From the Prez….

What happened to summer???

Our next meeting will be Monday, Sept. 15, at the Walnut Room of First National Bank, on the corner of Walnut St. and Second St. Please use the 2nd St. entrance. The Board meets at 6 PM

and the members meet at 7 PM.

This month Susie Streets will be teaching us how garnishments and other civil services of the Musc. Co. Sheriff’s Dept. are executed. We will learn how to have notices served, and the prices and time frames associated with service. She will enlighten us with all that the Sheriff’s Dept. does

for us as landlords. Questions are encouraged.

Be sure to look at our tentative upcoming meet-

ings that are listed on the back. If you have a suggestion for a meeting topic, just give me a

call at 563-262-3007.

Please join us and don’t forget—we have door

prizes and refreshments!

Feel free to email any questions you may have regarding the Muscatine Landlord Assoc. or investment property ownership/management in

general.

Our email is muscatinelandlords@yahoo.com

Our website is: muscatinelandlords.org

Thanks for your continued support,

Jeremy Fowler, Pres. MLA

Newsletter

MUSCATINE LANDLORD ASSOCIATION, INC.

September 2008

Since 1995

You must first have a court judgment that orders the defendant to pay the judgment amount. Then you must fill out necessary court forms and have them legally served on the party you want to

garnishee.

Once the employer has been legally served, they must take money from the former tenant's pay-

check and send you a check through the court.

Federal law limits the amount you can garnish, in most cases, to 25 percent of a person's net weekly earnings after taxes, Social Security, and other required deductions are taken out. Some

state laws also limit how much you can garnish.

Can You Do It Yourself?

You can use an attorney or a collection agency to garnish an ex-tenant's wages, but experienced

property managers often do it themselves.

Consider these factors in making your deci-

sion:

• The complexity of garnishment procedure in

your state.

• Size of your apartment community or num-

ber of rental properties.

• Experience with other legal processes

Garnishment BasicsGarnishment BasicsGarnishment BasicsGarnishment Basics

Susie Streets, Muscatine County Sheriff’s

Department, will be the guest speaker at the

September 15 MLA meeting.

Is garnishment worth it? Here are some

factors to consider:

• Amount of judgment

• Type of job

• Income

• Location of employment

Basic Garnishment Steps

Get the Forms for Garnishing Wages

When you get a court judgment, tell the court clerk you want to "execute;" or enforce, the judgment by garnishing the former tenant's wages. Ask the clerk what forms you need, the

fees involved, and what steps to take.

Fill Out Forms

The forms authorize the employer to withhold money from the debtor's paycheck for you. You may need the name and current address of the former tenant, their Social Security num-ber, their employer, the amount of the judg-

ment, the fees, etc.

File Forms with Court, if required

You will need to file the forms with the court. In some states, you must wait until the former tenant has a chance to appeal the judgment

before you can file garnishment forms.

Give Forms to the Sheriff or other author-

ized person to serve the employer

Once you file the forms in court (if required), give the completed copy of the forms to the

(Continued on page 2)

Page 2 NEWSLETTER Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.

MLA Membership Benefits

At the March meeting, the Board decided to follow the sug-gested State format for dues expirations. That means all dues will be on an Annual September expiration. To get us to that phase, new members will be pro-rated and there may be some current members whose dues will be expire before September and they will also be pro-rated until September. If you have any questions please ask one of the board members.

Membership Dues Expiration to Transition to Chapter Expiration Muscatine Landlords, Inc., provides members with a kit of the

most up-to-date legal forms, including applications, reference forms and more. These have proved to be an invaluable tool for professional landlords. The organization is strong and active in lobbying the Iowa Legislature and the City Councils in the Muscatine County area to help shape laws and ordinances that

govern the business of investment property.

We are dedicated to fighting for your interests because the members of the Board of Directors are volunteers who understand the business. When you join you become an active participant in

grass roots efforts to shape the policies that affect your business.

Muscatine Landlords, Inc., meets monthly, except for June and July, to provide networking, educational programs, and an oppor-

tunity to learn more about the investment property profession.

Mulled Cider Air Freshener

Try this spicy seasonal air freshener. It not only works, it provides you and your family and friends with a great hot drink while it wafts a wel-coming holiday scent into the air. It smells abso-lutely divine and tastes great, too!

INGREDIENTS 2 sticks cinnamon 5 or 6 whole cloves 8 cups apple cider, or as needed (you can substitute water for the cider)

Just place the ingredients in a pan and simmer over low heat for a number of hours on a back burner of your stove (checking fre-quently to replace evaporated liquid–about 1 cup every hour). The simmering releases the spices aromatic oils. Strain out the spices before drinking.

court officer who will serve them. Once the employer has been

served, they must comply with the garnishment order.

Pay Service Fee

You'll need to pay a sheriff's fee to cover service costs.

Collect Money Each Month

Once the employer has been served, they may have to wait a certain number of days, depending on your state's law, before taking the money out of the former tenant's wages. This gives the former tenant a chance to challenge the garnishment. He may successfully claim that the garnishment imposes an undue

hardship on him because he can't support his family.

After the waiting period is over, the employer should begin taking out money from the former tenant's paycheck. Remem-ber that if the former tenant has other judgments against him

that are already being garnished, they will take priority.

