SummerGrove residents vote to control rentals | News

“Over the years, we’ve heard from many residents concerned about corporations buying up homes which was making it difficult for families to find affordable homes to purchase in the community,” Smith said by email. “The Board of Directors decided to hold town hall meetings to hear from the residents, and it was obvious the vast majority wanted to put a leasing/ rental cap in place.”

In information provided to residents, Walter Krauth III, said the board members stated that 13 percent of the homes were already rental properties.

In statistics gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau, nationally 64.8 percent of housing units are owner-occupied. In Coweta County the owner-occupied rate rises to 76.2 percent, but in the city of

Newnan, the owner-occupied rate is below the national average at 56.5 percent.

Krauth, general manager for Bullard Property Management, which manages one rental property in SummerGrove, said he was opposed to the new bylaw.

He questioned whether the amendment was even needed since the association already had enforceable bylaws regarding the upkeep of properties, Krauth said.

Stereotypes of landlords and renters

He felt like the discussion of the rental cap became kind of a class war and was possibly discriminatory, Krauth said.

In a normal election the board is lucky to get 400 to 500 votes, but in this one they had to have at least 67 percent of the about 2,400 households vote in favor to pass the amendment, he said. They did that by controlling the discussion, Krauth said.

The board members became advocates for…