Bill Text: DE HB136 | 2013-2014 | 147th General Assembly | Draft
Bill Title: An Act To Amend Title 25 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Definitions And Summary Possession Proceedings.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-05-16 - Stricken [HB136 Detail]
Download: Delaware-2013-HB136-Draft.html
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SPONSOR: |
Rep. Brady & Sen. McDowell |
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Reps. J. Johnson, Keeley, Kowalko |
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 147th GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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HOUSE BILL NO. 136 |
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AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 25 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DEFINITIONS AND SUMMARY POSSESSION PROCEEDINGS. |
Section 1.Amend Title 25, section 5141 of the Delaware Code by making insertions as shown by underlining and deletions as shown by strike through as follows:
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this part, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
(1) "Action" shall mean any claim advanced in a court proceeding in which rights are determined.
(2) "Building and housing codes" shall include any law, ordinance or governmental regulation concerning fitness for habitation or the construction, maintenance, operation, occupancy, use or appearance of any premises or dwelling unit.
(3) "Certificate of mailing" shall mean United States Postal Form No. 3817, or its successor.
(4) "Commercial rental unit" shall mean any lot, structure or portion thereof, which is occupied or rented solely or primarily for commercial or industrial purposes.
(5) "Deceased sole tenant" shall mean the sole leaseholder under a residential rental agreement entitled to occupy a residential rental unit to the exclusion of all others who has died.The right of any non-leaseholder authorized occupant of the residential rental unit, if any, to occupy the residential rental unit at the sole discretion of the deceased sole tenant while that tenant was alive shall immediately terminate upon the death of the sole tenant.The deceased sole tenant is also referred to as the decedent pursuant to Section 2306(c)(3), Title 12 of the Delaware Code.
(5) (6) "Disabled or handicapped" person shall
have the same meaning as found in the Americans with Disabilities Act (1992)
[42 U.S.C. §12101 et seq.] as amended.
(6) (7) "Domestic abuse" shall mean any act or
threat against a victim of domestic abuse or violence that either constitutes a
crime under Delaware law or any act or threat that constitutes domestic
violence or domestic abuse as defined anywhere in the Delaware Code. Domestic
abuse can be verified by an official document, such as a court order, or by a
reliable third party professional, including a law-enforcement agency or
officer, a domestic violence or domestic abuse service provider, or health care
provider. It is the domestic violence or abuse victim's responsibility to
provide the reliable statement from the reliable third party.
(7) (8) "Equivalent substitute housing" shall
mean a rental unit of like or similar location, size, facilities and rent.
(8) (9) "Extended absence" shall mean any absence
of more than 7 days.
(9) (10) "Forthwith summons" shall mean any
summons requiring the personal appearance of a party or person or persons at
the earliest convenience of the court.
(10) (11) "Good faith dispute" shall mean the
manifestation of an honest difference of opinion relating to the rights of the
parties to a rental agreement pursuant to such agreement, or pursuant to this
Code.
(11) (12) "Holdover" or "holdover
tenant" shall mean a tenant who wrongfully retains possession or who
wrongfully exercises control of the rental unit after the expiration or
termination of the rental agreement.
(12) (13) "Injunction" shall mean a court order
prohibiting a party from doing an act or restraining a party from continuing an
act.
(13) (14) "Landlord" shall mean:
a. The owner, lessor or sublessor of the rental unit or the property of which it is a part and, in addition, shall mean any person authorized to exercise any aspect of the management of the premises, including any person who, directly or indirectly, receives rents or any part thereof other than as a bona fide purchaser and who has no obligation to deliver the whole of such receipts to another person; or
b. Any person held out by any landlord as the appropriate party to accept performance, whether such person is a landlord or not; or
c. Any person with whom the tenant normally deals as a landlord; or
d. Any person to whom the person specified in paragraphs (13)b. and c. of this section is directly or ultimately responsible.
(14) (15) "Legal holiday" shall mean any date
designated as a legal holiday under §501 of Title 1.
(15) (16) "Local government unit" shall mean a
political subdivision of this State, including, but not limited to, a county,
city, town or other incorporated community or subdivision of the subdivision
providing local government service for residents in a geographically limited
area of the State as its primary purpose, and has the power to act primarily on
behalf of the area.
