House File 724 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE
BY FORD
Passed House, Date Passed Senate, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to the establishment of a lead=safe housing
2 registry, including provisions related to property owner,
3 managing agent, or employee liability, and providing a
4 penalty.
5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
6 TLSB 2777HH 82
7 eg/gg/14
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 135.105E LEAD=SAFE HOUSING
1 2 REGISTRY.
1 3 1. The department shall establish and maintain a registry
1 4 of lead=safe housing to provide the public with a listing of
1 5 residential and multifamily dwelling units and child=occupied
1 6 facilities that have been issued a certificate of lead=free
1 7 status or a certificate of lead=safe status. The department
1 8 shall publish the registry of lead=safe housing on the
1 9 department's website and shall provide a copy of the registry
1 10 to any person upon request.
1 11 2. The department shall adopt rules regarding minimum
1 12 requirements for certifying residential and multifamily
1 13 dwelling units and child=occupied facilities as lead=free or
1 14 as lead=safe, including certification procedures and
1 15 certification suspension and revocation requirements. The
1 16 department shall establish fees in amounts sufficient to
1 17 defray the cost of the certification and registry programs.
1 18 Fees received shall be considered repayment receipts as
1 19 defined in section 8.2.
1 20 3. An owner, managing agent, or employee of a residential
1 21 or multifamily dwelling unit or a child=occupied facility who
1 22 obtains a certificate by fraud or violates a condition of the
1 23 certificate is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed five
1 24 thousand dollars for each offense.
1 25 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 135.105F PRESUMPTION OF REASONABLE
1 26 CARE == CERTIFICATE.
1 27 An owner, managing agent, or employee of a residential or
1 28 multifamily dwelling unit or a child=occupied facility who has
1 29 been issued a certificate of lead=free status or lead=safe
1 30 status for the dwelling or facility is entitled to a
1 31 presumption that such person exercised reasonable care in the
1 32 maintenance of the dwelling or facility. This presumption is
1 33 subject to rebuttal if the person asserting the claim proves
1 34 by a preponderance of the evidence any of the following:
1 35 1. The owner, managing agent, or employee obtained the
2 1 certificate by fraud.
2 2 2. The owner, managing agent, or employee violated a
2 3 condition of the certificate.
2 4 3. After receiving the certificate, the owner, managing
2 5 agent, or employee created a lead=bearing paint hazard during
2 6 renovation, remodeling, maintenance, or repair of the dwelling
2 7 or facility that was present in the dwelling or facility at
2 8 the time the lead poisoning or lead exposure occurred.
2 9 4. The owner, managing agent, or employee failed to
2 10 respond in a timely manner to notification by a tenant, the
2 11 department, or a local health department that a lead=based
2 12 paint might be present in the dwelling or facility.
2 13 5. The owner, managing agent, or employee created a
2 14 lead=based hazard, other than a lead=based paint hazard, from
2 15 a source of lead in the dwelling or facility at the time the
2 16 lead poisoning or lead exposure occurred.
2 17 EXPLANATION
2 18 This bill relates to the establishment of a lead=safe
2 19 housing registry, including provisions related to property
2 20 owner, managing agent, or employee liability, and provides a
2 21 penalty.
2 22 The bill provides that the department of public health
2 23 shall establish and maintain a registry of lead=safe housing
2 24 to provide the public with a listing of residential and
2 25 multifamily dwelling units and child=occupied facilities that
2 26 have been issued a certificate of lead=free status or a
2 27 certificate of lead=safe status. The department shall publish
2 28 the registry of lead=safe housing on the department's website
2 29 and shall provide a copy of the registry to any person upon
2 30 request. The department shall establish fees in amounts
2 31 sufficient to defray the cost of the certification and
2 32 registry programs. The bill further provides that an owner,
2 33 managing agent, or employee of a residential or multifamily
2 34 dwelling unit or a child=occupied facility who obtains a
2 35 certificate by fraud or violates a condition of the
3 1 certificate is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $5,000
3 2 for each offense.
3 3 The bill further provides that an owner, managing agent, or
3 4 employee of a residential or multifamily dwelling unit or a
3 5 child=occupied facility who has been issued a certificate is
3 6 entitled to a presumption that such person exercised
3 7 reasonable care in the maintenance of the dwelling or
3 8 facility. This presumption is subject to rebuttal if the
3 9 person asserting the claim proves by a preponderance of the
3 10 evidence that the owner, managing agent, or employee obtained
3 11 the certificate by fraud, violated a condition of the
3 12 certificate, created a lead=bearing paint hazard during
3 13 renovation, remodeling, maintenance, or repair of the dwelling
3 14 or facility that was present in the dwelling or facility at
3 15 the time the lead poisoning or lead exposure occurred after
3 16 receiving the certificate, failed to respond in a timely
3 17 manner to notification by a tenant, the department, or a local
3 18 health department that a lead=based paint might be present in
3 19 the dwelling or facility, or created a lead=based hazard,
3 20 other than a lead=based paint hazard, from a source of lead in
3 21 the dwelling or facility at the time the lead poisoning or
3 22 lead exposure occurred.
3 23 LSB 2777HH 82
3 24 eg:rj/gg/14