Landlord-tenant bill passes General Assembly, avoids systematic inspections ban; landlords get water submetering

Amidst all the legislation being followed in the General Assembly, one bill that's now passed the state House and Senate has garnered relatively little notice: a new landlord-tenant bill slogged out after deep negotiations between the landlord lobby and groups like the progressive NC Justice Center and ACORN.

Advocates for a systematic rental property inspection program -- the possibility of which had been under threat in early discussions about the bill -- can rest easy. The bill does not include language that would preclude Neighborhood Improvement Services (or similar municipal agencies in other cities) from implementing such a program.

The bill also implements minimum-housing standards, but Durham City already has such standards, so there's no impact there. They will apply in Durham County, however, which previously (according to a BCR source) was not covered by such standards, which require structural integrity, working water and heat, and a rat-free residence, among other basics.

The win for landlords? Water submetering. Landlords will, once the rules phase in and leases roll over, be able to bill back water charges to tenants on properties more than twenty years old.

Some multifamily structures built back then have a single water meter, with the cost for utility service baked into a flat rent fee -- a thorn in the side of conservationist efforts and property owners alike, since there was no legal way to charge back individual tenants without personal water meters.

Now, landlords will be able to install devices that measure the amount of hot water used, and allocate out the proportionate total (hot and cold) water charges to residents proportionately.

When Durham's tiered rating scheme for water was introduced last year, multi-family properties were universally allocated to Tier 3, with city officials saying last year that they'd add such properties to the tiered rating system this year, but that didn't happen, with these properties continuing to stay in Tier 3.

One has to wonder whether submetering will make it more palatable to bring in tiered rating to multi-family units down the line, passing responsibility for conservation increasingly to tenants -- and allowing the City to get more effectiveness out of the tiered system.

ACORN announced the bill's ratification and submission to Gov. Bev Purdue in an email press release:

The minimum standards put in place by the bill, SB 661, require rentals to have safe wiring, flooring, roofs, and chimneys; access to water; operable locks; operable toilets; sources of heat; no rat infestation due to defects in the building; and no flooding problems.

"This bill sets us toward a path of improving housing stock throughout our state," said Rev. Melvin Whitley, Chair of Northeast Central Durham ACORN, which lobbied for the bill's passage. "For the first time we have a law that sets a minimum housing code for all rental housing, sets a limit of rental fees, and protects the renter from eviction when they complain about housing code violations."

[....]

Besides basic safety standards, the bill prevents landlords from charging abusive fees. Some bad-apple landlords charge tenants excessive fees ranging into the hundreds of dollars when eviction cases are filed in court. Until now, North Carolina law placed no limit on such fees.

In other General Assembly news, the legislature also approved and sent along to the Governor's desk a measure to allow Durham to "include anti-sweatshop requirements in the specifications for contracts to buy or rent uniforms or textiles," sez the Charlotte Observer.

Comments

[Jeff Abbott]

AAAAAH! The big blue water creature will now haunt my fevered nightmares.

[Chris]

Does this mean my landlord is going to start charging me for water?

[bb]

Chris,
I doubt anyone here can answer the question you pose, unless your landlord reads this blog. Better ask your landlord. ;-)

[Stanley Roper]

Chris,
This is your landlord. Tell you what, I won't make you pay for water just yet, because that would mean that I have to buy a new meter. However, I would like you to start mowing the lawn and changing the air filters. And the parties have to stop.