WHAT'S HAPPENING AROUND THE STATE OF MICHIGAN - Feb 2007
by Don Eichstaedt, Secretary, Rental Property Owners Assoc. of Michigan
(RPOAM)

EAST LANSING - The city council adopted an ordinance to update the Property
Maintenance Code to the 2006 edition of the International Property
Maintenance Code, which contains most of the requirements inspectors use to
evaluate a property for standards of health, safety and welfare.

The changes were developed on a consensus basis by a committee made up of
people who will be affected by the changes. The committee included
inspectors, landlords, a property maintenance supervisor, a representative
from the housing commission, the building board of appeals, the Bailey
Neighborhood, the City Attorney's office and the City Council.

Rubbish is now defined. Now all vehicles must be properly stored in an
approved parking space, not just cars. Trees and shrubs must be trimmed.
Surfaces with graffiti and other defacement must be restored. House numbers
must be legible and visible from the street. Furnace inspections must be
certified that the furnace is safe and working properly.
Metal water pipes must be grounded on both sides of the water meter. Every
bathroom receptacle must now be ground-fault interrupter protected.

East Lansing has a newsletter for landlords and property owners entitled
'Code Words'.

From The RPOA-M Lobbyist , Karoub & Associates:

MORTGAGE FRAUD - A package of bills was introduced last fall to address a
growing concern of fraud in the Mortgage lending industry. The bills aim to
prevent the artificial inflation of property values by creating a felony for
brokers and loan originators who influence appraisers to alter the property
value in favor of their clients. The legislature plans to reintroduce and
act on this issue in the early part of 2007.

EMINENT DOMAIN - This issue took the form of a ballot proposal in the
November general Elections. Proposal 4 would, 1) prohibit government from
taking private property for transfer to another private individual or
business for the purposes of economic development or increasing tax revenue,
2) provide that if an individual's residence is taken by government for
public use the individual must be paid at least 125% of the property's fair
market value, 3) Require that a government that takes a private property to
demonstrate that the taking is for public use and demonstrate the burden of
proof. This initiative preserves the rights of property owners in the State
of Michigan. This proposal was passed by the voters in November.

OTHER LEGISLATION - HB 6043 (Rep. John Pastor(R-Livonia)) This bill would
create an economic incentive for muilti-family residential property in
commercial rehabilitation districts. There are several stipulations that
narrow the scope for who is eligible for these tax credits. The bill was
passed and ordered enrolled to be presented to the Governor for her
signature into law.

HB 6638 & 6639 (Rep. Larmar Lemmons III (D-Detroit) and Rep. Leon Drolet
(R-Canton Twp): These bills revise procedures on two acts relating to
condemnation of blighted property to define "blighted property" and allow
municipalities to acquire blighted property only by condemnation. There are
several criteria for "blighted property' outlined in the new bill including
the property being declared as a nuisance, fire hazard, uninhabitable,
vacant for five consecutive years, and having code violations. The bills
were passed and ordered enrolled to be presented to the Governor for her
signature into law.