Legislature(1993 - 1994)
03/24/1993 09:00 AM Senate STA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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SENATE STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
March 24, 1993
9:00 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Loren Leman, Chairman
Senator Mike Miller, Vice Chairman
Senator Robin Taylor
Senator Jim Duncan
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Johnny Ellis
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 168
"An Act relating to newspapers of general circulation."
SENATE BILL NO. 158
"An Act relating to exemption amounts."
SENATE BILL NO. 155
"An Act relating to landlords and tenants, to termination of
tenancies and recovery of rental premises, to tenant
responsibilities, to the civil remedies of forcible entry
and detainer and nuisance abatement, and to the duties of
peace officers to notify landlords of arrests involving
certain illegal activity on rental premises."
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
SB 168 - See State Affairs minutes dated 3/22/93.
SB 158 - No previous action to record.
SB 155 - No previous action to record.
WITNESS REGISTER
Steve Phillips
Ketchikan Credit
320 Bauden, #302
Ketchikan, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 158.
David Skidmore, Legislative Aide to Senator
Steve Frank
State Capitol
Juneau, Alaska 99811-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 155.
Eugene Smith
Evergreen Properties
8930 Mendenhall Loop Rd.
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Pat Conheady
231 S. Franklin
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Doug Isaacson
Tenant Watch
P.O. Box 72739
Fairbanks, Alaska 99707
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Dan Bissell
Dixon Apartments
100 10th Ave.
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Charles Lippitt
2203 McKinley Ave.
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Alice Brewer, Executive Secretary
Alaska Landlord and Property Manager's Association
1201 W 45 th Ave.
Anchorage, Alaska 99517
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Dave Erlich
2308 W 47th
Anchorage, Alaska 99517
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Kris Gratrix
1327 W 27th, # 100
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Hans Metz
5305 E 42nd Ave.
Anchorage, Alaska 99508
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
John Todd
13320 Crestview Dr.
Anchorage, Alaska 99516
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Jerry Haggerty
1016 E. 12 th Ave., #1
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Jan Evensen
838 Irwin, Apt. 6
Anchorage, Alaska 99508
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Edgar Preiss
4722 Melvin Ave.
Anchorage, Alaska 99517
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Gene and Diana Rash
9000 Honeysuckle
Anchorage, Alaska 99502
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Fitz Mitchell
1716 Crescent
Anchorage, Alaska 99508
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Donald Blanc
415 5th Ave.
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Myra Sheets
1028 Evergreen St., #1
Fairbanks, Alaska 99709
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Barbara Cardin
415 5th Ave.
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Cindy Helms
1615 Carr #1
Fairbanks, Alaska 99709
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Meredith Coats
2546 Talkeetna
Fairbanks, Alaska 99709
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Roy Helms
1452 Noble St
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Sam Medsker
1983 Yankovich Rd.
Fairbanks, Alaska 99709
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Jerry Hassel
P.O. Box 49
Ester, Alaska 99725
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Ruth Gudschinsky
1622 Lauren Rd.
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Henry Wadle
1012 Pedro Street
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Don Wadle
4888 Old Airport Way
Fairbanks, Alaska 99706
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Nils Braastad
135 Craig
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Ruth Peger
3873 Peger Rd.
Fairbanks, Alaska 99709
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
Jerome Byrd
2224 Eastland
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 155.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 93-22, SIDE A
Number 001
CHAIRMAN LEMAN called the Senate State Affairs Committee
meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. and announced SB 168
(NEWSPAPER OF GENERAL CIRCULATION DEFINED) to be up for
consideration.
SENATOR TAYLOR moved to adopt CSSB 168 (STA) as the working
draft for the committee. There were no objections and it
was so ordered.
SENATOR TAYLOR moved to pass CSSB 168 (STA) from committee
with individual recommendations. There were no objections
and it was so ordered.
Number 38
SENATOR LEMAN announced SB 158 REDUCING EXEMPTION AMOUNTS
to be up for consideration.
STEVE PHILLIPS, owner of three credit bureaus in Southeast
Alaska, said most of their debtors are debtor proof.
Essentially, you have to make at least $16 per hour to have
wages garnished, he said. They want to bring the credit
lines closer to what it is in the rest of the country. He
said they have buried court with judgements, but nothing is
happening with them.
Number 120
SENATOR MILLER said he had a problem with the $2,100
exemption for personal items. He didn't think it was
enough, but he had no problem with the wages.
Number 188
MR. PHILLIPS explained they have been pursuing a lady for a
couple of years who wears minks down the street. She works
for the state. They tried to attach her wages so she
changed her retirement program and got below the exemption
again. He explained that the exemption is not for a
composite, but for individual items.
