HLS 24RS-1780 ORIGINAL 2024 Regular Session HOUSE BILL NO. 913 BY REPRESENTATIVE SELDERS UTILITIES: Provides for transparency for utility bills 1 AN ACT 2To enact Chapter 43-A of Title 51 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, to be 3 comprised of R.S. 51:2621, relative to transparency for utility bills; to provide for 4 certain information from utility bills for residential properties; to define housing 5 provider; to provide for requests for information; and to provide for related matters. 6Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana: 7 Section 1. Chapter 43-A of Title 51 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, 8comprised of R.S. 51:2621, is hereby enacted to read as follows: 9 CHAPTER 43-A. TENANT BILL TRANSPARENCY 10 ยง2621. Access to utility bills 11 A. For the purposes of this Section, "housing provider" means an owner, 12 lessor, sublessor, property manager, or property management company that leases 13 or rents residential property. 14 B. This Section applies to housing providers that control the utility accounts 15 for residential properties occupied by tenants. 16 C. A housing provider shall provide to a tenant a copy of the original utility 17 bill for the residential property where the tenant resides if all of the following occur: 18 (1) A tenant requests, in writing, to the housing provider a copy of the 19 original utility bill. Page 1 of 2 CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored are additions. HLS 24RS-1780 ORIGINAL HB NO. 913 1 (2) A tenant provides identification that he is the current tenant in the 2 residential property for which information is being requested. 3 (3) A tenant states which method he would like to receive the bill, either by 4 mail or email, and the corresponding information needed to fulfill the request. 5 D. If a tenant satisfies the requirements in Subsection C, a housing provider 6 shall provide the information within fifteen days of the request. After the initial 7 request, a housing provider shall provide to the tenant, the original utility bill 8 monthly, before payments of those bills are due. DIGEST The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)] HB 913 Original 2024 Regular Session Selders Abstract: Provides relative to transparency for utility bills. Proposed law defines "housing provider" Proposed law applies to housing providers that control utility accounts for residential properties occupied by tenants. Proposed law states that a housing provider shall provide to a tenant a copy of the original utility bill for the residential property where they reside if all the following occur: (1)A tenant requests, in writing, to the housing provider a copy of the original utility bill. (2)A tenant provides identification that he is the current tenant in the residential property for which information is being requested. (3)A tenant states which method he would like to receive the bill, either by mail or email, and the corresponding information needed to fulfill the request. Proposed law states that if a tenant satisfies the requirements in proposed law, a housing provider shall provide the information within 15 days of the request. After the initial request, a housing provider shall provide to the tenant, the original utility bill monthly, before payments of those bills are due. (Adds R.S. 51:2621) Page 2 of 2 CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored are additions.