we had
043mold as an example um for that because it's a it's actually something from what is it the health department is is where it goes and we talked a little bit about that when in um Inspection Services came and I I really think like as Commissioners we should get more education on that as well especially if we're talking with people and we're going to be out there doing stakeholder education we'll know where to to put to um refer people um next was medium and just keeping it from last year which is ordinances aimed at slowing gentrification and displacement um it says in other communities like what other commun it means what other communities are doing to slow down G gentrification and displacement of renters um and learning about that which is having you know speakers come
044in from elsewhere and letting us know what they're doing to see if it's something that could work here in an arbor or be possibly work here in an arbor and then also keeping as a medium um because we're starting to get new projects getting built that will probably be some might be finished towards the end of 2025 um but learning more about what's getting built um and having presentations to the renters Commission um about the new planning and of of the tc1 zones and what that means for renters and um also what new complexes that are coming because they they go to the Planning Commission to talk about the the complexes they want to build but they never come to us to the renters commission to talk the developers never talk to us the renters
045commission about what they want to build for the renters because some of them have sounded like good ideas um like they were talking about building senior housing on Packard Road um near Turnberry and it seems like a good location but it'd be nice to have a presentation about that to us as the renters commission and then next um and the last part is the stakeholder education um as a meeting medium priority was uh keeping improving tenant accessibility for locating information on open house code housing code violations um as well as the update to the tenant the rights and duties of tenants booklet um particularly with junk fees um and then additional we already had stakeholder engagement meetings from last year and that was a medium priority but this one was being a bit more specific
046by saying having at least two events that were at including festival and um I had Visions which they do at the library each year um Hannah yeah I was just wondering if under the uh item about open housing code violations if we could specifically add um information about assessing previous complaints on units because uh yeah like as we learned at the uh presentation from rental Housing Services that uh it's not available on stream you would have to I guess do a foyer request for them um Jordan I think the the stream thing to me like I'm trying to think of this in terms of like where do we get the most bank for our buck in terms of our work and the community and like what is needed and the stream piece to me and
047being able to access the information and knowing how to use that site feels I don't know for me I'm feeling like that is kind of it it's something that has some built-in accountability right like people can have choices but maybe maybe maybe the retort to that is um it doesn't help at all because the housing Supply is so limited and people feel so stuck that that information like isn't able to guide their choices as much but to me I guess I'm saying that that feels like higher priority the violations and the stream feel like when we're talking about education that those are the two things that seem the most mysterious and that I hear the most about but maybe Gail has some perspective on like what education feels like the two hottest ticket items are
048most most effective um for our work because she's hearing those things too yeah I mean I direct a lot of students to to stream to kind of see what's out there um I don't know if that really helps that much but you know and and they do get a lot of information from there so not sure if that answers your question Jordan so are you thinking about a different phrasing taking maybe just a different priority and maybe even those two things kind of like are combined in a like accessing information to make wise rental choices right like maybe those are maybe the concept of accessing information that is available to make smarter renting decisions is kind of the topic and the how do you know about violations and how do you use stream maybe are
049kind of the sub but I'm I'm open but to to me those are the things that are talked about most frequently I think that sounds better um Kristen can we combine um the first one and was it the stream one together and have it phrased as how Jordan said it and maybe have the EG that yeah accessing information to make smarter rental choices or something like that um maybe more informed or informed yeah yeah and then it would just be like EG whatever the the um previous VI code violations and stream thank you um and then another one that we talked about which is newer um and that's because we had so many power outages last year and extreme weather events oh sorry Barb didn't you want to add stream in there you said in
