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HUD Publishes Proposed Fair-Market Rents for Section 8 for 2011

Dennis Norman

Annually, HUD determines “fair market rents” which become effective October 1st each year and are used to determine rent amounts under the Housing Choice Voucher program, Housing Assistance Payment Contracts, Moderate Rehab programs as well as other Section 8 programs.

Earlier this month HUD published in the Federal Register it’s proposed fair market rents

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Rental Vacancy Rates For First Quarter 2010 Up From a Year Ago

Dennis Norman

According to a report released earlier this week by the U.S. Census Bureau, rental vacancies for the first quarter of 2010 in the U.S. are almost 5 percent higher than they were a year ago.  The rental vacancy rate in the U.S. for the first quarter of 2010 was 10.6 percent, up from

Continue reading… Rental Vacancy Rates For First Quarter 2010 Up From a Year Ago

Survey Show's Tenants Want to be 'Greener'

Dennis Norman

Recently, Apartments.Com conducted a survey of it’s website website visitors across the country and found that the majority of apartment seekers want to live in an apartment community that caters to a sustainable lifestyle. According to the survey results, 89 percent of respondents said they would prefer to live in a “green” apartment

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'Great Recession' Challenges Apartment Industry

Dennis Norman

Every facet of the apartment industry was touched by the Great Recession in 2009, according to the NMHC 50, the National Multi Housing Council’s annual ranking of the 50 largest apartment owners and the 50 largest apartment managers.

“Apartment sales transaction volume plummeted,” noted Mark Obrinsky, NMHC Chief Economist. “Only $14 billion in properties

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How to avoid being a victim of a real estate or rental scam

Dennis Norman

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have published a report about common real estate scams and rental scams they are finding and how to avoid them. Like most scams there are warning signs and red flags that can help you avoid falling victim; knowing what to look

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Justice Department Files Lawsuit Alleging Racial Discrimination at Ann Arbor, Michigan, Apartment Complex

The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit against the owner and property manager of a 48-unit apartment complex in Ann Arbor, Mich., alleging that the defendants discriminated on the basis of race or color in the rental of apartments, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of

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Rental Housing Market Holding Up Well - At Least In the Lower Rent Ranges

Dennis Norman

Recently HUD published a report, “U.S. Rental Housing Characteristics: Supply, Vacancy, and Affordability“, which was packed with data about the rental housing market. The data in the report clearly illustrates that the rental market is holding up pretty well, at least in the lower rent price-ranges, while the for-sale housing market has been

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Coming soon to a town near you - Hopefully NOT!

Dennis Norman

I usually try to keep the focus of my posts on this site on topics that, for the most part, apply to the entire real estate industry and shy away from local issues. I’m going to make an exception today however as I feel this is an issue, albeit local at this point,

Continue reading… Coming soon to a town near you – Hopefully NOT!

Will that be Cash or Credit?

Dennis Norman

If you are a small to medium sized property manager or landlord odds are you receive your rent payments in the form of cash or a check. Why not accept credit cards and debit cards for rent payments in addition? This is something I did for years and think for many landlords it is worth the

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DOJ Files Discrimination Lawsuit against Property Manager and Owner in Missouri

The Justice Department announced it has filed a lawsuit today in federal court for the Eastern District of Missouri alleging a pattern or practice of violations of the Fair Housing Act by the owner and managers of Forum Manor Apartments, a federally-subsidized apartment complex, for refusing to rent to African-Americans and males, refusing to allow

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Rental Data and Resources for Property Managers

Dennis Norman

By: Dennis Norman

Over the past two years home prices have dropped throughout the country, rather significantly in some areas. Falling prices have created opportunities for investors but have also created a challenge for landlords and property managers to keep up with changing rental markets. Logic would dictate that if home prices in any

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Property managers; fair housing laws protect people with disabilities too

Dennis Norman

By: Dennis Norman

When we speak of discrimination in housing it seems many people think of it only in terms of discrimination based upon race. However, landlords and property managers need to remember that the Federal Fair Housing Laws that make it illegal to discriminate in housing based upon race also make it illegal to discriminate

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FBI issues consumer alert warning of phony online rental ads

By: Dennis Norman

The FBI has issued a consumer alert warning of phony online rental ads. According to the alert, the scam goes like this:

You can’t believe your good fortune-you find a rental home in a nice area through a Craigslist classified ad at an unbelievably low rate. The landlord-who had to leave the country and

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Protection for tenants in foreclosed homes

Dennis Norman

By: Dennis Norman

One of the issues that has come to the surface over the past few months has been the effect on tenants when a home they are leasing is foreclosed upon.  In many instances the tenants are unaware of the financial trouble of the seller and sometimes their first indication of a

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