House File 2001

                                       HOUSE FILE       
                                       BY  ELGIN


    Passed House,  Date               Passed Senate, Date             
    Vote:  Ayes        Nays           Vote:  Ayes        Nays         
                 Approved                            

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act to rescind certain notice requirements by landlords to
  2    municipal water utilities relating to liens for delinquent
  3    tenant charges.
  4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  5 TLSB 5054HH 80
  6 kk/gg/14

PAG LIN

  1  1    Section 1.  Section 384.84, subsection 3, paragraph d, Code
  1  2 Supplement 2003, is amended to read as follows:
  1  3    d.  Residential rental property where a charge for water
  1  4 service is separately metered and paid directly to the city
  1  5 utility or enterprise by the tenant is exempt from a lien for
  1  6 delinquent rates or charges associated with such water service
  1  7 if the landlord gives written notice to the city utility or
  1  8 enterprise that the property is residential rental property
  1  9 and that the tenant is liable for the rates or charges.  A
  1 10 city utility or enterprise may require a deposit not exceeding
  1 11 the usual cost of ninety days of water service to be paid to
  1 12 the utility or enterprise.  Upon receipt, the utility or
  1 13 enterprise shall acknowledge the notice and deposit.  A
  1 14 written notice shall contain the name of the tenant
  1 15 responsible for charges, address of the residential rental
  1 16 property that the tenant is to occupy, and the date that the
  1 17 occupancy begins.  A change in tenant shall require a new
  1 18 written notice to be given to the city utility or enterprise
  1 19 within ten business days of the change in tenant.  When the
  1 20 tenant moves from the rental property, the city utility or
  1 21 enterprise shall return the deposit if the water service
  1 22 charges are paid in full.  A change in the ownership of the
  1 23 residential rental property shall require written notice of
  1 24 such change to be given to the city utility or enterprise
  1 25 within ten business days of the completion of the change of
  1 26 ownership.  The lien exemption for rental property does not
  1 27 apply to charges for repairs to a water service if the repair
  1 28 charges become delinquent.
  1 29                           EXPLANATION
  1 30    Under current law, a landlord must provide a written notice
  1 31 to a municipal utility each time there is a change in tenant
  1 32 to avoid a lien being placed on the landlord's rental property
  1 33 by the municipal utility for the tenant's delinquent charges.
  1 34 This bill strikes this notice requirement but the law would
  1 35 still provide that a landlord is exempt from a municipal
  2  1 utility lien where the water is separately metered and paid
  2  2 directly to the municipal utility by the tenant.
  2  3 LSB 5054HH 80
  2  4 kk/gg/14.1