June 8, 2017, Introduced by Reps. Iden, Webber, Lucido, Kesto, Cole, VanSingel, Miller and Tedder and referred to the Committee on Law and Justice.
A bill to amend 1972 PA 348, entitled
"An act to regulate relationships between landlords and tenants
relative to rental agreements for rental units; to regulate the
payment, repayment, use and investment of security deposits; to
provide for commencement and termination inventories of rental
units; to provide for termination arrangements relative to rental
units; to provide for legal remedies; and to provide penalties,"
by amending the title and section 1 (MCL 554.601), section 1 as
amended by 1995 PA 79, and by adding sections 1d, 1e, 1f, and 1g.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
TITLE
An act to regulate relationships between landlords and tenants
relative to rental agreements for rental units; to provide for the
responsibilities of landlords and tenants for the control of
certain pests in rental units; to regulate the payment, repayment,
use, and investment of security deposits; to provide for
commencement and termination inventories of rental units; to
provide for termination arrangements relative to rental units; to
provide for legal remedies; and to provide penalties.
Sec. 1. As used in this act:
(a) "Accredited canine team" means a handler and dog team
certified by an independent organization according to commonly
accepted industry standards for entomological scent detection.
(b) "Bedbug" means an insect of the species Cimex lectularius.
(c) "Control" or "controlling" means inspecting, cleaning,
vacuuming, conducting thermal remediation, properly disposing of
property, and arranging or scheduling treatments.
(d) "Infestation" means and "infested" refers to the presence
of live bedbugs or viable bedbug eggs.
(e) "Landlord" means any of the following:
(i) The owner, lessor, or sublessor of the rental unit or the
property of which it is a part.
(ii) A person authorized to exercise any aspect of the
management of a rental unit or the property of which it is a part,
including a person who, directly or indirectly, acts as a rental
agent or receives rent, other than as a bona fide purchaser,
whether or not that person has an obligation to deliver the rent
payments to another person.
(f) "Pest management professional" means a commercial
applicator as defined in section 8302 of the natural resources and
environmental protection act, 1994 PA 451, MCL 324.8302, who is
licensed under section 8313 of the natural resources and
environmental protection act, 1994 PA 451, MCL 324.8313.
(g) "Rental agreement" means an agreement that establishes or
modifies the terms, conditions, or other provisions concerning the
use and occupancy of a rental unit.
(h) (a)
"Rental unit" means a
structure or part of a structure
used as a home, residence, or sleeping unit by a single person or
household unit, or any grounds, or other facilities or area
promised for the use of a residential tenant and includes, but
without limitation, apartment units, boarding houses, rooming
houses, mobile home spaces, and single and 2-family dwellings.
(b)
"Rental agreement" means an agreement that establishes or
modifies
the terms, conditions, rules, regulations, or any other
provisions
concerning the use and occupancy of a rental unit.
(c)
"Landlord" means the owner, lessor, or sublessor of the
rental
unit or the property of which it is a part and, in addition,
means
a person authorized to exercise any aspect of the management
of
the premises, including a person who, directly or indirectly,
acts
as a rental agent, receives rent, other than as a bona fide
purchaser,
and who has no obligation to deliver the receipts to
another
person.
(d)
"Tenant" means a person who occupies a rental unit for
residential
purposes with the landlord's consent for an agreed upon
consideration.
(i) (e)
"Security deposit", subject to subdivision (j), means
a
deposit , in any amount, paid by the tenant to the landlord or
his or her agent to be held for the term of the rental agreement,
or
any part of the term, and includes any all of the following:
(i) Any required prepayment of rent other than the first full
rental
period of the lease agreement. ; any
(ii) Any sum required to be paid as rent in any rental period
in
excess of the average rent for the term.
; and any
(iii) Any other amount of money or property returnable to the
tenant on condition of return of the rental unit by the tenant in
condition as required by the rental agreement.
(j) "Security deposit" does not include either of the
following:
(i) An amount paid for an option to purchase, pursuant to a
lease with an option to purchase, unless it is shown the intent was
to evade this act.