Wages: If annual wages are less than $12,000, then $250 for each judgment creditor; if annual wages are $12,000 to

$16,000, $400 for each judgment creditor; if annual wages are $16,001 to $24,000, then $800 for each judgment creditor; if annual wages are $24,001 to $35,000, then $1,500 for each judgment creditor; if wages are $25,001 to $50,000, then $2,000 for each judgment creditor; if wages are over $50,000,

then 10% of expected earnings [642.21].

In Iowa, you can only garnish for a 70-day period. Then you

must re-file new garnishment forms.

How to Track Down Where Former Tenant Works

To garnish an ex-resident's wages, you must find out where the former tenant works. The first place to start is with the informa-tion from their rental application , from which you should be

able to obtain: .

• Employer

• Employment supervisor

• Social Security number

• Personal references and emergency contacts

Be careful what you say about any current or former tenant

when you call the employer or contacts.

(Continued from page 1)

Do you take advantage of the Connect

and Collect Program that Muscatine

Power & Water offers?

As a Landlord you have a great opportunity to collect $20 to

$40 for new tenants. All you have to do is refer a new Mach-

Link or MPW Cable customer! Once the new customer has

MPW Cable or MachLink installed, you'll receive a $20

MP&W gift certificate, good toward your next MP&W water,

electricity and communications bill. If the customer you refer

subscribes to both MPW Cable and MachLink, you'll receive

a $40 MP&W gift certificate!

How do I "connect and collect"?

Simply fill out a Connect & Collect form which is available at

www.mpw.org and return it to our offices. It's that simple!

SEPTEMBER 2008 Page 3

Our Vendor Associate Members Appreciate Your Patronage—

Abundance of knowledge does not teach mankind to be wise.

Renters Insurance: Why It’s Essential By Candice Choi • The Associated Press

The population of renters across the country is growing, edged

up in part by a slumping housing market.

Yet as graduates and others enter the work force and set up their first apartments, renters insurance probably isn't a burning issue. It's often only after a robbery that a policy suddenly

seems like a no-brainer.

Renters insurance typically costs less than $200 a year for around $30,000 in coverage and generally includes items stolen from your car. Perhaps more importantly, most policies from major underwriters such as Allstate Corp. and State Farm Insur-ance Cos. include $100,000 or more in personal liability cover-age. So if someone slips and falls on your property, you've got

some protection.

Nevertheless, convincing people they need renters insurance

remains a big hurdle.

Online tools offered by insurers can help assess your belong-ings and determine how much coverage you need. Agents can

also walk you through the process over the phone.

Taking stock of your possessions is often a wake-up call.

"People are always surprised by how much it would cost to replace everything they own," said Jake Engle, a certified fi-nancial planner with Wealth Planning and Management in Seat-

tle.

It's a fact that touches on an important consideration in select-ing a policy - deciding whether you want a cash value or a re-placement value policy. A cash value policy will only pay out

the value of the property at the time it was damaged or stolen. Engle recommends a replacement value policy, which will pay

out an amount that will allow you to replace your valuables.

Having a written record of your belongings is a good safety measure, particularly if you own a number of expensive items. Without that proof, agents may ask neighbors or friends to con-

firm that you really did own a $5,000 painting.

A written list with photographs should do the trick. Even better: Take a room-by-room video inventory of your home, with a voiceover describing the brand and model of major belongings. You don't need to capture every refrigerator magnet, but give a

sense of the brands and volume of clothing you own.

You might want to note, for example, that you own five suits from Jos. A Bank, three pairs of Lucky brand jeans, and eight

pairs of Italian dress shoes.

Whether it's a written or video record, keep the record at a safe

location - away from your home.

Even though awareness of renters insurance is low, there are some signs that it's starting to grow as more families and higher income households are renting, said David Funk,head of Cor-

nell University's real-estate program.

Also, many people own iPods and laptops. Such electronic gear is more likely to be stolen in an apartment complex or car parked on the street than in a home. At Allstate, theft accounts for more than 30 percent of claims on renters insurance poli-

cies,said Jeff Moree, a company spokesman.

2008 Board of Directors And Officers

Jeremy Fowler, President

Bernie Barthelow, Vice President

Shirley Fickel, Treasurer

Mike Allenbaugh, Membership

Diana Wilson, State Rep/Newsletter

Terry Mealy

To participate for the purpose of mutual benefit in

an interchange of information and education.

P.O. Box 1632 Muscatine, IA 52761

MUSCATINE LANDLORD ASSOCIATION, INC.

Phone: 563-262-3007 E-mail: muscatinelandlords@yahoo.com

www.muscatinelandlords.org

Looking Ahead

Sept 17-19 State Convention, Marshalltown, IA

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Upcoming P ro g ram S ch edu l e

Oct. 20 Lead Base Paint

Nov. 17 Painting & Carpet Care

Dec. 15 Christmas Party—China Garden

Jan. 19 Electrician & Plumber

Feb. 16 Extension Office—Pests, Weeds, Odors, Stains

Mar. 16 Judge

Apr. 20 Landscaping

May 18 Muscatine Fire Dept.