Discarding Abandoned Personal Property
 
On Monday, March 10th, April Betau, a Regional Manager for The Kamson Corporation and a PAA Central Board Member, will testify in favor of House Bill 1714. If passed, the bill will update Pennsylvania's Landlord and Tenant Law regarding abandoned personal property. April will offer the perspective of owners of larger rental properties and their challenge with complying with the law.

Ever since Act 129 went into effect in 2012, there has been a gaping hole in guidelines for abandoned person property, when it comes to situations in which a resident has left the premises and has left no forwarding address or information, but some of their personal property remains. Currently, under Act 129, rental owners cannot simply discard abandoned items. When a resident leaves without notice or a forwarding address, owners must obtain an order of possession that contains notice to the resident about the personal property and a time frame for retrieving it. Only when the time frame is up and the owner has not received a reply from the resident, can the owner discard the personal property left behind.

It makes no sense to require owners to evict residents who are already gone–owners should be permitted to send notice to a former resident about their abandoned personal property, without having to resort to such a lengthy and costly option as an eviction proceeding. If passed, HB 1714 would mean owners would not have to go to court every time a former resident leaves behind unwanted items such as a bag of clothes or a chair.

 
ONLY A FEW DAYS LEFT TO REGISTER…
2014 PAA Harrisburg Capitol Conference
March 31st – April 1st 
The Pennsylvania Apartment Association is getting revved up for our 2014 PAA Harrisburg Capitol Conference.
 
We are looking forward to having as many members with us as possible to engage in the extremely valuable talks with legislators. They need to hear from YOU, the industry experts. You care more about your industry than anyone else, and can tell them first hand about the issues that affect you on a daily basis, and the laws that could effect you for better or worse.

You don't need to be a legislative expert by any means. Participants will just be expected to talk about their business and the contributions that their properties make to their communities. Our industry contributes over $28 billion to Pennsylvania's economy every year- no community can be strong without us! Someone from the PAA Staff or Legislative Committee will be with you every step of the way.

When it comes down to it, we are the responsible property managers and apartment industry leaders. We play by the rules. We know our success depends on our delivering a good product – quality rental housing. We need to inform our legislators about how the industry works.

Click HERE to register or to find out more!
Registration deadline is Monday, March 10th.

There is no fee to attend. Hotel accommodations are NOT included. You are responsible for your own hotel arrangements. However, we have reserved a limited block of rooms at the Hilton Harrisburg at $199/per room, for the night of Monday, March 31st. First come, first served. Be sure to mention the code "PAAA" when reserving under the room block. Rooms in the room block will only be held until March 1st.

Harrisburg Hilton
One North Second Street
Harrisburg, PA 17101
(717)-233-6000