First “Southern Tier Landlord-Tenant Coalition” meeting to be held in Elmira

ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) – The first meeting of the “Southern Tier Landlord-Tenant Coalition” will be held Thursday, July 25th at the Clarion Inn. The event runs from 6 to 8 p.m. at 760 East Water Street. The new coalition hopes to educate landlords and tenants about the laws involving renting a property, and the best ways to resolve any issues.

The meeting is being organized by Rickey Paul, President of the Chemung County Landlord Association. Since 2016, the Association has been holding monthly meetings to educate landlords on the right ways to manage a property. Mr. Paul is also the owner of REP Homes Sales & Services , a real estate broker and home inspection business in downtown Elmira that was founded 23 years ago.

“We understand there’s problems out here,” said Paul. “We’re not the only ones that have problems. It’s a problem with communities all nationwide. This is just an idea that no one’s ever thought of or tried. We’re trying to bring education to landlords and tenants to hopefully make it a better environment for everybody.”

Bill Brougham has been a landlord in Elmira for more than 30 years.

“In this community, you bring up the word landlord, and it’s usually ‘scum lord.’ You bring up the word tenant, and it’s usually ‘dirtbag tenant,” said Brougham, “We want to try to stop all this. It’s a community issue. It’s not just tenants and landlords. There isn’t a County, City, Borough, Town or Hamlet anywhere that doesn’t have this problem. “

“I think if we can bring these people together, meaning the local people, the citizens, the county officials, the city officials, the landlords, the tenants, if we can get a dialogue started, we might be able to just change things up a little and make this a little bit nicer environment, a little friendlier towards everybody,” Brougham added. “Maybe eventually we can get rid of the slumlord slang and dirtbag tenant slang which we don’t need.”

Paul says tenants will learn about their rights, understanding their leases and the best ways to resolve any issues with a landlord or property manager.

“There’s going to be no bias. There’s no secrets. We’re going to help both sides,” said Brougham. “If a landlord is out of line, we’re going to let them know. Same way with a tenant.”

“I know tenants have legit legitimate complaints as to how they’ve been treated. There could possibly be landlords there that are in that group, and they may hear things, and somebody may just pick them out of the crowd. We just ask them to put on your thick skin. Hold your tongue, because this is going to be a civil meeting. We can’t get anything done by shouting and screaming and things like that,” Brougham added.

“What takeaways should people walk away from in this meeting?” asked 18 News reporter Nick Dubina.

“That not all landlords are bad,” said Paul. “There are good landlords, there are tough landlords, and there are bad landlords that aren’t taking care of business. Just like there’s tenants that are doing the same thing. There’s good and bad on both sides of the fence. We’re just trying to bring some education so that we can mend some of this.”

“If we can do that,” Brougham added, “If we can get a nice crowd, and hopefully a civil crowd, then I think we can march forward with this. We have great expectations. We’re very positive about the whole thing.”

You can watch the full interviews with Rickey Paul and Bill Brougham below:

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