Birmingham set to pass watered-down ordinance on renters' rights

Birmingham officials could soon be in the vanguard of giving more rights to renters.

The city's elected commissioners are poised to pass an ordinance on Monday night that takes aim at Michigan's notoriety for having some of the nation's weakest laws to protect those who rent where they live.

Still, after waiting months to see the wording while hoping for strong protections, delegates from some of the five churches in Birmingham who've been active on the issue said they're disappointed. The new ordinance looks weak, they said. It would apply only to those 65 and older, and only to those living in buildings with at least four units.

But, the church delegates said, at least the proposed ordinance could protect people like Dorothy Conrad, the former mayor of Birmingham who was told last fall in a letter from her landlords' lawyer that she had 30 days to move out of Baldwin House in downtown Birmingham. The letter, which the Free Press viewed, gave no reason why the diminutive woman, now in her late 80s, who said she has never missed a rent payment and who pays about $4,000 a month for her meals and apartment, must leave Baldwin House Senior Living.

In Michigan, many leases allow landlords to kick renters out without cause — and Birmingham's ordinance aims to protect renters like Conrad from such a scenario.

Conrad isn't wealthy, she told a reporter. But last fall she was able to hire an attorney, who in conversation with the Baldwin House lawyer learned that Conrad's landlord wanted her gone because she was considered a troublemaker. That was after she spread the word among residents that they were improperly being charged for parking. It was supposed to be free, Birmingham city officials confirmed.

The plot soon thickened.

After Conrad hired her lawyer, and after the Free Press highlighted her plight, city and county officials made it their mission to keep her in her apartment. They marched with signs one morning on the sidewalk while Conrad smiled and waved from her third-story window. Conrad's lawyer dickered for weeks with the owners of Baldwin House. The owners are five brothers who are partners in Gregory Schwartz & Co., a wealth-management firm founded by their father Gregory Schwartz of Bloomfield Hills, their dad told the Free Press.

Ultimately, Baldwin House dropped its demand that Conrad move out. Yet, her settlement did nothing to protect the other residents of Baldwin House Senior Living, either those in Birmingham or in the chain's other locations in Brownstown and Clinton townships, Grand Rapids, Hazel Park, Pontiac and Spring Lake (west of Grand Rapids). Nor did it protect countless others who rent houses or apartments in Michigan.

Birmingham officials decided to act because they had seen how Baldwin House owners and managers abused their power over Conrad and potentially could do so against other residents. They'd also seen how the owners and managers had improperly charged the residents untold tens of thousands of dollars over the last decade for parking in a city-owned deck where, in a contract with City Hall obtained by the Free Press, Baldwin House was to provide free parking. A city-ordered audit is expected soon to show the extent of the overcharges and exactly how much Baldwin House must return to residents, former residents and the heirs of those who have died, city officials have said.

A spokesman for Baldwin House, Royal Oak-based public relations executive Mort Meisner, provided a statement in response to a Free Press inquiry about the pending new ordinance in Birmingham: "Baldwin House will always abide by any reasonable ordinance the city of Birmingham passes."

Efforts across the state

Earlier this month, on April 17, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow spoke to about 30 residents of Birmingham's Baldwin House, in the building's wood-paneled library. Besides representing Birmingham, McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, represents her hometown of Royal Oak as well as Clawson, Ferndale, Oak Park, Pleasant Ridge and parts of Beverly Hills, Detroit and Royal Oak Township. McMorrow listed highlights of what state lawmakers were doing, then took questions.

The first hand to go up was Conrad's. Birmingham was ready to pass an ordinance helping renters, Conrad said, but then said: "I would think that should be statewide."

More: He stuck up for a woman, got fired — then hit O'Reilly Auto Parts with $3M verdict

More: Michigan lawmakers investigating prison agency's handling of 'freezing rain' memo

"When you read contracts for renting, they're full of things people need to look out for. There's often nothing that says, even if you're a good tenant, you can renew your lease. Many of our residents here are concerned they may lose their place to live," especially those in the building's low-income units, which could shift someday to market-rate apartments, Conrad said. She doesn't have a low-income unit but she's concerned about those who do, she said.

McMorrow, in blue jeans and a blazer, nodded and said: "Affordable housing is a huge issue right now, everywhere. I'm going to take your point back to see what we can do to make sure everyone has housing." For the low-income residents, McMorrow added: "We absolutely will look into that. We can follow up with MSHDA" — the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, a state agency that facilitated financing to build Baldwin House in the early 1990s.

Last fall, the Ann Arbor City Council became what's thought to be Michigan’s first city to add a right-to-renew requirement to local ordinances. The wording doesn’t prevent landlords from terminating a lease for good cause, Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor told the Free Press.

Last week, Oakland County Commissioner Charlie Cavell, D-Ferndale, said that Oakland County officials from both parties supported Conrad’s right to stay in her apartment. But they can’t impose a renters’ rights law in Oakland County. Each city, township and village regulates how landlords operate, unless the state passes a law, said Cavell, who represents Birmingham at county board meetings.

Cavell attended the April 17 gathering to hear McMorrow speak in Birmingham. Notably absent that afternoon? The three members of Baldwin House management named on the meeting’s agenda.

“Oh, they never come to our meetings. It’s so rude,” said Beverly Rettig, a six-year resident. That got a laugh from Conrad, sitting nearby.

Turning to a reporter, Conrad said that, in the best of all worlds, the "right to renew" wording shouldn't even be needed in leases.

"Why would a landlord kick out a good tenant for no reason? A good landlord wouldn't do that to people who are paying their rent on time and who are good tenants," she said.

Contact Bill Laytner: blaitner@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Can you can be pushed from a Michigan rental home for no reason? Yes