Two Pro-Landlord Bills Are Proposed
Two new bills have been proposed in Madison and both of them are pro-landlord.
Rep. Robin Voss has proposed what is being referred to as the Landlord Pre-Emption Bill (LRB 1296/3). This bill prohibits any municipality from enacting an ordinance that does any of the following to a residential landlord:
1. Prohibits or limits a landlord from obtaining or using various types of information about a tenant or prospective tenant, such as household income, occupation, court records, rental history, and credit information.
2. Limits how far back in time a prospective tenant's credit information, conviction record, or previous housing may be considered by the landlord.
3. Prohibits the landlord from showing a rental property to a prospective tenant, or from entering into a rental agreement for a rental property with a prospective tenant, while the current tenant is living there.
Rep. Voss is currently seeking co-sponsors for this bill.
UPDATE - 6/14/11: This propsed bill (Senate Bill 107) was referred to the committee on Insurance and Housing on 5/26/11. A public hearing was held on 6/8/11. Two amendments were made to the bill and the proposed bill passed committee by a vote of 4-3. Here is a recent article in the Capital Times on the bill.
Water/Electric Bill (LRB 1393/1)
The second pro-landlord legislation that is out there would help landlords who have had the unfortunate experience of having a tenant's delinquent utility bill place on their property tax bill.
LRB 1393/1 would prohibit a municipal utility that provides electric or water service to a rental dwelling from using the current arrearage collection procedure , as long as the lwner of the property has provided the utility with written notification of the name and address of the tenant who is responsible for paying for the service. th eutility service may also request a copy of the rental agreement in which the tenant assumes responsibility for paying for the utility charges. Once the owner has provided the written notice of the tenant's name and address, the utility may not use the current arrearage collection procedure.
UPDATE: 6/14/11 - This propsed legislation (AB 182) was referred to the committee on Energy and Utilities on 6/13/11.