050the accessing yes uh okay all right um and then yeah there's in the last couple of years um we've had so many different power outages and extreme weather events for um that have negatively impacted renters where as a homeowner there's it seems like there's more recourse than if you are a renter um but there are certain things that you can get as a renter like if you're if you're if after a certain amount of time the power has been out in your food spoils then there's ways to get re um reimburse for that or if you're well if you're on snap and um I think that we should have some way of from the city to or from us or something to um D where it's a bit more prominent to direct rent um renters
051to that information um for next for the 2025 year and I had it as medium um because we'd have to discuss it and then I think that was the last one um are there any questions or concerns or something else that needs to be added if not then um can we have someone move to pass the work plan as amended anyone wants to make a motion for the pass the 2025 work plan pass it oh second thank you um all those in favor of passing the 2025 work plan um please unmute and say I I hi all those opposed please unmute and say nay all right the work plan is passed thank you guys um and then the next one is the uh meeting calendar um one thing that people have brought up is how
052late the meeting is starting at 7:30 um and what thank you for Kristen for um doing more homework because she put she had um had the monthly schedule and one thing that we can do is even if we can't go live because CTN is covering another meeting our meeting can still be recorded and update and uploaded to YouTube and CTN later um so that's not as much of an issue um I'm good on keeping the meetings on Thursdays um but I would like to move it up to like 5 5:30 or 6 o'clock is there a Jordan is there an option I I guess I I can see an argument for accessibility um particularly for like the college demographic to have it be available live um how is the green belt meeting really lengthy it
053seems like that could be a potential one that was like very lengthy would moving to the first Thursday at like 6:30 make more sense or that was just something I thought about as looking at the schedule maybe Kristen has more um options but I do I feel like we have had a fair amount of people that are able to participate during public commentary during the live zoom and that I don't know I guess I'm I'm totally open to others feeling like that isn't quite as important as a schedule and Quorum of people being here but I feel like that has been a helpful thing to have it but maybe the answer is it's still kind of live and it's live for them at the time even if it's not being broadcast live so maybe the
054broadcast doesn't matter so I don't know I'm open to that but Thursday the first Thursday of the month stuck out as the day that if we looked at moving that might be practical well um go and then and then Gail um what it I think it's important to be able for to have the availability of public comment I think that is important um and like when I hit to keeping it on Thursday I know like for the public market that's at 5:30 um but there isn't really a lot we conflict with that one but there's not a lot of viewership for that and there are no council members who are attached to Public Market either um I don't know much about the green belt one and the popularity of that uh Gale so can we
055still have public comment even if we're not live we can um because they can still call in right because it's within the meeting notice it's just won't be streaming live but they'll still have the zoom link and the ability to call in nobody will be able to watch from their TV um but that's the only difference people will still be or also YouTube um but people would be able to log into the zoom meeting um then I guess maybe I was envisioning maybe what I'm envisioning doesn't happen because we have two commentary periods can you can you watch something maybe what I'm envisioning isn't isn't happening so what I'm suggesting is like we have a second commentary period so being able to like rewind and have that functionality it like there's a way to kind
056of watch something and catch up before the second commentary period but maybe I'm not understanding that right and you can't go backward words um and watch something but maybe maybe that doesn't matter you can on YouTube but I just don't know how much it matters to people versus being able to just particip yeah just participate at that time all that then um Barb um sorry I keep forgetting to am I am I oh I forgot to M I forgot to mute myself before so I'm still here um I'm sorry I here's a my thought from uh the perspective of um watching 60 Minutes for years uh they've got this great time slot which is right after the football game is over so people have a tendency to just slide right on into 60 minutes so
057um do we know how many people actually watch this on on TV on cable is there a a program that people actually watch that we could take the advantage of being right after and would that work into anybody's time slot just a thought I for regular CTN programming I don't know what's popular I know for um and not that many people watch the commission meetings anyway I think the two most popular commission the most popular commission meetings are the Planning Commission um probably the transportation and like the the energy or environmental um both of which start at like six and seven or all of which start around six and seven um I know Kodi which is at four doesn't get much um and from what I've seen on the other ones there's not a lot
