Howdee everyone,
The last minor bill, HB1590, Apply Rooms & Meals Tax to Short Term Rental, is now signed by the governor.
Important Updates:
New committee potentially meeting to revise minimum housing standards.
!!Formation of new lead law!!
Minimum housing standards
From Department of Health and Human Services
Subject: Scheduling - Looking at the NH Minimum Housing Standards Meeting
“We all have a vested interested in these standards and this maybe a good time to make some changes to strengthen the standards. This initial meeting will be brainstorming any ideas/suggestions everyone has for RSA 48-A:14.”
We need landlords to represent us at these meetings.
Please contact us if you would be willing to attend at least the initial and potentially other meetings.
This is a new committee practically nothing is known about it yet.
!!Formation of new lead law!!
We have an opportunity right now to shape the new lead law.
Do you remember SB135 in 2014? Rather than immediately implement a new lead law based on Vermont’s Essential Maintenance Program, SB135 established a commission to be formed including landlord input to study the issue and provide guidance for adopting this new lead law.
I have been invited to be a guest at the meetings and have started attending.
The essential idea of the program is that it would require landlords to do an annual self inspection of the property, properly address all lead hazards and submit a report that it was done.
Right now we are talking about very important points that some of which we have needed addressed for years.
Previously, we wrote to you asking for input on the new lead law. The commissions next meeting is early this week.
Please forward answers to these questions if you have not done so already. Below this email is the consolidated input we have received already.
1. How should the state handle when a tenant has caused the lead hazard?
Presently the landlord is still forced into a full lead abatement for the entire property even though the tenant caused the lead hazard.
What would you like to see done instead?
2. The commission is also seriously looking into addressing what happens if lead is found in the water supply. Note that this could be caused by the pipes in the ground which would become the responsibility of the property owner to dig up and replace.
3. The commission started to revise past conversations of a paint can fee (no numbers but perhaps 25 to 50 cents per gallon) with the monies tied to providing funds for lead remediation.
What do you think?
Seems like a small price to pay for generation a pool of money that could help all landlords.
4. The commission is talking “sticks and carrots”. Meaning fees to the property owner for non-compliance and giving the property owner “something” for compliance. Vermont offers the property owner who complies with the program an immunity from breach-of-warranty-of-habitability claims. The trial lawyers of NH have strongly opposed that notion so we would likely not get it.
What “carrot”, incentive, would you like to see offered to the landlord for compliance?
5. Mandatory vs. Voluntary. Some insist the program should be mandatory others say it should be voluntary.
What are your thoughts?
If you are interested to be part of the idea generation, getting your voice heard, shaping the ultimate version of this new law, please contact me.
I plan to send out info on the generation of this new lead law on 2 lists.
The first email list will be for those that want to be very active in the process and receive frequent updates (perhaps once per month).
The second email list will be the normal legislative update to keep everyone informed and receive much less frequent updates (perhaps once per quarter in the off season and included with the normal legislative update during the legislative season)
Let me know if you want to be on the frequent update list for the new lead law.
Action items this week:
Respond to questions above the new wave of lead law above.
Besides that no action required. Relax, enjoy. Thanks to all that contacted legislators, showed up at hearings and donated financially.
See more info in Summaries & Full Detail for each bill further below. (includes property owner position, contact info, talking points, and more).
(to jump right to bill detail, use Control-F, Find).
Hearings this week:
None scheduled so far
Hearings next week:
None scheduled so far
Further below is:
Bills Updated Status summary:
Full details on all bills above
(Which includes property owner position, contact info, talking points, and more)
Love & Light,
Nick Norman
Director of Legislative Affairs
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We only list the committee reports on the most important bills affecting the real estate business. If you want to get the committee report on one of the other bills contact me & I will show you how to get them on line. Its not terribly hard to get but not straight ahead either.
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SB135 Lead Commission Summarized questions to answer
1. How should the state handle when a tenant has caused the lead hazard?
Fix the created lead hazard but not abate entire property. Favored by many landlords.
Landlord remedy the lead hazard but tenant pay for it.
Tenant has No abatement defense to eviction if tenant caused hazard.
If the tenant caused the hazard, or would not disclose a known lead hazard, or would not allow landlord to remedy such hazard, the tenant should assume full responsibility.
be able to attach tenants wages/ income sources.
