Bill Text: MI SB0657 | 2013-2014 | 97th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Housing; landlord and tenants; allocation of responsibilities; provide for with respect to prevention and management of bed bug infestation. Amends title & sec. 1 of 1972 PA 348 (MCL 554.601) & adds secs. 1d, 1e, 1f & 1g.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-10-29 - Referred To Committee On Regulatory Reform [SB0657 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2013-SB0657-Introduced.html
SENATE BILL No. 657
October 29, 2013, Introduced by Senator HILDENBRAND and referred to the Committee on Regulatory Reform.
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 entomology 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 bedbugs or signs of their presence.
(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 he or she 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 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 a person 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 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) A landlord shall maintain the landlord's rental premises
free from bedbugs.
(3) If a pest management professional or an accredited canine
team inspects a rental unit after it is vacated by a tenant and
before it is occupied by a new tenant and the pest management
professional or the handler on the accredited canine team certifies
in writing that the rental unit is free from bedbugs, for the
purposes of subsection (2), the dwelling unit shall be considered
to be free from bedbugs when the next tenant first occupies the
rental unit.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (2), the rental unit shall
be considered to have been free from bedbugs when the tenant first
occupied the rental unit if the tenant fails to report a suspected
infestation to the landlord within 7 days after the tenant first
occupied the rental unit. This subsection does not apply if the
rental unit was inspected under subsection (3) and was not
certified in writing to be free from bedbugs.
(5) Within 7 days after receiving written notice from a tenant
of a suspected infestation in the tenant's rental unit, the
landlord shall have the rental unit inspected for bedbugs by a pest
management professional or accredited canine team.
(6) Within 7 days after an infestation in a rental unit is
confirmed by an inspection under subsection (5), the landlord shall
begin control. If it is necessary to treat the rental unit, the
landlord shall employ a pest management professional for that
purpose.
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 a tenant suspects that the tenant's rental unit is
infested, the tenant shall notify the landlord in writing within 2
days. Notice under this subsection or section 1d(5) constitutes
permission by the tenant for the landlord, a pest management
professional, and an accredited canine team to enter the rental
unit for control and treatment.
(5) A tenant shall do both 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 shall be considered additional rent owed by the tenant and may
be deducted from the tenant's security deposit.
(2) Except in the case of gross negligence, the landlord is
not liable for damages arising from an infestation or from control
or treatment.
(3) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this act, the
landlord and tenant may agree in writing how responsibility is
assigned for costs associated with an infestation, including, but
not limited to, costs of control or treatment.
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.