[Private Property]

Red Wing, Minn.—Today the Minnesota Supreme Court handed down an important victory for Red Wing property owners and renters and for citizens across the state of Minnesota. The court allowed a property rights case to go forward that had been tied up by procedural hurdles for more than five years. The case challenges Red Wing’s rental inspection program, under which the city can enter and inspect people’s homes without any evidence that a code violation has taken place. The decision, which seriously examined the facts of the case and the practical impact of the law on plaintiffs’ rights, is a model of judicial engagement.

Nine landlords and two tenants from Red Wing, Minn.—who are represented by the public interest law firm the Institute for Justice—object to Red Wing’s rental inspection law.  Many cities across Minnesota—including Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth and Rochester—have local laws like Red Wing’s that allow government officials to conduct housing inspections of all rented homes in the city, even if the tenant refuses to consent to the search and even if the government has no reason to believe there is a problem with the rental home or even with the building.  The unusual alliance of landlords and tenants sued the city to prevent government inspectors from violating their rights.

“Red Wing’s unreasonable and unconstitutional inspection program allows government inspectors to poke around in practically every nook and cranny in your home—even closets and your bathroom,” said IJ Senior Attorney Dana Berliner.  “Our clients sought to test the constitutionality of this law before it is used to illegally enter their homes. Now, thanks to the Minnesota Supreme Court, they will get an answer to that question. The courthouse door remains open for our clients.”

As the Minnesota Supreme Court pointed out, “The City has actually begun enforcing the rental inspection ordinance against appellants.” Therefore, there is a real dispute that affects plaintiffs’ rights, and the courts can go forward to address whether the law is unconstitutional.

Until today’s ruling, the city had announced its plan to continue to try to enter the plaintiffs’ homes without their consent and force the plaintiffs to engage in piecemeal litigation to protect themselves. With the ruling, the plaintiffs can settle the constitutionality of the law once and for all.

Landlord Robert McCaughtry, a plaintiff in the case, has had enough of the city’s inspection program. He said, “I’m not against the city having housing standards, but it’s wrong for the city to force its way into peoples’ homes without any evidence of a problem or code violation. I’m grateful that we’ll finally get our opportunity to show that this program is unconstitutional.”

“Increasingly local governments use ‘administrative warrant’ programs to skirt the protections of the Fourth Amendment and force their way into people’s homes,” said IJ Minnesota Chapter Attorney Anthony Sanders. “The Fourth Amendment, and the similar provision in the Minnesota Constitution, was intended to protect people’s property and privacy rights, and its standards—requiring probable cause of an actual violation of the law—are entirely reasonable and not something the government should be allowed to ignore.”

The court remanded the case to the Minnesota Court of Appeals to decide the issue the plaintiffs have been fighting for all along: whether the Minnesota Constitution allows inspections without probable cause.

“The Minnesota Supreme Court has regularly interpreted the Minnesota Constitution to provide greater protection for individual liberty than is provided by the U.S. Constitution,” said Berliner.  “We believe this is an excellent opportunity to ensure all Minnesotans are free from unreasonable searches of their homes and properties.”

Cleveland, Ohio, December 7, 2011—The National REIA Shipping Program, managed by PartnerShip, today announced that FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and UPS (NYSE: UPS) will increase envelope and small package shipping rates for 2012.

Air Shipping Costs to Increase

Effective January 2, 2012, the cost to ship an overnight envelope with Memphis-based FedEx Express will increase by a net average of 3.9%. The full average rate increase of 5.9% will be partially offset by adjusting the fuel price threshold at which the fuel surcharge begins, reducing the fuel surcharge by 2%. Air packages shipped with Atlanta-based UPS will increase by a net average 4.9% beginning January 2, 2012. The rate increase for UPS air and international shipments is based on a 6.9% increase in the base rate, less a 2% reduction to the index-based air and international fuel surcharge.

Ground Shipping Rates Going Up As Well

Effective January 2, 2012, the cost to ship with FedEx Ground will increase by a net average 4.9%. The full average rate increase of 5.9% will be partially offset by adjusting the fuel price threshold at which the fuel surcharge begins, reducing the fuel surcharge by 1%. UPS ground shipping will also increase by a net average 4.9% for U.S. domestic services, achieved through a 5.9% increase in the base rate, less a 1% reduction to the index-based ground fuel surcharge.

Additionally, UPS Next Day Air Freight and UPS 2nd Day Air Freight rates for shipments within and between the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico will increase 5.9%. UPS 3 Day Freight rates will remain unchanged.

About PartnerShip

Cleveland, Ohio-based PartnerShip, which developed and manages the National REIA Shipping Program, is a leading freight management company that provides shipping solutions to small- and medium-sized businesses nationwide. PartnerShip leverages its relationships with over 17,000 customers to provide businesses of all sizes the exceptional savings typically reserved for large-volume shippers. 800-599-2902 PartnerShip.com

For more information or to enroll in the National REIA Shipping Program to save on every shipment you send and receive, please visit: www.partnership.com/73NREIA

This is one that you CANNOT miss!!

Release date: 09/30/2011

Contact Information: Stacy Kika (News Media Only), kika.stacy@epa.gov, 202-564-0906, 202-564-4355

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the release of a new mapping feature in EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) database. As part of EPA’s ongoing effort to improve transparency, the EPA and State Enforcement Actions Map will allow the public to access federal and state enforcement information in an interactive format and to compare enforcement action information by state. The map will be refreshed monthly to include up to date information about the enforcement actions taken to address violations of air, water, and waste laws.

