SSB 3144 (LSB 6144XC (1) 91)

SENATE FILE _____ 

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE BILL BY CHAIRPERSON BOUSSELOT)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to residential real estate, including access to records of unit owners associations and the disclosure of home inspection information.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 499C.2, subsection 1, Code 2026, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  f.  A certification concerning the payment of dues, fees, or assessments that states whether the dues, fees, or assessments are paid in full or delinquent, and identifies any known future dues, fees, or assessments.
    Sec. 2.  Section 499C.2, subsection 3, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  A unit owners association, a unit owners association’s designee, or a unit owners association’s management company may charge a reasonable fee for all records and documents provided under this section. The fee shall not exceed the estimated cost of production or reproduction of the records or documents.  Upon request, the unit owner or the unit owner’s authorized agent shall be provided reasonable documentation supporting the fee charged to ensure the fee does not exceed the cost of production or reproduction of the records or documents.
    Sec. 3.  Section 558A.4A, subsection 5, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   5.  Except as otherwise required by law, a home inspector shall not deliver a home inspection report to any person other than the client of the home inspector without the client’s consent. The seller shall have the right, upon request, to receive without charge a copy of a home inspection report from the person for whom it was prepared from the buyer or the buyer’s authorized agent those portions of a home inspection report that relate to the remediation requests made by the buyer or the buyer’s authorized agent. If the buyer or the buyer’s authorized agent fails to provide the applicable portions of the inspection report to the seller, the seller may cancel the purchase contract for the inspected property without penalty.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to access to records of unit owners associations and the disclosure of home inspection information in residential real estate transactions.
   Code section 499C.2 (records and documents —— access) requires a unit owners association, the association’s designee, or the association’s management company to make certain records and documents available to a unit owner or the unit owner’s authorized agent upon request. The bill requires a unit owners association, the association’s designee, or the association’s management company to make available certification concerning the payment of dues, fees, or assessments that states whether dues, fees, or assessments are paid in full or delinquent, and identifies any known future dues, fees, or assessments.
   Under current law, a unit owners association, a unit owners association’s designee, or a unit owners association’s management company may charge a reasonable fee for any required record produced under Code section 499C.2. The bill requires that, upon request, a unit owner or the unit owner’s authorized agent be provided reasonable documentation supporting the fee charged to ensure the fee does not exceed the cost of producing the required records.
   Under current law, following the completion of a home inspection report by a home inspector, the person to whom the report was prepared must provide a copy without charge of the home inspection report upon the request of the seller of the inspected property. The bill strikes this requirement and instead requires the buyer or the buyer’s authorized agent to provide without charge portions of the home inspection report that relate to the remediation requests made by the buyer or the buyer’s authorized agent upon the request of the seller of the inspected property. The bill provides that if the buyer or the buyer’s authorized agent fails to provide the applicable portions of the inspection report to the seller of the inspected property, the seller may cancel the purchase contract for the inspected property without penalty.