HP0176, LD 215, item 1, An Act To Protect Landlords When Tenants Fail To Pay Utility Bills

An Act To Protect Landlords When Tenants Fail To Pay Utility Bills

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 14 MRSA §6002, sub-§1, ¶¶B and C, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 171, §2, are amended to read:

B. The tenant, the tenant's family or an invitee of the tenant caused or permitted a nuisance within the premises, has caused or permitted an invitee to cause the dwelling unit to become unfit for human habitation or has violated or permitted a violation of the law regarding the tenancy; or

C. The tenant is 7 days or more in arrears in the payment of rent . ; or

Sec. 2. 14 MRSA §6002, sub-§1, ¶D is enacted to read:

D. The tenant's failure to pay utility bills has resulted in the disconnection of utility service.

Sec. 3. 35-A MRSA §704, sub-§1-A is enacted to read:

1-A. Property protection agreement. A landlord may enter into a property protection agreement with a utility serving leased or rented property owned by the landlord to protect the leased or rented property from damage or danger if the tenant fails to pay the utility bill and the utility is authorized to terminate or disconnect service to the property. The property protection agreement must provide that:

A. The landlord must pay a deposit to the utility to cover the costs of property protection authorized under this section;

B. The utility must notify the landlord if the property is subject to termination or disconnection of service due to the failure of the tenant to pay utility bills;

C. If approved by the landlord, the utility may apply the deposit to cover the costs of notice to the landlord and of continuation of utility service to the property if the property is subject to termination or disconnection of service due to the failure of the tenant to pay utility bills; and

D. The landlord may request that the utility bill subsequent utility service to the landlord.

The landlord may recover from the tenant any amount paid from the utility deposit applied to protect the landlord’s property under paragraph C and, if the rental agreement required the tenant to pay for utility service, any amount paid by the landlord for subsequent utility service under paragraph D.

summary

This bill provides that a landlord may pay a deposit to a utility to protect the landlord’s property from the termination or disconnection of utility service due to nonpayment of utility bills by a tenant. The deposit may be used to continue service and the landlord is authorized to recover costs from the tenant. The bill also provides that a tenancy may be terminated upon 7 days' written notice if the landlord can show that the tenant's failure to pay utility bills has resulted in the disconnection of utility service.

HP0176 LD 215	Session - 126th Maine Legislature		LR 722 Item 1
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