“EPA is committed to providing the public with easy to use tools that display facility compliance information and the actions EPA and the states are taking to address pollution problems in communities across the nation,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “EPA is proud to announce our latest effort under the President’s White House Regulatory Compliance Transparency Initiative and we will continue to take steps to make meaningful enforcement and compliance data available as part of an open, transparent government.”

Map users can choose the year, the media (air, water, waste, multiple), and whether they would like to display enforcement information for actions taken at the federal level, state level, or both. Users can then click on a state to view facility locations and click on a facility to list its name, the environmental statute the facility has an enforcement action under, and a link to a detailed facility compliance report.

ECHO provides integrated searches of EPA and state data about inspections, violations and enforcement actions for more than 800,000 regulated facilities. Now in its ninth year, ECHO recently received its 10 millionth data query and has completed a record year of more than 2 million queries. President Obama recognized ECHO in his January 2011 Presidential Memorandum on regulatory compliance, as a model for transparency for other federal agencies to follow.

Enforcement and Compliance History Online: http://www.epa-echo.gov

The intended audience for this tool is the RRP industry (including renovators, trainers, etc.).  For that reason, much of the information will be regulatory or technical in nature.  However, it is an open list and anyone is welcome to subscribe.

GovDelivery is a communication tool for EPA to notify interested parties about the RRP Program; it is not a discussion tool.  If you have specific questions about information provided via GovDelivery, please continue to call the National Lead Information Center at 800-424-LEAD(5323) or your existing contacts (EPA regional offices, etc.) to get more information.

Please subscribe now since we anticipate beginning to send out messages within the next few days.

Thank you.

Doreen Cantor Paster
Associate Chief, Lead, Heavy Metals, & Inorganics Branch
Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (7404T)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Phone: 202-566-0486

Under a civil consent agreement filed by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 7 office in Kansas City, Kan., the agency said Washington University leased three apartments near its main campus to student tenants in 2008, 2009 and 2010, without disclosing to the tenants that the City of St. Louis Health Department had previously cited the university for lead-based paint violations at those properties in 2000 and 2006.

The settlement alleges that Washington University indicated, in lead-warning statements attached to those property leases, that it had “no knowledge of the presence of lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards in the units,” EPA said.

EPA said the university also failed to provide tenants with records and reports of the city’s citations of the units.

Those actions violated of the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 and the Toxic Substances Control Act, which require landlords and sellers of properties built before 1978 to disclose certain types of information about lead-based paint hazards to tenants and buyers prior to a lease or sale. The federal government banned lead-based paint from housing in 1978.

As part of its settlement with EPA, Washington University has agreed to perform a supplemental environmental project that will involve the replacement of approximately 103 old windows in other married-student housing units.

EPA said lead-based paint on surfaces subjected to regular friction, such as windows and door jams, commonly results in the deterioration of the paint and an increase in the presence of lead-paint dust. The project, which will eliminate that particular source of lead-paint dust in these residences, is expected to cost between $24,998 and $31,000.

Article provided by: Durability + Design August 31st, 2011

Baltimore, Maryland- Cephus Murrell, age 68, of Catonsville, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to three misdemeanor counts of violating the Toxic Substances Control Act, in connection with improper lead paint abatement at rental properties owned and managed by Murrell, as well as failure to disclose to tenants the presense of documented lead-based paint hazards. Murrell owns and manages approximately 175 rental housing units throughout Baltimore.

Click here to read more.

The agencies have issued an official Request for Information (RIF) to explore alternatives for foreclosed homes held by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) – both current inventories and the expected inflow of new properties.

Together, the three entities hold nearly 250,000 REO homes. About 70,000 of those are currently listed for sale, and another 22,000 have been listed and a buyer has made an offer but the deal hasn’t closed yet, according to an FHFA spokesperson.

Federal officials believe the most effective tactic to take to reduce taxpayer losses and help alleviate the market’s oversupply of homes is to sell off pools of properties to responsible investors who will employ an REO-to-rental strategy. But they say they’re open to any range of creative ideas that will reduce the REO inventories of the GSEs and FHA, and minimize loss severities at the same time.

Per the RFI, strategies might include: joint venture proposals that specifically address local economic and real

estate conditions; analytic approaches to determine the appropriate disposition strategy for properties, whether sale, rental, or demolition; programs for previous homeowners to rent properties or for current renters to become owners through a lease-to-own option; or plans that include asset contributions from other REO holders, including banks and private securitization trusts.

Officials noted that any recommendations involving a rental strategy should also include details on the steps the investor will take to ensure the properties are well maintained and managed.

The ultimate goal, according to the administration, is to improve loss recoveries compared to individual retail REO sales, help stabilize neighborhoods and local home values, and where feasible and appropriate, improve the supply of rental housing.

The initial scope of the project proposal is to get around 90,000 homes off Fannie’s, Freddie’s, and FHA’s books, a HUD spokesperson explained. She noted, though, that this is just a preliminary ballpark figure, not the full reach of what they hope to accomplish.

The primary objective, she stressed, is to develop innovative and effective strategies for managing not only the current inventory held on government portfolios, but the stream of new REOs coming down the pipeline.

Federal officials say they are looking for input not only on how to enhance market outcomes in the process of disposing of REO properties, but responses from industry participants that have the technical and financial capability to engage in large-scale transactions with the GSEs or FHA.

Based on responses to the RFI, Fannie, Freddie, or FHA may issue requests for proposals to third parties to implement the transactions or disposition structures suggested, according to administration officials.

“Taking steps to encourage private investment in REO properties and transition them into productive use will help stabilize neighborhoods and home values at a critical time for our economy,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan.

The full RFI, detailing the administration’s objectives and how to submit recommendations, can be viewed online. Responses are requested by September 15th.

Article Provided by Carrie Bay with DSNews.com