058of views except for city council then let's just try 530 do we have Kristen remind me do we have an option like if that's not working out for people or we're getting feedback that that doesn't work we we can switch it with the same constraint of CTN availability is is that right I mean I think it makes sense Ros just to go 5:30 then right and switch it later if we need to yeah you would have the option to change your meeting time we have to um publish and notice them for the year but if like in July you decided you wanted them all to start at 6:30 we would just cancel and reschedule them all um and then just so if you moved back to a 5:30 time on Thursday um we just like
059we've been talking about there wouldn't be TV live coverage and there also wouldn't be YouTube live it would be just the zoom link but there would be the possibility of it being live it for the second Thursday of each month because the next meeting isn't until 7 yes um CTN I'd have to ask them but I expect that they would say um the meeting would have to be around five five o'clock so that they have staff to be able to um cover it um I'm looking at the rent like public market and then renters are about two hours apart um and sometimes this group does run up to that two hours so it would have to be an earlier start time on that second Thursday um and then I don't know a lot about the
060third Thursday council member Rina may be on that may be part of the green belt group and he may have um like info on how late they go um but yes okay um so then for now do we just want to say um the third keep it it's the third Thursday but then just have it at 5:30 and if we have to make the change um then we make the change um Barb is your hand up from before sorry it it it was but I do have a comment um because you just said something about uh Thursday at 5:30 but there's somebody uh on the 3D third Thursday right you were talking about 5:30 right it wouldn't if we did 5:30 on the third Thursday then it wouldn't stream live it would um they could
061still they'd have to log into Zoom to watch it and participate that way the same way we log into to zoom only they stay they'd stay on as an attendee and not a panelist okay or or they could listen to it right they could call in and just listen participate by listening I'm sorry right yeah they could do that too um and then later and they could still call in for public comment or raise their hand as an attendee on zoom and still be called on it's just it wouldn't they wouldn't be able to like rewind part of it during the meeting is what it is um and then after the meeting is finished it would get uploaded to YouTube and to CTN sounds good to me okay um if there isn't anyone else then
062does someone want to move to hold our meetings at 5:30 on the third Thursday of the month or well I'll move I'll okay I'll second um so all those in favor of moving the meetings to the third Thursday of the month at 5:30 um please unmute and say I I I all those opposed please unmute and say nay all right the motion's passed and so starting in January our meetings will be the third Thursday of the month at 5:30 and then we have one last asked um item under new business which is a resolution to for in support of the proposed pre-tenancy fee ordinance um I wrote a draft for it um and the pre-tenancy fee ordinance we it was presented to Council on Monday for the first reading and it passed unan usly and
063so in January they'll have the second reading and the vote and it's expected to pass uh unanimously then two and um what it does is it caps the app it basically says there's no fee except a $50 application fee or up to $50 application fee that can be used for the administrative cost of doing the background check on someone um or the credit check and if you're not offered a unit um then they have to return that fee within 60 days okay um the resolution is titled resolution in support of adding section 8532 to chapter 105 of the housing code of title 8 building regulations of the code of the city of an arbor um I just took what the title of the ordinance update was um it says whereas the city of an arbor
064renters commission is committed to promoting Equitable housing practices and protecting renters from unnecessary Financial burdens whereas pre-tenancy fees Beyond those directly related to the rental application process create Financial barriers for renters and dis proportionately affect those with limited resources whereas the proposed addition of that section to the ordinance will limit pre- tenancy fees to only rental application fees ensuring greater fairness in the Rental process whereas the proposed amendment will also require landlords to refund rental application fees within 60 days if the applicant is not offered a lease further safeguarding renters rights and ensuring transparency in the Rental process whereas the renters commission recognizes the significance of this amendment and reducing exploitative practices and fostering Trust between tenant and landlord tenants and landlords resolved that the Anarbor renters commission strongly supports the addition of that chapter
065of that section to the housing code chapter of the city code which addresses pre-tenancy fees and provides protections for renters resolved that the renters commission urges city council to adopt this amendment promptly to ensure that the renters in an arbor are not subject subject to excessive fees or unfair fees during Sor during the rental application process resolved that the renters commission commits to educating the public about the importance and implications of this amendment and to collaborating with the city council and City staff to support its implementation resolved that the renters commission will forward this resolution to the Anor city council and request that it be included in the council's upcoming agenda for consideration that was a long meing um Gail I know I'm not a voting member but I support this and really appreciate your
