Housing organizations told the corporations committee they supported affordable housing reforms but objected to tenant protections. Laramie’s rental regulations have come under fire once again.
Many people have commented on this. Yes, out-of-town, out-of-state private equity firms are buying up mobile home parks. Alas, the overbearing city regulations are motivating local owners to cash out, and they're selling to those firms. It's a problem. We need to provide incentives for local owners to keep ownership local, not drive them to sell out via bureaucratic hassles.
Gliem’s comment is absolutely outrageous. UW and therefore Laramie is being negatively impacted by landlords. One of the worst college cities in which to be a tenant.
As usual, Jeff's inflammatory headline - he loves to bash landlords because he once achieved some notoriety by writing about one bad one - is false. I and others did not say we don't WANT a tenants' bill of rights, but rather that we don't NEED one. State law (and there is case law which fleshes out the particulars) already serves as one. It grants all of the rights mentioned in the Virginia document. And our local Circuit Court judges suffer no nonsense and are very good at enforcing them. What we need is uniform, fair rules that state everyone's rights and responsibilities everywhere in Wyoming, not a patchwork that's different in different communities or even if you go one block outside the city limits. (Albany County's most squalid rentals are just outside those limits.)
Jeff also makes false statements about the challenge mounted by Bell Leasing to Laramie's illegal rental regulations. The challenge was not taken "all the way" to the Wyoming Supreme Court; it stopped at the District Court, which ruled in favor of each party on some of the issues and didn't rule at all on some of the biggest and most controversial problems with the ordinance. Unfortunately, Bell Leasing exhausted its funds (contrary to what Jeff might want to assert, landlords are NOT made of money, and lawyers who practice before the Wyoming Supreme Court charge upwards of $500 per hour) and could not afford to appeal.
The best outcome is for the Wyoming Legislature to take back control of the situation and establish fair and equitable rules for rentals as well as providing tax relief. They can also provide easy access to the Circuit Court (the only place where civil contract disputes can be settled; municipal courts are ONLY criminal courts) for tenants. Due to the way Wyoming's government and court system are structured, this is the only way to provide "one stop shopping" for all landlord/tenant issues.
The length of my comment - on a very wordy and extremely biased blog post - shows there’s a lot of disinformation going around that needs to be dispelled. There are many more innuendos and falsehoods above on which I did not comment.
Hate speech against landlords - most of whom are still honest individual owners and not private equity firms… yet! - will not solve any problems. Productive legislation on the state level, with input from all stakeholders, will.
If there are not uniform rules throughout the state, it is indeed a problem. There are big contrasts even between adjoining towns, such as Casper and Mills, and AFAIK the city with the most complaints from both landlords and tenants is Gillette. We need a uniform regime throughout Wyoming, not a patchwork.
Another great report!!
Please look into Impact Communities who are buying up all of Laramie's mobile home parks and upending things.
Not just mobile homes, corporations are buying real estate all over the country
Many people have commented on this. Yes, out-of-town, out-of-state private equity firms are buying up mobile home parks. Alas, the overbearing city regulations are motivating local owners to cash out, and they're selling to those firms. It's a problem. We need to provide incentives for local owners to keep ownership local, not drive them to sell out via bureaucratic hassles.
Gliem’s comment is absolutely outrageous. UW and therefore Laramie is being negatively impacted by landlords. One of the worst college cities in which to be a tenant.
As usual, Jeff's inflammatory headline - he loves to bash landlords because he once achieved some notoriety by writing about one bad one - is false. I and others did not say we don't WANT a tenants' bill of rights, but rather that we don't NEED one. State law (and there is case law which fleshes out the particulars) already serves as one. It grants all of the rights mentioned in the Virginia document. And our local Circuit Court judges suffer no nonsense and are very good at enforcing them. What we need is uniform, fair rules that state everyone's rights and responsibilities everywhere in Wyoming, not a patchwork that's different in different communities or even if you go one block outside the city limits. (Albany County's most squalid rentals are just outside those limits.)
Jeff also makes false statements about the challenge mounted by Bell Leasing to Laramie's illegal rental regulations. The challenge was not taken "all the way" to the Wyoming Supreme Court; it stopped at the District Court, which ruled in favor of each party on some of the issues and didn't rule at all on some of the biggest and most controversial problems with the ordinance. Unfortunately, Bell Leasing exhausted its funds (contrary to what Jeff might want to assert, landlords are NOT made of money, and lawyers who practice before the Wyoming Supreme Court charge upwards of $500 per hour) and could not afford to appeal.
The best outcome is for the Wyoming Legislature to take back control of the situation and establish fair and equitable rules for rentals as well as providing tax relief. They can also provide easy access to the Circuit Court (the only place where civil contract disputes can be settled; municipal courts are ONLY criminal courts) for tenants. Due to the way Wyoming's government and court system are structured, this is the only way to provide "one stop shopping" for all landlord/tenant issues.
The length of your comment says it all. No slumlords aren’t made of money the steal it from renters.
The length of my comment - on a very wordy and extremely biased blog post - shows there’s a lot of disinformation going around that needs to be dispelled. There are many more innuendos and falsehoods above on which I did not comment.
Hate speech against landlords - most of whom are still honest individual owners and not private equity firms… yet! - will not solve any problems. Productive legislation on the state level, with input from all stakeholders, will.
This is a laramie issue and maybe Jackson…not a statewide problem
If there are not uniform rules throughout the state, it is indeed a problem. There are big contrasts even between adjoining towns, such as Casper and Mills, and AFAIK the city with the most complaints from both landlords and tenants is Gillette. We need a uniform regime throughout Wyoming, not a patchwork.