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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | April 14, 2022 01:00 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Brett R. Miller |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Notification to Landlords Before Utility Service Termination |
| In the near future I will introduce legislation that will amend Title 66 (Public Utilities) to require a public utility to notify a landlord when utilities are being terminated due to lack of payment by the tenant. Recently, a property owner informed me that tenants had inconspicuously moved out of the leased rental property. After discovering this, the landlord inspected the property and found that the electric had been shut off. The landlord contacted the electric company and was informed that the tenants had not paid the electric bill for several months, which resulted in the termination of electric service to the property. This, in turn, led to extensive damage to the property as the basement used sump pumps in order to prevent ground water from flooding the finished basement. Upon asking why the electric supplier did not notify him that power was terminated, the electric company stated that they were under no obligation to inform property owners, only account holders. These costs have unnecessarily created significant financial impact to the landlord and may require an increase in rent for future tenants. Currently, the law only requires the utility to notify the account holder, but not the property owner of service termination. This legislation will give property owners the option of notifying the utility that they are the owners of record and that they want to be notified in the event the lessee does not pay the utility and shut-off is imminent. Please join me in sponsoring this legislation to ensure that property owners are given fair notification to prevent severe and possibly irreparable damage to their properties. |
Introduced as HB2606