066time in putting this together thank you that that means a lot um and I know how much this affects the the students as well um yeah I think it'll it'll impact a lot of people and I think it's I'm I'm excited about it so so am I and um yeah um and this is only the first this is for the first of two ordinances that are happening so there'll be a second one and when the next um up updated ordinance comes out that's why it's specific to the the pre-tenancy fees and not the other junk fees um does anyone have any questions concerns um any anything else they'd like to add or edit Barb oh sorry I just want to say thank you that nice job it covers it all and says it succinctly thank
067you thank you um sorry Jordan yeah you did great this is fabulous I was happy to see it today I just was wondering does anybody know why they went with 60-day return did anybody hear that discussion I didn't listen to the city council meeting I was and Travis wasn't here so I'm not able to ask but does anybody know why they went with 60 days versus like a normal deposit is 30 days and that would get people's money back faster but I was just curious as to if anybody heard that I don't know why they said 60 days um I know in previously there was no date um and then I brought and I had brought it up to Travis that there's no date on here is like when are when are people going to
068get their money back and it was and when before there was just like a reasonable time period which could mean anything especially to a landlord and could greatly differ to uh the the prospective tenant um but that's all I know okay great well thanks for asking it to be add it obviously we don't want to slow anything down so it wouldn't be worth readdressing but um yeah thank you so much for bringing that up and good job on the resolution ni actually actually you put everything in order and you showed the public what we have done so far this is a great step forward it's it's never happened that's very good thank you thank you and I had the um and within the resolve clauses I had the part about what the renters commission would
069do because that's what we do anyway um what we've been doing with the early leasing ordinance so it wouldn't be anything different um so if there's no more discussion then is there a motion um to pass the resolution a motion to pass yeah I second thank you so then um all those in favor of passing the resolution um please unmute and say I I all those opposed please unmute and say May all right great the resolution passed um and so we'll move forward um the we have 7D the plan for next meeting and um see the next meeting will be after this has was it after the ordinance has passed um and so we'll probably just I think go over the ordinance um I don't I'll be honest I did not think ahead for next
070month yet um trying to make it through December and the holidays um is there anything that is pressing for for people to have on the January agenda Barb this isn't necessarily pressing but um I just today had a chance to um look at the video of the November meeting that I unfortunately had to miss and uh that whole presentation about it um that included um oh God now my brain's gone blank anyway uh I I just wanted to point out first of all that all of the the the discour between what we got from one group and what the woman representing you know the rental housing was saying was disturbing to me and I just want to say to Julia thank you for asking all those good questions and I personally would like more understanding
071of what exactly between these two different presentations what is actually going to happen and who's going to be responsible for what because that's in my mind kind of huge that's it thank you um see Kristen between now and then do you think you could talk to um someone from OSI and find out what's what's happening or where we are in the rental ordinance yes I can find out about an update for sure thank you and we'll we'll have that on the January agenda does that work Barb yes thank you okay all right great um does anyone else have anything for January's agenda um and is there anything for a tenant education committee meeting before um the January meeting at this point I'll send out a when to meet over the next few days and I
072guess we could try to meet within the first two weeks of January if that works all right great thank you annah uh Barb I apologize I keep forgetting to lower my hand oh I'm good I thought it went up again I'm sorry no I know it's me it it's me sorry all right then we'll go ahead and move on from that and um move to the reports the report from the city C Council although um neither council member was able to be here tonight um they as I said they um had the first reading on Monday and that was um move forward to a second reading what he Al what they said too is that with the introduction of the ordinance staff now acknowledges they need additional help for enforcement and so so they're working
