Legislation spells bad news for renters

Forty years ago, the Montana Legislature enshrined renter’s rights in the state code by passing the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act of 1977.

Now, those rights are being threatened.

A group of bills have been introduced in the Montana Legislature that, if passed, would erode renter’s rights and swing the carefully erected balance of power between renters and landlords towards the landlords.

Taken separately, these bills have varying effects. Some are fairly innocuous — HB 350 allows for the use of electronic fund transfer for paying rent — while others, like SB 239, are more sinister.

But taken together, these bills represent something even worse: a coordinated attack on renter’s rights, led by landlords and their lobbyists.

Seeking to ram piecemeal legislation through the legislature, with little input from renters, is the wrong way to address the Landlord Tenant Act and will cause renters to face discrimination and unfair rental practices at nearly every turn.

A look at what some of the measures would do shows the authors of these bills don’t have any interests in mind but their own.

SB 239, for instance, would force courts to charge renters who abandon a rental during the terms of their lease with theft, potentially incurring felony criminal charges, even if the renter was current on their rent up until that point.

Essentially, as one opponent said during the hearing, SB 239 subject’s renters to debtor’s prisons, something the United States eliminated in 1833.

SB 175 forces our already overburdened court system to hear cases within five days, and charges the court to act as a collection agency on the behalf of landlords. Another bill would allow email to be used as official notification for evictions; yet another limits the time a renter has to make repairs themselves to just seven days before a landlord can do it. There are too many egregious examples to list in a single op-ed.

With the number of renters growing nationwide, Montana should be focused on helping renters maintain their rights, not erecting a legal framework designed to work against them. Already vulnerable groups like students, young families, and senior citizens are more likely to rent their home and would become even more vulnerable should these bills become law.

If these bills were to pass, the net result would be the creation of an environment that makes it harder for people to find and keep affordable, safe housing. We are calling on the Legislature to vote no on altering the fundamental balance between renters and landlords.

Instead, we would like to see an interim committee take a broader look at holistically and fairly addressing issues in the Landlord Tenant Act. There is room for more than just landlords at the table. Only by listening to all sides, and discussing all the issues, can a fair and equitable solution to these problems be found.

Dismantling the Landlord Tenant Act piece by piece will simply add to the advantageous position landlords enjoy, while leaving renters out in the cold. There is room for improvement in our tenant-landlord laws, and fixing them will be a massive undertaking. Let’s take our time and do it the right way.

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Rep. Zach Brown, D-Bozeman, represents House District 63.

Andy Bixler is a graduate student at The University of Montana and represents Montana Associated Students.