Bill Text: MI SB0657 | 2013-2014 | 97th Legislature | Introduced

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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

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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.