073with the city administrator on a plan to add an additional full-time um employee to the city with the appropriate likely paralal skill set to Aid infor enforcement of the new rental laws um and it'll be to determined where that person um resides though um if they'll be located within the same department or elsewhere um and the mayor nominated Chris body who he had applied um to the commission and who is a really good applicant um and so he's moving forward um to and should be was it voted on and approved to join the Commission in January um at the first meeting in January so hopefully we'll have him by our renters commit Miss meeting um he'll have all the paperwork in by that he has to sign by then um and then that leaves one
074seat open and we do have someone um to recommend for for that seat as well who also would be a really good addition to the uh renters commission um they're also working to amend the ordinance um about the attorney seat uh because because it is a part of the city ordinance so that that is part of what has to happen for it to be able to change within the bylaws um and then if all goes according to plan then they hope to introduce that second ordinance to more broadly address junk fees um in late January so that would be the second city council meeting in January um that's all I have from the city council meeting um Faith did HH Saab um meet this past month we're actually meeting in person in January okay all
075right um do you have any updates for us from hhsa and how that's going or can you explain to everyone on the commission which H what hhsb does um actually I don't have any new news U because we are going to be meeting in January and you kind of caught me off guard sorry that's okay so um I can get information for you next month all right then well um well just in FYI you're on the agenda for each month right yeah to let us to let us know um so starting in January um does do any of the other Commissioners have any reports or news all right Kristen do you have anything for us no report all right then um the LA whoops we need the second general public comment please Kristen we body
076um any member of the public would like to address the renters commission for up to 3 minutes about any topic you can call 877 583 5247 or 888 78899 and enter a meeting ID 935 881 941 you can also join the meeting with the zoom link and that is a2gov.org slash renters commission meeting if you're calling in to the meeting you can press star n to raise your hand if you're joining the meeting with the zoom link you can use the raise hand feature to be called on and if they're um oh we'll just give it just a second there's nobody in now but in case anybody's calling in or joining there are no callers okay then we'll move on to the second to last item on the agenda which is communication to the renters
077commission um if you could bring up the one from the U ofm Student please uh Kristen I think there were three this month right the um unfortunately it seemed sounded like something that we couldn't handle and I this is the one that Kristen um sent to ugail which is the student who's a UFM student who lives with in a house with 20 other students and their Leasing Company incorrectly was kicking them out for winter break on December 17th even though people still had exams on the 18th and they provided the Clause from the rental agreement um which said that the suble occupancy commences um or well terminates at 12 12:00 p.m. one day following the University commencement ceremonies um on the 31st of it only talks about the 31st of May and August 1st um
078and that the premises is closed for all University recognized breaks um and that they have to have alternative housing during that time um but it sounds like if you still have finals then it's not officially the break when they were being asked to leave and I think this is the one Gil is this the one that you handled yes I was just trying to look I don't think the student ever reached out to me so I suspect the issue was resolved yeah because this is is this one of the ones that it's unfortunate well that it's not under the purview of the renters Commission what do you mean I mean the reg wouldn't be able to help figure out if it was because I thought that like dormitories weren't under us and but is it
079a h i couldn't understand if it was house or a door yeah I'm guessing this is some sort of fraternity okay if it's a u if it's a u ofm dorm we it's not something my office can get involved in so um and if it's a fraternity house we can okay and if it's a fraternity house or sority house then is that something that the renters commission is involved in or no or is that a John Riser question well I mean we it would never be a case that we would take as a renters commission but I mean certainly having you know Kristen sending it to me or or directing it to whomever can help and providing resources seems to me always appropriate okay thank you can you show the next one please um this
080one had to do with the early leasing ordinance I believe and um them asking in the renewal time period [Music] um I'll be honest I am horrible with the math for the early leasing ordinance um but as always Kristen uh gave the correct information and referral and and I've seen a few of these from the same leasing company and I sent an have another I I don't know if there's been any decision reached on this one yet but one of the things that was supposed to happen in changing or updating the um the early leasing ordinance is that I mean it's pretty clear to me in the ordinance that you can't make any renewal offer before a 100 uh before 180 days into the lease and so by offering hey I assume the January 10th
