City of Raleigh Offering 3 Landlord Training Program Sessions in 2010

This is from the City of Raleigh's weekly eNews:Registration is open to enroll in the City of Raleigh’s Landlord Training Program, a one-day course for rental property owners and managers, real estate agents, lawyers and others who deal with rental issues.

Three sessions are planned for this year: March 10, May 12 and Oct. 20. The sessions will be held at the Raleigh Housing Authority’s multipurpose community room, located at 971 Harp St. To register or receive more information, call the City of Raleigh Community Services Department at 996-6100 or visit the City’s website at www.raleighnc.gov/communityservices.

The North Carolina State Bar and the North Carolina Real Estate Commission have approved the course for continuing education credits.

The Landlord Training Program covers such topics as screening rental applicants, strengthening rental agreements and taking legal steps to resolve problems. It also addresses the federal Housing Choice Voucher Program and the role of the City Police, Inspections and Community Services departments.

In addition, participants receive tips on reducing the likelihood of nuisance violations and drug, gang and illegal activity around rental property. They also learn about the City’s rental dwelling registration ordinance and its probationary rental occupancy permit (PROP) ordinance.

Instruction is provided by the City of Raleigh Police, Inspections and Community Services departments; City Attorney’s Office; Triangle Apartment Association; Sentinel Real Estate Corporation; Raleigh Housing Authority; and Hatch, Little & Bunn LLP.

Since the City of Raleigh began offering the Landlord Training Program in 2006, a total of 385 people have participated. Combined, they managed 29,205 rental units throughout Raleigh and had an average of 5.8 years of experience as landlords or property managers. Based on post-training session evaluations by attendees:

- 75 percent of program participants said they would make positive changes to their property and/or management practices as a result of the Landlord Training Program;

- 97 percent of program participants found the class to be worthwhile; and,

- A total of 14 participants enrolled in the program because of PROP violations.The course is not very expensive (only $25.00!) and seems like it would be very valuable to industry professionals and real estate investors alike!

The link provided in the release is a little hard to navigate, so here is the direct link to a Word document with more information and then the link to the informational PDF (used for registering).