HB0336 Shelton, O L

P R E F I L E D

HB 336 -- Landlord-Tenant

This bill makes numerous changes to landlord-tenant laws. The bill:

(1)˙Permits landlords in certain situations to initiate eviction proceedings against tenants who engage in or allow the illegal sale or possession of drugs on the rental property;

(2)˙Allows landlords to remove property from abandoned premises when certain notice requirements are complied with;

(3)˙Requires landlords to comply with building and housing codes and to make all reasonable repairs to keep the premises in a habitable condition. The remedies available to a tenant if a landlord fails to satisfy these requirements are forfeiture of the lease, injunctive relief, and actual damages;

(4)˙Allows a tenant, who has notified the landlord and the landlord has failed to make repairs, to make repairs to residential property when a condition detrimentally affects habitability of the premises, violates the municipal housing or building code, and the cost of repairs is less than the greater of $300 or 1/2 of the rent payment, unless the condition was caused by the tenant;

(5) Requires tenants to keep the premises safe and clean and to use the property in a reasonable manner;

(6) Prohibits landlords from entering the tenant's premises without 48 hours notice unless it is impracticable, an emergency, the court has ordered entry, the tenant has abandoned the property, or the tenant has voluntarily allowed the landlord to enter;

(7) Requires landlords to make a reasonable effort to relet the premises to mitigate damages;

(8) Allow certain tenants to argue as a defense to a landlord's suit that the suit was filed as retaliation to a complaint by the tenant;

(9) Requires landlords to return interest on the security deposit to the tenant;

(10) Changes from 2 month's to one month's rent the amount of security deposit a landlord can demand; and

(11) Requires landlords to return disputed amounts of a security deposit unless the landlord has conducted a move-in inspection with the tenant and offered to conduct a move-out inspection.