AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SMALL PROPERTY OWNERS ...restoring common sense to regulation
E-mail: info@smallpropertyowner.com Web: www.aaspo.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
SmallPropertyOwner.com Friday, November 9, 2001 Washington, DC USA
Table of Contents
1. AASPO Action 2. Washington Spotlight 3. News from Around the Nation 4. Legal Beat 5. Announcement/Advice on Advocacy/On a Lighter Note
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1. AASPO Action
• Grassroots Event! New and Exciting: FLORIDA PROPERTY TOUR Dec. 1-4, 2001!
Join the Ohio Real Estate Investors Association, AASPO and Harper Realty, Inc. in Tampa, Florida to learn first hand how you can take advantage of excellent investment opportunities in the Sunshine State! Properties include waterfront homes & multi-family! Learn about Florida`s friendly landlord laws, tax benefits and personal property rights. Click here for more information.
• AASPO Files Comments Opposing Proposed FHA Rule on Flipping. Homebuyers won`t be able to get an FHA-insured loan if the house they`re buying has been sold within the past six months, under a proposed FHA rule designed to curb property flipping. The new rule proposes that FHA not insure mortgages if the underlying single-family property has been sold within the past six months, with a few exceptions. On November 5, 2001, AASPO filed comments opposing the proposed rule. The full text of the proposed rule is posted in the Members Area.
• AASPO Meets with Officials of U.S. Department of Justice.
On October 25, 2001, AASPO president, Pat Callahan, along with attorneys Gary Baise and Stewart Fried met with officials of the Justice Department to discuss the need for a new policy and approach in the enforcement of environmental laws. As was shown at a recent Congressional hearing, the actions by the Justice Department in responding to their clients, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, often result in the denial of fundamental constitutional rights of property owners. A better balance needs to be struck. Unfortunately, too few appointments in important decision-making positions at Justice have not been confirmed in the Bush administration.
• More Grassroots Events: Field Education Seminars.
AASPO is proceeding with our first series of grassroots field education activities. We will begin in mid-January 2002 with the South Carolina Landowners Association, and then move on to the 18 chapters of the Illinois Rental Property Owners Association, and the 2,500 members of the Georgia Real Estate Investors Association in February. All in all, we hope to present four or five seminars in this first series to provide hands-on techniques for success in the public policy arena. Mike Hardiman and Mark Monroe are working with Pat Callahan on the program. This series is made possible with a grant from The JM Foundation. For more information, contact AASPO at info@smallpropertyowner.com.
• Real Estate Summit 2002. Saving Private Property. June 20-23. Next summer, AASPO will host the first annual Real Estate Summit in Washington, DC. This three-day conference and trade show is designed to attract hundreds of small property owners, landlords and real estate investors from all over America and will instruct, inform, challenge and activate real estate owners and investors to become more involved in national, state and local level property rights issues. Special meetings with key decision-makers on Capitol Hill and in the Bush Administration will be arranged. We will also feature national speakers and industry experts who will provide tips, techniques and insights on successful real estate investing. A special boot camp for DC investors will be included, along with a seminar conducted exclusively en espanol. We will organize exclusive tours through Washington DC`s most historic buildings, including the United States Capitol, the Supreme Court and a VIP tour of the White House. Stay tuned!
• AASPO Members Being Called to Active Duty.
AASPO members who are reservists are being called to active duty in the War Against Terrorism. We stand ready to help. If you have a question about leave, benefits or need legal advice, please contact Pat Callahan (aaspo@aol.com) or Mark Monroe (MMonroe100@aol.com) and we will respond promptly to put you in touch with the right resources. Good luck and God speed.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Congratulations to the Illinois Rental Property Owners Association for their phenomenally successful Convention and Tradefair held October 12-14th in the Chicago area. IRPOA had a great slate of speakers, networking events, and vendors. More than 250 real estate professionals came together to recharge their batteries. Be sure to visit IRPOA`s web site at www.irpoa.org and GET INVOLVED all year long! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 2. Washington Spotlight
• Economic Stimulus Package Gets Fractured in the Senate. The old-line division of partisan politics, with the Democrats pushing more spending and Republicans favoring tax cuts, has surfaced in the Senate. Earlier the House had passed H.R. 3090 by a narrow margin. Details of the House bill are on the Ways and Means Committee web site. Significant tax reform is not going to happen in this go-round. In fact, many of the House-passed provisions, even those that may be favorable, are temporary, leaving our work cut out for us. Getting our message understood will require a significant commitment by AASPO members.
• AASPO Invited to Meet with Top Treasury Official.
Tax policy should be a major concern for every AASPO member. We have been invited to meet with the key official in the Bush Administration who decides on issues like capital gains, expensing vs. depreciation and a host of other policies that impact a property owner`s bottom line. Mark Weinberger is the Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, U.S. Department of Treasury, and wants to sit down and talk with AASPO members. If you would like to be involved, please let us know. Paul Berning chairs the AASPO Tax Policy Committee and will be putting together our position paper and talking points. Send us an e-mail at TAXPOLICY@aaspo.org.
• House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Impact of Wetlands.
On October 3, 2001, the House Transportation Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment held hearing on "The Wetlands Permitting Process: Is it Working Fairly?" Rep. John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-2-TN) chairs the subcommittee which heard from actual victims who showed how the enforcement of environmental laws is unfair and hurting small property owners. AASPO member, John Cumbie of Moncks Corner, SC, and a founder of the South Carolina Landowners Association, submitted written testimony. Rep. Henry E. Brown, Jr. (R-1-SC) has taken an active interest in the issue. Wetlands reform is a high priority for AASPO and we will be working to develop a sound and balanced approach to this issue.
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 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 3. News from Around the Nation
• Election Results. The political pundits have weighed in on last Tuesday`s election results.