(16) (17) "Month to month" shall mean a renewable
term of 1 month.
(17) (18) "Normal wear and tear" shall mean the
deterioration in the condition of a property or premises by the ordinary and
reasonable use of such property or premises.
(18)(19)a. "Owner" shall mean 1 or more persons,
jointly or severally, in whom is vested:
1. All or part of the legal title to property; or
2. All or part of the beneficial ownership, usufruct and a right to present use and enjoyment of the premises.
b. The word "owner" shall include a mortgagee in possession.
(19) (20) "Person" shall include an individual,
artificial entity pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 57, government or governmental
agency, statutory trust, business trust, 2 or more persons having a joint or
common trust or any other legal or commercial entity.
(20) (21) "Pet deposit" shall mean any deposit
made to a landlord by a tenant to be held for the term of the rental agreement,
or any part thereof, for the presence of an animal in a rental unit.
(21) (22) "Premises" shall mean a rental unit and
the structure of which it is a part, and the facilities and appurtenances
therein, grounds, areas and facilities held out for the use of tenants
generally, or whose use is contracted for between the landlord and the tenant.
(22) (23) "Rental agreement" shall mean and
include all agreements, written or oral, which establish or modify the terms,
conditions, rules, regulations or any other provisions concerning the use and
occupancy of a rental unit.
(23) (24) "Rental unit," "dwelling
unit" or "dwelling place" shall mean any house, building,
structure, or portion thereof, which is occupied, rented or leased as the home
or residence of 1 or more persons.
(24) (25) "Security deposit" shall mean any
deposit, exclusive of a pet deposit, given to the landlord which is to be held
for the term of the rental agreement or for any part thereof.
(25) (26) "Senior citizen" shall mean any person,
62 years of age or older, regardless of the age of such person's spouse.
(26) (27) The terms "sexual offenses" and
"stalking" shall here have the same meanings as in Title 11. Sexual
offenses and stalking can be verified by an official document, such as a court
order, or by a reliable third party professional, including a law-enforcement
agency or officer, a sexual assault service provider, or health care provider.
It is the sexual assault or stalking victim's responsibility to provide the
reliable statement from the reliable third party.
(27) (28) "Sexual orientation" exclusively means
heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality.
(28) (29) "Support animal" shall mean any animal
individually trained to do work or perform tasks to meet the requirements of a
disabled person, including, but not limited to, minimal protection work, rescue
work, pulling a wheelchair or retrieving dropped items.
(29) (30) "Tenant" shall mean a person entitled
under a rental agreement to occupy a rental unit to the exclusion of others,
and the word "tenant" shall include an occupant of any premises
pursuant to a conditional sales agreement which has been converted to a
landlord/tenant agreement pursuant to §314(d)(3) of this title.
(30) (31) "Utility services" shall mean water,
sewer, electricity or fuel.
Section 2.Amend Title 25, section 5702 of the Delaware Code by making insertions as shown by underlining and deletions as shown by strike through as follows:
§ 5702. Grounds for summary proceeding.
Unless otherwise agreed in a written rental agreement, an action for summary possession may be maintained under this chapter because:
(1) The tenant unlawfully continues in possession of any part of the premises after the expiration of the rental agreement without the permission of the landlord or, where a new tenant is entitled to possession, without the permission of the new tenant;
(2) The tenant has wrongfully failed to pay the agreed rent;
(3) The tenant has wrongfully deducted money from the agreed rent;
(4) The tenant has breached a lawful obligation relating to the tenant's use of the premises;
(5) The tenant, employee, servant or agent of the landlord holds over for more than 15 days after dismissal when the housing is supplied by the landlord as part of the compensation for labor or services;
(6) The tenant holds over for more than 5 days after the property has been duly sold upon the foreclosure of a mortgage and the title has been duly perfected;
(7) The rightful tenant of the rental unit has been wrongfully ousted;
(8) The tenant refuses to yield possession of the rental unit rendered partially or wholly unusable by fire or casualty, and the landlord requires possession for the purpose of effecting repairs of the damage;
(9) The tenant is convicted of a class A misdemeanor or any felony during the term of tenancy which caused or threatened to cause irreparable harm to any person or property;
(10) A rental agreement for a commercial rental unit provides grounds for
an action for summary possession to be maintained; or
(11) If, if and only if, it pertains to manufactured home
lots, for any of the grounds set forth in the Manufactured Home Owners and
Community Owners Act, as amended.; or
(12) The tenant who is the sole tenant under the rental agreement has died and become the deceased sole tenant under the residential rental agreement.
