TENANT NOTIF.; HOUSING LAW VIOLATION H.B. 4273 (S-3):
SUMMARY OF BILL
REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE
House Bill 4273 (Substitute S-3 as reported)
Sponsor: Representative Amos O'Neal
House Committee: Regulatory Affairs
Senate Committee: Housing and Human Services
CONTENT
The bill would amend Article 7 (Enforcement) of the Housing Law of Michigan to do the following:
-- Require a local enforcing agency to notify an occupant of a violation of the Law that constituted a serious and imminent hazard to health or safety to the occupant and expand the requirements of the notification.
-- Specify that, if an inspector determined that a violation constituted a serious and imminent hazard to the health and safety of the occupants and the premises could not be vacated, the enforcing agency would have to order the violation corrected within the shortest reasonable time.
-- Require the enforcing agency to notify the Department of Health and Human Services of a violation that constituted a serious and imminent hazard to occupants' health or safety and specify the requirements of the notification.
BRIEF RATIONALE
The Law provides minimum requirements for specified dwellings, such as apartments. Currently, the onus to notify a tenant of a violation of the Law falls to the owner of the property. According to testimony before the Senate Committee on Housing and Human Services, this has led to circumstances in which tenants have not been given the appropriate notice for serious and imminent hazards, and so it has been suggested that the local enforcing agency should have to provide the notification for more transparency to tenants.
Legislative Analyst: Eleni Lionas
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have a minor negative fiscal impact on local units of government and no fiscal impact on the State. The bill would increase the costs for the local enforcing agency by requiring a notification for not only the owner but also all occupants. The local enforcing agency currently has the discretion whether to notify the occupants. If the local enforcing agency already informs all occupants, then there would be no negative fiscal impact from the bill. The bill would relax the hazard law reporting requirements to only require reporting on hazards that are serious and imminent, which could reduce the reporting costs of the local enforcing agency. The increase in costs from notification would likely outweigh the savings from the relaxing of the hazards reporting requirement resulting in a minor negative fiscal impact on local units of government.
Date Completed: 10-11-23 Fiscal Analyst: Ellyn Ackerman
Bobby Canell
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.