~~ New Jersey is a case-in-point of how to throw away political power, as the Republicans lost majorities in both houses in the legislature and the governor mansion -- earlier they had written the rules that assured their demise. There are four thousand patronage positions appointed by the Governor; this translates into a $24 million cash flow that just changed hands.
~~ Virginia Republicans lost the top two elective offices (the governor and lt. governor) but gained in the legislature. The Democrat ran on a pro-business platform and positioned himself to the right of the Republican.
~~ New York City elected a non-politician businessman Mayor in Michael Bloomberg, leaving open the strong-possiblity that term-limited Rudy Gulianni will make another run for the office as Bloomberg has not expressed any long-term interest in staying in City Hall.
• NY. Adrian Tiemann, AASPO`s state chairman for New York, is preparing to meet with Mayor-elect Bloomberg to discuss the importance of small property owners in the city`s recovery.
• WI. Milwaukee Lead Paint Lawsuit Threatens Job Growth; Family-Owned Company Faced `Every Business Person`s Worst Nightmare`
Wisconsin will have a harder time retaining and attracting new businesses in the wake of a litigation-pressured sale of a family-owned paint manufacturer to a Cleveland firm, according to industry sources. Mautz Paint Co., a family-owned paint manufacturer with an 80-year history in Wisconsin sold its business to Ohio-based Sherwin-Williams, citing pressure brought on by a lead paint lawsuit filed by the city of Milwaukee. Milwaukee had targeted Mautz as a defendant in the civil suit, seeking more than $100 million in damages for lead paint abatement costs for homes in the city. Wisconsin tort law makes it easier to sue manufacturers without having to prove that a specific company is responsible for a hazard. For more information, contact Tim Ballering at LEAD@aaspo.org or info@smallpropertyowner.com.
• CA. Voters Approve Rent Control in Woodland, California. Woodland voters overwhelmingly approved the Sacramento region`s first citywide rent control ordinance Tuesday, supporting a measure that regulates rents charged for mobile home spaces. Eighty-one percent of Woodland voters cast ballots in support of Measure T, an initiative penned by tenants in two mobile home parks who were fighting a proposed 35 percent space rent increase at their parks. Click here for the full story.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Another success story! The Ohio Real Estate Investors` Association (OREIA) presented the 2001 Midwest Real Estate Conference and Trade Show, November 1-4 in Columbus. More than a thousand eager investors feasted on an "All-you-can eat BUFFET for your BRAIN," featuring great speakers, fascinating money-making presentations, along with OREIA`s super trade show. If you missed this spectacular event, visit the OREIA web site at http://oreia.com/ to get involved all year long!
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4. Legal Beat
• Oral Arguments Scheduled in United States Supreme Court in Tahoe-Sierra case.
Oral argument will be January 7, 2002. We are the second case that morning, according to Michael Berger who will be arguing for the property owners. As reported earlier, Martin Kaufman, General Counsel of Atlantic Legal Foundation, authored the AASPO brief in Tahoe-Sierra and filed it in the U.S. Supreme Court on September 19, 2001. The AASPO brief is a first rate work. There are 16 co-amici who signed on the brief. [Tahoe-Sierra Preservation Council v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency] A copy of the AASPO brief is available in PDF. Please write to president@aaspo.org if you would like a copy e-mailed to you. • Cases to watch:
~~ Eminent Domain
A series of challenges is being mounted to the actions of local governments who use and abuse the power of eminent domain against small property owners to enable the government to transfer land to private developers. The Washington DC-based Institute for Justice (IJ) has filed a constitutional challenge to New York`s Eminent Domain Procedure Law and, in neighboring Connecticut, IJ has a case against the City of New London and the New London Development Corporation, a private body to which the city has delegated its eminent domain authority. For more information, visit IJ`s web site at www.ij.org.
~~ California Coastal Commission
The state`s high court is deliberating over a lower court decision which declared the dreaded California Coastal Commission unconstitutional. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TOUR the AASPO web site and enjoy the many unique features. A state-of the-art real estate dictionary, free e-classifieds, daily news on real estate, advice, and public policy. Weekly online Workshops and Discussion Forums. Simply log on to . Start your day at AASPO.
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5. Announcement/Advice on Advocacy/Lighter Note.
• Announcements.
To our donors and supporters: THANK YOU! Without your financial commitment, we would not be able to undertake our important work. A special note of thanks goes to The JM Foundation and the Broyhill Family Foundation. We appreciate your support and your confidence in us.
• Advice on Advocacy: At their private meeting last December, it has been reported that George W. Bush sought Bill Clinton`s advice on how to become a better speaker. Among Clinton`s recommendations: master the pause; count to three between sentences; speak always to the cameras and not to the audience. Good advice for anyone!
• On A Lighter Note: We have been identifying common ground and issues of mutual concern between urban and rural property owners. While most of our attention has been devoted to weighty constitutional issues like property rights, now comes word of another common bond: smell. For years, landlords have used a product named Odor-Xit to remove smells left by less than classy tenants. Now comes word from outdoorsmen and hunters that Odor-Xit is great for removing the lingering unpleasant odor of game trophies. Thanks Deb McMillan (debmcmillan@yahoo.com) for this gem.
For feedback, news or information on any story we have covered, please contact AASPO at info@smallpropertyowner.com.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * About AASPO: Your Capital Connection. Based in Washington, DC, and with experts and advisors strategically located throughout the nation from California to New England, the American Association of Small Property Owners is the only national organization for small landlords, property owners and real estate investors to share information and strategies on important issues of the day. AASPO`s print newsletter, The Small Property Owner, was voted the "Best Independent Real Estate Newsletter for 1996" by the National Association of Real Estate Editors. ###
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