Section 3.Amend Title 25 of the Delaware Code to add a new section 5719 as shown by underlining as follows:
§5719. Landlord regaining possession of residential rental unit upon the death of a deceased sole tenant.
(a) Possession of a residential rental unit upon the death of a sole tenant shall be returned to the landlord without an action for summary possession if:
(1) an affiant or personal representative of the deceased sole tenant's estate presents the landlord with valid documentation issued by the Register of Wills evidencing such representation pursuant to Title 12, in which case the landlord shall allow the affiant or personal representative access to the residential rental unit of the deceased sole tenant to remove the deceased sole tenant's belongings, and
(2) an affiant or personal representative relinquishes possession of the rental unit to the landlord; or 90 days have elapsed since the death of the deceased sole tenant and an affiant or personal representative has not provided the landlord written notice that access to the deceased sole tenant's residential rental unit is still required by the estate.
(b) Unless the estate and the landlord have otherwise agreed in writing, no estate of a deceased sole tenant shall maintain possession of the residential rental unit for more than 180 days from the date of the decedent‘s death.
(c) If at the time the landlord takes possession there is still property inside the deceased sole tenant's residential rental unit that does not belong to the landlord, then the landlord shall have the right to immediately remove and store such property for a period of 7 days, at the expense of the estate of the deceased sole tenant.If at the end of such period, a representative of the estate, who has valid documentation of such representation issued by the Register of Wills pursuant to Title 12, has failed to claim said property and reimburse the landlord for the reasonable expenses of removal and storage, such property shall be deemed abandoned and may be disposed of by the landlord without further notice or obligation to any party.
(d) If the landlord is not entitled to all or any portion of the security deposit, the landlord shall remit the security deposit within 20 days of receiving possession of the residential rental unit (or, if storage of property that was inside the deceased sole tenant's residential rental unit is required, then within 20 days after the storage of said property has ended) to a representative of the estate of the deceased sole tenant, if any, who has valid documentation of such representation issued by the Register of Wills pursuant to Title 12.Within 20 days after receiving possession of the residential rental unit of the deceased sole tenant (or, if storage of property that was inside the deceased sole tenant's residential rental unit is required, then within 20 days after the storage of said property has ended), the landlord shall provide the representative of the estate of the deceased sole tenant, if any, with an itemized list of damages to the premises and the estimated costs of repair for each and shall tender payment for the difference between any rental amount due and owing, the security deposit and such costs of repair of damage to the premises. Failure to do so shall constitute an acknowledgment by the landlord that no payment is due. The representative's acceptance of a payment submitted with an itemized list of damages shall constitute agreement on the rental amount due, if any, and damages as specified by the landlord, unless the representative of the estate, within 10 days of the representative's receipt of such tender of payment, objects in writing to the amount withheld by the landlord.Failure of a representative of the estate to present the landlord with valid documentation of such representation issued by the Register of Wills or failure of the representative to provide the landlord with a valid address shall relieve the landlord of responsibility to give notice of any damages and potential liability for double the amount of the security deposit pursuant to §5514(g) of this Title, but the landlord shall continue to be liable to the representative of the estate for any unused portion of the security deposit; provided, that the representative of the estate shall make a claim in writing to the landlord within 6 months from the date of the decedent's death.
Section 4. This Act shall become effective 60 days after the date of enactment.
SYNOPSIS
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The law does not currently adequately address the situations that arise when the sole tenant of a residential rental unit dies. This bill allows the landlord to file and maintain an action for summary possession as necessary. In addition, this bill adds a new section to Title 25 to address the procedure for how a landlord may regain possession of the residential rental unit, which, depending on the circumstances, may or may not necessitate the need for a summary proceeding. Finally, the new section permits a landlord to bring a debt action for monies due and protects the estate's interest in any security deposit held by the landlord. |