2. The commission is also seriously looking into addressing what happens if lead is found in the water supply.
should not penalize landlord as not active negligence like allowing chipped paint to be removed;
Many questions here:
How often would water be tested? Less often than 1/year.
Flush out water first if testing inside unit.
How corrosive is water?
Is city responsible for corrosive water?
What is EPA speck that towns have to follow on corrosiveness of water ?
How much money to spend by city?
Test at street as well. Next available fire hydrant, noflushing first. Agency requiring test pays for hydrant.
Test hydrants for lead when normal test is done anyway.
Dover thinks they may have some lead service lines.
If Lead is found in the water supply it will be on the city to remedy the problem.
There would be blood in the streets if every property owner were forced to dig up pipes to their property line.
3. The commission started to revise past conversations of a paint can fee (no numbers but perhaps 25 to 50 cents per gallon) with the monies tied to providing funds for lead remediation.
Generally favored by landlords but with very cautious concerns.
There was a bill in recent time about this. The committee didn’t know how to keep corruption out of it.
Make lead less expensive to remediate.
Make system simple to admin and all money to remediation.
Find good program that is working now and model that.
Big concern on government corruption and admin costs with little effort going to remediation.
With everyone paying in, would the funds for remediation be available to all - individually owned property, landlords, llc’s, commercially owned, single family, multi-family, housing, restaurant…
It would need to be clearly spelled out who was eligible and hopefully have a fairly simple application/approval process so the money was going to the remediation and not getting spent on administering the process.
4. The commission is talking “sticks and carrots”. Meaning fees to the property owner for non-compliance and giving the property owner “something” for compliance.
Note: Insurance people not interested in offering reduction
Immunity from civil suit.
Reduce lead liability, perhaps cap is at a certain number. Maybe $50,000.
Note: Trial lawyers will fight liability limitations.
Discount in property tax is favored all around
Take the discount from the school budget
Maybe credit $250? per unit.
Compliance = exemption from education component of property tax;
State reimburse for lead inspection that is only kept by landlord and of course made available to the tenants but not submitted to the state. This would encourage testing and give both landlords and tenants the ability to minimize lead risk and prioritize renovation to reduce future lead risk.
5. Mandatory vs. Voluntary. Some insist the program should be mandatory others say it should be voluntary.
All landlords we have spoken to want the program to be voluntary.
Additional notes:
Allow Landlords to refuse occupancy to tenants children under 6 years of age if there is lead in the building. This is favored by many landlords.
If lead paint order is not recorded, Order should not be enforceable against a subsequent purchaser;
Should Placement Agencies ( International Institute) – be obligated to place tenants in lead safe apartments
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Bills Updated Status summary:
We only list the committee reports on the most important bills affecting the real estate business. If you want to get the committee report on one of the other bills contact me & I will show you how to get them on line. It’s not terribly hard to get but not straight ahead either.
HB1590
Title: (2nd New Title) relative to taxation of short-term rentals.
Property Owner Position: LimitedImpact
General Status: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR
House Status: CONFERENCE REPORT ADOPTED
Senate Status: CONFERENCE REPORT ADOPTED
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Full details on all bills above:
Title:
Summary:
Property Owner Position:
Link to Committee Info:
Email to Committee:
To:
Subject:
Link to Bill Text:
Analysis Stated in Bill:
Talking Points:
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HB1590, Apply Rooms & Meals Tax to Short Term Rental
05/23/2016 at 01:00 PM LOB 302
Title: Title: (2nd New Title) relative to taxation of short-term rentals.
Summary: Legislative service’s analysis is: This bill requires short-term rental businesses to register as businesses with the secretary of state and meet certain posting and reporting requirements. The bill also expands the meals and rooms tax to apply to short-term rental businesses.
Property Owner Position: LimitedImpact
Link to Bill Text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2016/HB1590.html
Analysis Stated in Bill:
Talking Points:
Simply, the purpose of the bill is to tax, under the room and meals taxes, the revenue that people and the rental services generate, from renting out rooms or the entire home on a short term basis. This bill also requires short-term rental businesses to register as businesses with the secretary of state and meet certain posting and reporting requirements.
Note that the position of one of our core team is "For" the bill with the thinking that the bill would "level the playing field" for NH hotels which are loosing revenue to short term rental services.
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