081date is before the 180 days or they wouldn't have um included stated like that so to me it's a violation um so far I've only seen it with this with this one particular landlord but we'll wait and see what the what the city determines okay uh Jordan can we ask that they get back to us I mean can Kristen like follow up on this specific case because I mean to me I agree Gil and if if this situation isn't getting infraction then then what we've done isn't effective you know like i' I'd like to I'd like to see this be effective um and so if it's not then I think it's good for the commission to know why it wasn't cited and why there wasn't a um follow up on it I have already put
082in a call or a text I can't remember to the City attorney so I'm happy to let everybody know when I hear back about this um can we formally have this on the agenda for January um in hopes that the City attorney is here because it would um if it the if it was August um and it's and they received it December 9th and that is a clear violation um because it's only like about 90 days and they're they're getting it right um yeah I mean I think I I think that's why they have the different sections the maybe renewing so I think it's pretty clear I I think well I guess I can say in the other incident that I have um it was pretty clearly offered prior to the renewal date with in
083the same way they were doing things landlords were doing things last year of you know hey if you sign now even though it's before the 180 days we're going to give you this deal of of whatever the renewal rate is and then they go on to say you know in the maybe renewing par paragraph that basically if you don't take this deal your home will increase the rate rental rate for your home will increase significantly over the renewal rate so I I feel pretty it's a pretty safe assumption that they're trying to get around the right to renew ordinance or the early leasing ordinance right that's my guess but again I think it would be good to have the City attorney speak it agreed at the meeting um Kristen and the um the last one
084I think had to do with like a 20 was it a 20% rent increase um yeah the landlord raised their rent by 20% and under a year um unfortunately we don't have rent control and not knowing the type of lease the person has if it's month-to-month or a yearly lease or a six-month lease um don't know uh Kristen did they ever get did they get back to you they did not respond okay yeah um but we you know we don't provide rental assistance there is Hawk um and is it SE um and then at you know as at the state level we don't have rent control here within the state of Michigan and this because of the State Constitution the city cannot do its own rent control so it's it's an unfortunate situation itself sounds
085like um are there any questions or comments about any of the Jordan just so quickie on this type of situation you know obviously we just got through leasing some of our May leases and we were hearing from residents increases of up to 30% and so you know I just want to keep on our radar obviously it is a lot at the state level we all know that but um the right to renew without some sort of vision for how much they can increase rent you know right to renew effectively becomes like they just can't renew so I showed to a lot of groups um and we we talk to a lot of groups that were experiencing really high um increases of of 30-ish percent for some of them and so I just I want to
086make sure that we're all hearing that as a commission that that is a reality for um you know these were all student groups of course but um for people here in Anarbor is it is it really just the early leasing ordinance or is it also because the the pre-tenancy and the green rental ordinance and um the desire for a higher profit well okay I mean all of the above right like and and maybe Bob can chime into like our insurance has gone up tremendously so so some of this I get um some of it I understand but of course there's no accountability for a landlord to like explain to a tenant why it has to go up 30% um we have not had to do that on any of our properties ever because of rising
087expenses but I mean I will say ours have gone up proportionally higher than in past years like our insurance is going up at a higher percentage some of those things are true um 30% no we're we're not seeing that so I can really only speak to my experience um on that um so I don't know I see Bob's got a hand up so I'll kind of switch over to him but yeah 30% to me is still really just unfair and you know you're forcing these students to move um or tenants in general to move uh with increases like that it's just not something most people can shoulder B yeah I think I would agree with Jordan I mean uh expenses have gone up and you know they've gone up more than they have in in
088Prior years but but not by that kind of percentage um so so it looks like this is this is not not something that's consistent with increases in expenses it's other things okay thank you you were both very diplomatic how you phrased that so thank you um does anyone else have any uh questions concerns or comments about the communications all right then the last item on the agenda is we need someone to make a motion for um adjournment motion I second thank you all those in favor of adjourning please unmute and say I I I all those opposed please unmute and say nay all right the meeting is officially adjourned have wonderful holiday season um enjoy the the New Year be careful with ice and snow and I'll see you guys the third Thursday in January
089at 5:30 bye happy New Year happy holidays thank you happy holidays you thank you and thank you Kristen for all of your help this year