(ii) An amount paid as a subscription for or purchase of a
membership in a cooperative housing association incorporated under
the laws of this state. As used in this subparagraph, "cooperative
housing association" means a consumer cooperative that provides
dwelling units to its members.
(k) (f)
"Senior citizen housing"
means housing for individuals
62 years of age or older that is subsidized in whole or in part
under any local, state, or federal program.
(l) "Tenant" means an individual who occupies a rental unit
for residential purposes with the landlord's consent for an agreed-
upon consideration.
(m) "Thermal remediation" means using intense temperature to
eradicate bedbugs.
(n) "Treat", "treating", or "treatment" means or refers to
applying pesticides or other chemicals or using other methods
common to the pest control industry to eradicate bedbugs.
Sec. 1d. (1) A landlord shall not enter into a lease agreement
if the landlord knows the rental unit is infested.
(2) When a landlord enters into a lease agreement for a rental
unit in a multiple-unit dwelling, the landlord shall provide the
tenant written information, by hard copy or electronic mail, or an
internet link to written information about finding and identifying
bedbugs and maintaining a rental unit free from bedbugs.
(3) A landlord shall maintain the landlord's rental premises
free from bedbugs.
(4) Within 7 days after receiving written hard copy or
electronic mail notice from a tenant or other reliable source of a
suspected infestation in the tenant's rental unit, the landlord
shall schedule an inspection of the rental unit for bedbugs by a
pest management professional or accredited canine team.
(5) Within 7 days after an infestation in a rental unit is
confirmed by an inspection under subsection (4), the landlord shall
do both of the following:
(a) Begin control. If it is necessary to treat the rental
unit, the landlord shall employ a pest management professional for
that purpose.
(b) Schedule an inspection of the adjoining rental units.
Sec. 1e. (1) If a rental unit is free from bedbugs, the tenant
shall maintain the rental unit free from bedbugs.
(2) A tenant shall inspect a rental unit for infestation when
the tenant first occupies the rental unit.
(3) A tenant shall not move items that are infested into the
rental unit.
(4) If, at any time during a tenant's occupancy of a rental
unit, the tenant discovers or suspects that the rental unit is
infested, the tenant shall notify the landlord in writing, by hard
copy or electronic mail, within 2 days after discovering or first
suspecting an infestation. The notice constitutes permission by the
tenant for the landlord, a pest management professional, and an
accredited canine team to enter the tenant's rental unit for
control and treatment.
(5) A tenant shall do all of the following:
(a) Grant reasonable access to the rental unit to the
landlord, the landlord's pest management professional, and an
accredited canine team for control and treatment.
(b) Comply with the control protocol established by the
landlord or the landlord's pest management professional.
(6) A violation of subsection (5) constitutes a serious and
continuing health hazard.
(7) A tenant shall not treat a rental unit.
Sec. 1f. (1) If a tenant or the tenant's guest causes an
infestation, the tenant shall pay the cost of control and treatment
of the rental unit and other areas where bedbugs have spread. The
cost is considered additional rent owed by the tenant.
(2) Except in the case of negligence, the landlord is not
liable for damages resulting from an infestation or from control or
treatment.
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, the
landlord and tenant may agree in writing, by hard copy or
electronic mail, how responsibility is assigned for costs resulting
from an infestation, including, but not limited to, costs of
control or treatment. For property aided or insured by the state or
federal government, the agreement is subject to applicable
requirements of the Michigan state housing development authority or
the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development,
respectively.
(4) In determining whether the landlord or a tenant is
responsible for an infestation in a rental unit, a court shall
consider the totality of the circumstances.
Sec. 1g. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a county or
municipality shall not adopt or enforce an ordinance that imposes
requirements on landlords or tenants for control or treatment and
that extends, revises, or conflicts with section 1d, 1e, or 1f.
(2) Subsection (1) does not prohibit the adoption of an
ordinance imposing requirements for the proper disposal of items
that are infested with bedbugs.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days
after the date it is enacted into law.