1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to landlord and tenant; clarifying provisions
1.3 	relating to utility metering and billing; amending
1.4 	Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 504B.215,
1.5 	subdivisions 1, 2, 2a.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 504B.215,
1.8 	subdivision 1, is amended to read:
1.9 		Subdivision 1.Definitions.  For the purposes of this
1.10 	section, "single-metered residential building" means a multiunit
1.11 	rental building with one or more separate residential living
1.12 	units where the utility service measured through a single meter
1.13 	provides service to an individual unit and to all or parts of
1.14 	common areas or other units. However, utility service measured
1.15 	through a single meter that provides service to an individual
1.16 	unit and to all or parts of common areas does not cause a
1.17 	building to be a "single-metered residential building" if the
1.18 	service to the common areas is disclosed in writing to the
1.19 	tenant of the individual unit.
1.20 	
EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day
1.21 	following final enactment.

1.22 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 504B.215,
1.23 	subdivision 2, is amended to read:
1.24 		Subd. 2.Single-meter utility service payments.  In a
1.25 	residential leasehold contract entered into or renewed on or
2.1 	after August 1, 1995, the landlord of a single-metered
2.2 	residential building shall be the bill payer responsible, and
2.3 	shall be the customer of record contracting with the utility for
2.4 	utility services.  The landlord must advise the utility provider
2.5 	that the utility services apply to a single-metered residential
2.6 	building.  A failure by the landlord to comply with this
2.7 	subdivision is a violation of sections 504B.161, subdivision 1,
2.8 	clause (1), and 504B.221. However, a refund to a tenant or an
2.9 	additional charge to a landlord due to utility service in a
2.10 	common area that was measured through a single meter that
2.11 	provides service to an individual unit, and which common area
2.12 	usage was not disclosed in writing to the tenant of that unit,
2.13 	is limited to the individual tenant's prorated charge for the
2.14 	utility service in the common area notwithstanding any other
2.15 	law, regulation, or tariff or any utility billing policy or
2.16 	regulation to the contrary.This subdivision may not be waived
2.17 	by contract or otherwise.  This subdivision does not require a
2.18 	landlord to contract and pay for utility service provided to
2.19 	each residential unit through a separate meter which accurately
2.20 	measures that unit's use only.  This subdivision does not
2.21 	prohibit a landlord from apportioning utility service payments
2.22 	among residential units and either including utility costs in a
2.23 	unit's rent or billing for utility charges separate from rent.
2.24 	
EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day
2.25 	following final enactment.

2.26 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 504B.215,
2.27 	subdivision 2a, is amended to read:
2.28 		Subd. 2a.Conditions of separate utility billing to
2.29 	tenant in single-meter buildings.  If the landlord of a
2.30 	single-metered residential building bills for utility charges
2.31 	separate from the rent, the following conditions apply:
2.32 	(1) prospective tenants must be provided notice of the
2.33 	total utility cost for the building rental community for each
2.34 	month of the most recent calendar year; and 
2.35 	(2) an equitable method of apportionment, the billing
2.36 	service and account activation fees, if any,and the frequency
3.1 	of billing by the landlord must be predetermined and put in
3.2 	writing for all leases; and 
3.3 	(3) a landlord may not collect in the aggregate more than
3.4 	the amount billed by the utility for the total utility service
3.5 	provided to the rental community.  In addition to the charge for
3.6 	utility service, a landlord may charge and collect from tenants
3.7 	a billing service fee, an account activation fee, and reasonable
3.8 	charges for late payment or nonpayment of the utility charges
3.9 	and for dishonored checks.  A billing service fee charged to a
3.10 	tenant is limited to the fee charged to the landlord by a
3.11 	third-party provider of billing and collection services or, if a
3.12 	third-party provider is not used, to the amount that would be
3.13 	charged by the utility serving the rental community for billing
3.14 	and collecting from individual residential customers.  The
3.15 	amount of a billing service fee may be changed by the landlord
3.16 	upon two months' written notice to a tenant.
3.17 	The lease must contain a provision that, upon a tenant's
3.18 	request, a landlord must provide a copy of the actual utility
3.19 	bill for the building along with each apportioned utility bill.
3.20 	Upon a tenant's request, a landlord must also provide past
3.21 	copies of actual utility bills for any period of the tenancy for
3.22 	which the tenant received an apportioned utility bill.  Past
3.23 	copies of utility bills must be provided for the preceding two
3.24 	years or from the time the current landlord acquired the
3.25 	building, whichever is most recent.
3.26 	The landlord of a single-metered residential building who
3.27 	bills separately for utilities may, if the landlord and tenant
3.28 	agree, provide tenants with a lease term of one year or more the
3.29 	option to pay those bills under an annualized budget plan
3.30 	providing for level monthly payments based on a good-faith
3.31 	estimate of the annual bill.
3.32 	By September 30 of each year, a landlord of a
3.33 	single-metered residential building who bills for gas and
3.34 	electric utility charges separate from rent shall inform tenants
3.35 	in writing of the possible availability of energy assistance
3.36 	from the low income home energy assistance program.  The
4.1 	information must contain the toll-free telephone number of the
4.2 	administering agency.
4.3 	
EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day
4.4 	following final enactment.