HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-25-24 Public Comment - B. Konkel - Tenants Right to Counsel Public CommentFrom:Blaine Konkel
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Tenants Right to Counsel Public Comment
Date:Tuesday, June 25, 2024 10:27:10 AM
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Dear Commissioners:
Please VOTE NO on tenant’s right to counsel. BTU claims that there are greedy corporate
landlords that are preying on tenants. This is simply not true. Montana Landlord Tenant law
defines and regulates the Landlord/Tenant relationship. It is intended to be regulated at the
state level.
The state already regulates the relationship between the landlord and tenant, so it strains
credulity to think that greedy corporate landlords have some sort of advantage in an
unregulated market. Montana Landlord Tenant law is straightforward. Landlords supply the
needed housing in a community. There is a process that must be followed, and tenants cannot
be evicted overnight. They already have clearly defined rights and have the right to counsel.
To force taxpayers to pay for their legal counsel is unfathomable. The notion of the ‘greedy
corporate landlord’ is also not true. 71.4% of landlords own 1-4 units. 16.8% own 5-10
units. 5.9% own 11-20 units and only 5.9% own 21 or more units. (TurboTenant) Most
landlords are not corporate investors. Housing is not owned by mega corporations. Rental
units are often owned by locals who happened to be fortunate enough to purchase a second
home. You will be funding legal expenses to litigate against local residents that are simply
trying to make an investment for their future, while simultaneously supplying needed housing
for their own community.
Montana Code Annotated clearly defines the landlord tenant relationship and its intent for the
state, not cities, to regulate the landlord and tenant relationship:
70-24-102. Purposes -- liberal construction to promote. (1) This chapter shall be
liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying purposes and policies.
(2) Underlying purposes and policies of this chapter are to:
(a) simplify, clarify, modernize, and revise the law governing the rental of dwelling units
and the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants;
(b) encourage landlords and tenants to maintain and improve the quality of housing; and
(c) create an exclusive regulatory standard throughout the state and its political
subdivisions regarding landlord and tenant law.
Furthermore, MCA reads:
70-24-107. Territorial application. This chapter applies to, regulates, and determines rights,
obligations, and remedies under a rental agreement, wherever made, for a dwelling unit
located within this state.
In addition:
7-1-111. Powers denied. A local government unit with self-government powers is
prohibited from exercising the following:
(13) (a) any power that applies to or affects landlords, as defined in 70-24-103 and 70-33-
103, when that power is intended to license landlords or to regulate their activities with
regard to tenants beyond what is provided in Title 70, chapters 24, 25, and 33; or
(b) any power to deviate from or add to the exclusive application of the provisions of:
(i) the Montana Residential Landlord and Tenant Act of 1977, Title 70, chapter 24;
(ii) residential tenants' security deposit law in Title 70, chapter 25; or
(iii) the Montana Residential Mobile Home Lot Rental Act, Title 70, chapter 33.
I would strongly question whether the City of Bozeman funding legal expenses for tenants
would apply to or affect landlords. BTU seems to argue that the mere fact the landlords
obtain counsel more often than tenants negatively affects tenants, so how could taxpayer
funded legal representation for tenants not affect landlords? Funding legal expenses for a
group that the city commission is favorable to is not something that the city should be
spending taxpayer funded dollars on.
Vote No on taxpayer funded legal fees for tenants.
Blaine Konkel
City of Bozeman resident and taxpayer