SENATOR MILLER thought the Judiciary Committee could check
into that issue.
SENATOR TAYLOR asked if the wage was net or gross. MR.
PHILLIPS said it's the net take-home after child support and
everything.
MR. PHILLIPS pointed out that it is bad for the economy if
people don't pay their debts.
Number 232
SENATOR TAYLOR moved to pass SB 158 from committee with
individual recommendations. There were no objections and it
was so ordered.
SENATOR LEMAN announced SB 155 USE OF RENTED PROPERTY/LAW
VIOLATIONS to be up for consideration.
SENATOR FRANK, sponsor, said provisions in this bill gave a
landlord the ability to control their contractual
relationship. One of the issues the bill deals with is that
the check list can be used as evidence of prior condition of
the apartment without getting a witness.
Number 314
DAVID SKIDMORE, Legislative Aide for Senator Frank, said SB
155 reduces the time a landlord must wait before going to
court to commence eviction proceedings. Specifically in the
event the tenant does not pay rent when it's due, it changes
the days from 10 to 5 days. It revises the legal
obligations of the tenant to make them more stringent and
reworks the statutory definition of damages. It adds to the
landlord's ability to seek removal of abusive tenants
through the check list process. A premises statement and a
contents inventory list may be incorporated into the
agreement and stipulates how they may be used in court. It
includes provisions to amend Alaska nuisance abatement
statutes.
Number 350
EUGENE SMITH, owner of Evergreen Properties, said he has
experienced losses in excess of $10,000 from irresponsible
tenants and inability to collect judgements. Part of the
problem does relate to the time frame currently required to
evict tenants. He supported SB 155.
SENATOR LEMAN asked if he had personal experience with the
10 day requirement. MR. SMITH said he has had numerous
experiences. He said it is a full month before you can
begin the eviction process.
SENATOR FRANK remarked it seemed that there was a direct
relation between the amount of time it took to evict a
tenant and the amount of the deposit. MR. SMITH said
ideally that was true, but from the standpoint of human
compassion it was unrealistic when dealing with marginal
tenants.
Number 446
PAT CONHEADY said his firm represents 4 trailer courts and
60 to 70 residential units in Juneau. He endorsed SB 155,
specifically the property condition and the reduction to 5
days notice on non-payment of rent. MR. CONHEADY corrected
MR. SMITH by saying you can go to court after the 10 day
notice.
MR. CONHEADY said a couple of other problems they see are
the provision for the attorney's fees which is unclear as
written.
Number 510
DOUG ISAACSON, Alaska Statewide Director of Credit Services,
Inc., a credit screening service for landlords, said he sees
landlords as credit grantors. However, landlords are not
treated as business people when they try to terminate a
lease in a timely or expeditious manner. He supported SB
155 as a first step to help expedite a landlord's ability to
reclaim his property. He said this bill would not make
anything harder on the tenant, but it would help the
landlord to have the right to treat his property from an
economic point of view.
SENATOR LEMAN said he intended to move the bill today and
asked if anyone opposed the bill. There were no comments.
Number 560
DAN BISSELL, apartment manager, supported most of the
testimony and supported SB 155.
Number 579
CHARLES LIPPITT, Anchorage, strongly supported SB 155.
TAPE 93-22, SIDE B
Number 585
ALICE BREWER, Executive Secretary, Alaska Landlord and
Property Manager's Association, strongly supported SB 155,
especially the police notifying the landlord if there is a
drug arrest, the premises condition statement, and changing
the notification time to 5 days.
Number 570
DAVE ERLICH, Anchorage, suggested some changes on page 5,
line 5 the word "prostitution" should be changed to include
"assignation."
SENATOR LEMAN said that Senator Taylor said he would take
that up in the Judiciary Committee.
SENATOR TAYLOR explained that the Senate was being called to
order and asked if anyone opposed the bill. There was no
opposition.
In Anchorage the following people were in support of SB 155:
CHRIS GRATRIX, HANS METZ, JOHN TODD, JERRY HAGGERTY, JAN
EVENSEN, EDGAR PREISS, GENE and DIANA RASH, and FITZ
MITCHELL.
In Fairbanks the following people were in support of SB 155:
DONALD BLANC, MYRA SHEETS, BARBARA CARDIN, CINDY HELMS,
MEREDITH COATS, ROY HELMS, SAM MEDSKER, JERRY HASSEL, RUTH
GUDSCHINSKY, HENRY WADLE, DON WADLE, NILS BRAASTAD, RUTH
PEGER, and JEROME BYRD.
Number 492
SENATOR MILLER moved to pass SB 155 from committee with
individual recommendations. There were no objections and it
was so ordered.
SENATOR LEMAN adjourned the meeting at 10:01 a.m.
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