Upstate New York Landlords Unite!

[Matthew Drouin]

Western and Upstate NY Landlords,

My YouTube video call to action  https://youtu.be/gi2wh6JEddg

I have to say that this is our fault. While we have been keeping our heads down focusing on running our businesses and revitalizing housing inventory in our communities; someone else has been controlling the narrative of housing in Western and Upstate NY. The tenant’s unions have been strong and well organized; and consistently painting THEIR picture of housing to Albany. To exacerbate the negative image of investors and developers even further, we have the countless stories like those of Peter Hungerford and Rochester Asset Management that have been used as powerful ammunition in their fight. Rochester and other upstate cities are NOT controlled by unscrupulous landlords. Many of us use real estate to build long term wealth for our families or as an alternative to Wall Street products in our retirement planning, a vehicle to pay for our children’s college education, etc. Most of us are responsible, ethical, hardworking landlords, who take care of their properties and fulfill the incredibly important need for safe, affordable, quality housing in our communities.
When we stay silent, we lose control over the narrative and policies that get enacted like the ones on June 14th. Which, by the way, are going to disproportionately hurt those who it was intended to protect.
And it already has… I’ll give you an example. We own Rochester property in primarily affluent white neighborhoods think Park Avenue, Southwedge, North Winton Village etc. I just had a young lady recently who applied for one of our apartments. She was gainfully employed, had a decent income, but her credit history was horrendous. Our screening software denied her application, but I could see that she consistently worked two jobs and felt that I could take a chance on her where no other landlord would (she had been looking for apartments for a long time). Normally I would agree to accept them to the apartment as long as they agreed to pay a double security deposit. This allows us to hedge our downside risk in the event that they default. In these cases of policy exception, a default has a 50/50 chance of occurring. She said that the double security deposit was doable and was very excited to move out of her chaotic living environment and move into a “safe” neighborhood. After I learned about these laws, I had to cancel her application. This is how these laws inadvertently affect both low and high income areas, and the people who reside or own property in both.
Furthermore, this new act affects the flow of investment capital across real estate asset classes. Private investment capital will steer away from where it’s desperately needed: in affordable work force housing and instead flow to asset classes like self-storage, office, retail, luxury apartment housing or out of the state entirely.
We’ve been talking about it a long time but it’s time for us to stop talking and to start walking; take action and assemble a Landlord Coalition to represent Western and Upstate NY. These laws are slap in the face and a further indictment against the ease and cost of doing business in NYS. If you are interested in getting involved with the coalition, we are holding an event on the morning of September 10th at Turning Stone Resort. I encourage you to spread the word for us and save upstate housing.

Have you seen my YouTube video call to action? https://youtu.be/gi2wh6JEddg

The event info is here: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07egho7mecbf2285c6&llr=vjljhkqab 

The link to the dashboard on the new laws is here:https://drive.google.com/open?id=1dXJEn1-LuHOAfWdGukrVl41jhMr2kw6z

Please spread the word on the event!

[Cynthia Brooks]

I would NOT buy rental property  in NYS right now unless you have extremely deep pockets to see you through an eviction that now takes 1yr minimum and cost at least $5k per tenant. If you have that kind of money....good luck