| 8 | 8 | | ======== |
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| 9 | 9 | | S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D |
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| 10 | 10 | | IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 11 | 11 | | JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023 |
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| 12 | 12 | | ____________ |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | A N A C T |
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| 15 | 15 | | RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- LEAD HAZARD MITIGATION |
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| 16 | 16 | | Introduced By: Representatives Morales, Craven, McEntee, Dawson, Speakman, |
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| 17 | 17 | | Caldwell, Batista, Stewart, Casimiro, and Felix |
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| 18 | 18 | | Date Introduced: March 30, 2023 |
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| 19 | 19 | | Referred To: House Judiciary |
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| 20 | 20 | | (Attorney General) |
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| 21 | 21 | | |
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| 22 | 22 | | It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
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| 23 | 23 | | SECTION 1. Chapter 42-128.1 of the General Laws entitled "Lead Hazard Mitigation" is 1 |
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| 24 | 24 | | hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 2 |
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| 25 | 25 | | 42-128.1-14. Escrow account. 3 |
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| 26 | 26 | | (a) Notwithstanding any general law, public law, special law or any agreement, whether 4 |
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| 27 | | - | written or oral, a tenant may file a petition to deposit their rent in an escrow account in the district 5 |
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| 28 | | - | court with jurisdiction of the leased property, whenever the leased property is not compliant with 6 |
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| 29 | | - | the risk reduction provisions of chapter 128.1 of title 42, including, but not limited to, the 7 |
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| 30 | | - | requirement for a valid certificate of conformance, any rules or regulations derived therefrom, or 8 |
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| 31 | | - | upon any licensed inspector's finding of the existence of lead hazards in the property. Upon the 9 |
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| 32 | | - | petition to the district court, and after notice to the owner of the premises and a hearing thereon, 10 |
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| 33 | | - | the district court shall order the deposit of the tenant's rent within the registry of the court, consistent 11 |
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| 34 | | - | with district court rules of procedure, upon a determination that the leased property is not compliant 12 |
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| 35 | | - | with the risk reduction provisions of chapter 128.1 of title 42, or upon any licensed inspector's 13 |
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| 36 | | - | finding of the existence of lead hazards in the property. 14 |
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| 37 | | - | (b) Other rights or remedies. The right of a tenant to deposit rent in the registry of the court 15 |
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| 38 | | - | does not preclude the tenant from pursuing any other right or remedy available to the tenant at law 16 |
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| 39 | | - | or equity. 17 |
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| 40 | | - | (c) Release of funds within the registry of the court. Money deposited within the registry 18 |
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| 41 | | - | of the court shall be released to the property owner, or designee, upon the court's determination of 19 |
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| 27 | + | written or oral, a tenant may file a petition in any court of competent jurisdiction to deposit their 5 |
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| 28 | + | rent in an escrow account whenever the leased property is not compliant with the risk reduction 6 |
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| 29 | + | provisions of chapter 128.1 of title 42, including, but not limited to, the requirement for a valid 7 |
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| 30 | + | certificate of conformance, any rules or regulations derived therefrom, or upon any licensed 8 |
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| 31 | + | inspector's finding of the existence of lead hazards in the property. Upon the petition to the court, 9 |
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| 32 | + | the tenant may deposit the tenant's rent in an escrow account with the clerk of the court. 10 |
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| 33 | + | (b) Other rights or remedies. The right of a tenant to deposit rent in an escrow account does 11 |
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| 34 | + | not preclude the tenant from pursuing any other right or remedy available to the tenant at law or 12 |
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| 35 | + | equity. 13 |
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| 36 | + | (c) Release of escrow account funds. Money deposited in an escrow account shall be 14 |
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| 37 | + | released to the property owner, or designee, upon the court's determination of compliance by the 15 |
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| 38 | + | property owner with the applicable risk reduction standard and state lead poisoning prevention 16 |
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| 39 | + | laws. 17 |
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| 40 | + | (d) Notwithstanding subsection (c) of this section, the court shall release money deposited 18 |
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| 41 | + | in an escrow account to the tenant, or designee, if they have incurred costs to comply with the 19 |
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| 44 | | - | LC002582/SUB A - Page 2 of 3 |
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| 45 | | - | compliance by the property owner with the applicable risk reduction standard and state lead 1 |
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| 46 | | - | poisoning prevention laws. 2 |
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| 47 | | - | (d) Notwithstanding subsection (c) of this section, the court shall release money from the 3 |
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| 48 | | - | registry of the court to the tenant, or designee, if the tenant has incurred costs to comply with the 4 |
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| 49 | | - | applicable risk reduction standard and state lead poisoning prevention laws on presentation of a bill 5 |
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| 50 | | - | of the reasonable costs of complying with the applicable risk reduction standard or other state lead 6 |
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| 51 | | - | poisoning prevention laws. Any money to be released under this subsection shall be subtracted 7 |
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| 52 | | - | from the money to be released under subsection (c) of this section. 8 |
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| 53 | | - | (e) Retaliatory actions prohibited. A lessee may not be evicted, the tenancy may not be 9 |
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| 54 | | - | terminated, the rent may not be raised, or any services reduced, because a lessee in good faith elects 10 |
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| 55 | | - | to seek the remedies under this section. 11 |
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| 56 | | - | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 12 |
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| 44 | + | LC002582 - Page 2 of 3 |
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| 45 | + | applicable risk reduction standard and state lead poisoning prevention laws on presentation of a bill 1 |
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| 46 | + | of the reasonable costs of complying with the applicable risk reduction standard. Any money to be 2 |
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| 47 | + | released under this subsection shall be subtracted from the money to be released under subsection 3 |
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| 48 | + | (c) of this section. 4 |
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| 49 | + | (e) Retaliatory actions prohibited. A lessee may not be evicted, the tenancy may not be 5 |
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| 50 | + | terminated, the rent may not be raised, or any services reduced, because a lessee in good faith elects 6 |
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| 51 | + | to seek the remedies under this section. 7 |
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| 52 | + | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 8 |
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| 69 | | - | This act would establish that a tenant may file a petition with the district court to 1 |
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| 70 | | - | deposit rent in the district court escrow account for leased property that is not compliant with 2 |
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| 71 | | - | the lead hazard mitigation law. Rent in escrow would be released to the property owner upon 3 |
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| 72 | | - | compliance with the lead hazard mitigation law. 4 |
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| 73 | | - | This act would take effect upon passage. 5 |
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| 65 | + | This act would establish an escrow account for tenants to deposit their rent whenever 1 |
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| 66 | + | the leased property is not compliant with the lead hazard mitigation law and which rent would 2 |
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| 67 | + | be released to the property owner upon compliance with the lead hazard mitigation law. 3 |
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| 68 | + | This act would take effect upon passage. 4 |
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