SB 1058

This bill requires landlords to annually provide residential tenants an offer to report the tenant’s positive rental payment information to a consumer reporting agency. “Positive rental payment information” is defined in the bill to mean information regarding a tenant’s complete and timely payment of rent, and does not include information regarding an instance in which a tenant did not make a complete and timely payment of rent. If the tenant accepts the offer, the landlord shall report the tenant’s positive rental payment information to a credit reporting agency on as regular a basis as the tenant is required to make rental payments. The offer shall inform the tenant that the reporting is optional, and inform the tenant how much the landlord will charge for the service. The fee that the landlord may charge may not exceed the actual cost to the landlord to report the information or $10 per month, whichever is less. A landlord may not assess a fee for the reporting of a tenant’s positive rental payment information if the tenant has not accepted the landlord’s offer to report the information.

Under the bill, a rental agreement is void and unenforceable if it waives the landlord’s responsibilities under the bill or if it allows the landlord to terminate the tenancy of a residential tenant for failure to pay a fee the landlord assessed for reporting the positive rental payment information.

The provisions of the bill do not apply to a landlord or a residential rental building that contains 15 or fewer dwelling units, unless the landlord owns more than one residential building and the landlord is a real estate investment trust as defined in federal law, a corporation, or a limited liability company in which at least one member is a corporation. A landlord is not required to act under the provisions of the bill in regard to a residential tenant at any time during which the residential tenant is receiving rental payment assistance, defined as federal, state, or local housing assistance that allows the tenant to pay less than 30 percent of the household’s gross monthly income in rent.