Fees Charged To Tenants By Landlords

The bill prohibits a landlord of a mobile home park or a residential premises (landlord) from:

• Charging a tenant or mobile home owner a late fee for late payment of rent unless the rent payment is late by at least 14 calendar days;
• Charging a tenant or mobile home owner a late fee in an amount that exceeds the greater of:
• $20; or
• The lesser of 3% of the tenant's or home owner's monthly rent obligation or 3% of the amount of the rent obligation that remains due;
• Removing, excluding, or initiating eviction procedures against a tenant or mobile home owner solely as a result of the tenant's or mobile home owner's failure to pay late fees;
• Imposing a late fee on a tenant for the late payment or nonpayment of any portion of the rent for which a rent subsidy provider, rather than the tenant, is responsible for paying;
• Imposing a late fee more than once for each late payment;
• Requiring a tenant or mobile home owner to pay interest on late fees; or
• Recouping any amount of a late fee from a rent payment made by a tenant or mobile home owner.

A landlord may recoup one or more late fees from a tenant or mobile home owner's security deposit if the payment of each late fee is no more than 180 days overdue and the landlord provides written notice to the tenant or mobile home owner that the landlord has recouped each late fee from the tenant or mobile home owner's security deposit.

A landlord shall not require a tenant or mobile home owner to pay any fee or other charge other than the rent; except that a landlord may require a tenant or mobile home owner to pay a use-based fee that is described in the rental agreement.

If a landlord provides to a tenant or mobile home owner a utility service that is not individually metered, the landlord shall include the cost of the utility service in the tenant's or mobile home owner's rent and charge the actual cost of the utility service on a uniform basis to all tenants or mobile home owners who receive the service.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)